Statement on Nomination of Daniel Tietz as Commissioner of the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance
Áine Duggan, President and CEO of The Partnership to End Homelessness, issued the following statement about Governor Kathy Hochul’s nomination of Daniel Tietz to lead the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance:
“We applaud Governor Hochul for her nomination of Daniel Tietz to lead the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA).
The Governor’s selection of Mr. Tietz signals that the agency’s culture will shift from one that has historically prevented people from accessing benefits to one that assists New Yorkers in need access the services and supports for which they are eligible, and which are integral to families and low-income communities rebuilding their lives in the months and years ahead.
Mr. Tietz’s extensive experience in the nonprofit and public sector will prove particularly valuable at a time in our state’s history when we need someone who both understands government and bureaucracy, and the needs of New Yorkers, as we seek to recover from the pandemic.
We look forward to working with Mr. Tietz, and resume our call for the State to pursue a strategy of ending homelessness by preventing it. A two-fold approach to prevention is the smartest solution: safeguarding and stabilizing New Yorkers in the homes they have via rental and legal assistance, mediation, and supportive services; and, safeguarding New York’s stock of affordable homes via investments in affordable and supportive housing and market value housing vouchers.
As the most cost effective as well as humanitarian solution, prevention is a strategy that will surely be music to our new Commissioner’s ears.”
About The Partnership to End Homelessness
The Partnership to End Homelessness seeks to solve homelessness by preventing it with robust programming for New Yorkers at-risk of or experiencing homelessness—now and for future generations. Our work is putting the building blocks in place to address immediate housing needs, create stability through important health interventions, disrupt generational homelessness, and change the public narrative about homelessness. Learn more at www.partnershipforthehomeless.org.