Governor’s Family-Centered Services Initiative Supports Local Departments That Serve Hundreds of Thousands of Low-Income Families Across New York
Initiative First Announced as Part of Governor’s 2024 State of the State
Governor Kathy Hochul on August 2nd, announced $17.2 million in awards through the Family-Centered Services initiative to strengthen social services that help vulnerable families achieve financial stability. This funding will help local social services departments throughout New York to hire more staff as they continue serving hundreds of thousands of low-income families statewide.
“We’re strengthening the critical resources that help struggling New Yorkers meet their essential needs and transition to economic security,” Governor Hochul said. “By giving local social services departments the funding to hire more staff and bolster operations, we can bring more families out of poverty and into a brighter future.”
The $17.2 million awarded today includes investments in local social services departments in regions throughout the state:
| Region | Amount |
| Capital Region | $1,984,616 |
| Central New York | $1,653,845 |
| Finger Lakes | $1,819,235 |
| Long Island | $1,323,074 |
| Mid-Hudson | $2,480,767 |
| Mohawk Valley | $1,323,078 |
| New York City | $1,157,687 |
| North Country | $1,323,079 |
| Southern Tier | $1,653,848 |
| Western New York | $2,480,771 |
The Family-Centered Services initiative was first announced in the 2024 State of the State address and continues Governor Hochul’s deep commitment to strengthening the social service network and lifting families out of poverty.
The initiative addresses the challenges of family poverty by ensuring local social services departments across the state will have trained staff available to provide targeted interventions that support the entire family. This includes assisting families with complex needs such as mental health conditions, developmental disabilities, substance use disorders and those experiencing homelessness or domestic violence.
The funding will enable local departments to hire from one to seven full-time credentialed or appropriately experienced staff, depending on the size of the county’s caseload. The new staff will provide a range of case management services that could include in-depth assessments, crisis intervention, resource navigation and peer support to stabilize household conditions, among others.
Local departments will tailor their initiatives to meet the unique needs of the households they serve. Some may choose to focus on the needs of homeless families or households facing mental health conditions, while others may focus more on encouraging paths to employment. Families will be referred to the program based on locally developed criteria.
Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay
