Thousands of Onondaga County residents could lose cash assistance for food and housing, and funding for other childcare support programs, as the federal government vows to investigate fraud in New York and five other blue states.
New York, Minnesota, California, Colorado, and Illinois received a notice in early January, announcing that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services was freezing funding to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, the Child Care and Development Fund, and the Social Services Block Grant.
Onondaga County receives more than $85 million in federal money to operate these programs, which assist around 5,000 households, county officials say.
County Executive Ryan McMahon said the county cannot afford to fill in the gaps created by shifts or cuts to federal funding.
The childcare, food and housing assistance for thousands in the county now — in part — hinge on McMahon’s appeals to President Donald Trump and Congress. The affected blue states have also filed a lawsuit on Jan. 8. All five states stand to lose out on $10 billion in funds, according to the letter from HHS’ Administration for Children and Families.
“The county has no ability to continue these programs,” McMahon said.
The freeze announced by HHS is part of the federal government’s campaign to investigate fraud among social services providers doing business with state and local governments.
The county could also see more cuts to federal funds at the start of February, following an announcement from the Trump administration to slash federal aid to sanctuary states and localities, though it is unclear if Onondaga County will be included, county officials say.
News of HHS’ funding freeze have left the county perplexed and looking for answers. McMahon said the type of alleged fraud that has motivated the feds to investigate blue states does not exist in New York and Onondaga County.
Federal officials have moved to aggressively investigate allegations of fraud after the release of a viral video purporting to show fraud at childcare services run by Somali immigrants in Minnesota.
McMahon said that while there was “rampant fraud” in Minnesota, but the same fraud did not exist in New York. McMahon said he plans to reach out to Congress and the Trump administration, seeking an “offramp” to the freeze.
“This is about fraud. We don’t have that fraud here, and we can attest to that to the administration, and we’ll make the case,” the county executive said.
When asked about what that making that case might look like, McMahon said he was not sure.
The county’s chief financial officer is currently working to understand the impact that the cuts could have on the county’s finances, according to McMahon. As of publication, CFO Kristi Smiley had not responded to an email asking for details on these impacts.
“If a final decision is made and [this is] funding that is not going to happen, then certainly there, at that point, the grim reality will be that these programs will likely see cuts,” McMahon said.
‘Extraordinary and cruel’ funding freeze
The letters sent to the five blue states on Jan. 5 and 6 target the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, which provides direct cash payments that households can use on food, housing, and other essential needs.
In January 2025, nearly five thousand residents in Onondaga County received TANF funding, with expenditures totaling over $1.4 million for the month.
The Child Care and Development Fund, also in the crosshairs of HHS, pays for childcare for low income families. Funds for childcare, foster care, and other services included in the flexible funding pool known as the Social Services Block Grant are also part of HHS’ projected cuts.
All told, the county receives about $85 million in aid for TANF and daycare, said Justin Sayles, a spokesperson for the county executive.
Aiming to reinstate the funding for these programs, New York Attorney General Letitia James sued the Administration for Children and Families, calling the move by the administration “extraordinary and cruel.”
The federal government had offered “no legitimate justification” for freezing ACF funds, James wrote in the suit.
The ACF’s letters asked each state to send all documents related to their use of ACF funds within two weeks, including identifying information about the residents, James wrote in the filing.
“That is an impossible task on an impossible timeline, offered only as pretext to maintain the freeze against Plaintiff States,” wrote James in the lawsuit.
New York counties, under the direction of McMahon, have called for an end to the freeze.
In a statement on behalf of the New York State County Executive’s Association, of which he is president, McMahon wrote that localities cannot opt out of the programs.
. “Prolonged uncertainty jeopardizes the families who receive this assistance, our county governments, and our hardworking DSS employees,” McMahon said in the statement.
Onondaga County receives over $700 million in federal dollars, according to Comptroller Marty Masterpole. Much of that money simply passes through the county, and is not even included in the annual budget, as the county has no control over it.
“The budget is a roadmap for county spending,” said Masterpole. Benefits like SNAP, which are administered by the county, are reloaded automatically with no county control. If those programs were cut, there wouldn’t be an effect on county government, but there would be an effect on county residents, Masterpole explained.
McMahon said he believed that most of the congressional delegation from both parties was standing with counties in trying to reinstate the funding.
“We don’t support cost shifts to counties, no matter who’s doing it, no matter what political party’s in charge,” he said.
He said that the county would be unable to make up the funding. He added that there was “probably a little bit of flexibility” where the state would have a chance to step in, but he doubted that even New York State could fund it.
A press person from New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office did not respond to questions from Central Current about reimbursing funding, instead redirecting the reporter to NYSCEA.
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