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Budget Information

The Department of Public Welfare budget is a mixture of both state and federal funding. Each year the department is involved in the state budget process where annual funding for the department's programs and services are determined by June 30 of each year. To learn more about the budget process in Pennsylvania visit the Office of the Budget.

 

Department of Public Welfare Budget Fast Facts

 Department of Public Welfare2011-122012-13 (Proposed)
TOTAL Budget27,827,358,00027,086,060,000
STATE Funds10,560,548,00010,530,950,000
FEDERAL Funds14,933,002,00014,137,971,000
OTHER/SPECIAL Funds2,333,818,0002,417,149,000

 

 DPW’s Budget represents 43% of the TOTAL State Budget, here is a pie chart depicting where the money is spent at DPW


Pie Chart showing the percentage of DPW's Budget by Program Area: Long-Term Living; 17.2%, Child Development; 3.5%, Human Services; 8.4%, Income Maintenance; 7.0%, Administration; 1.1%, Mental Health; 1.5%, Developmental Programs; 9.4%, Medical Assistance; 51.9%.

Because over 50 percent of the DPW budget goes toward Medical Assistance (Medicaid) here are some Medicaid Fast Facts

  • Pennsylvania spends more of its budget (as a percentage) on Medicaid than 48 other states
  • Approximately 17% of Pennsylvanians are enrolled into Medical Assistance
  • Currently, we have 2.2 million individuals enrolled into MA (as of December 2011)
  • Pennsylvania spends more per capita than 46 other states on long term care services (including community base and institutional services for the elderly, adults with physical disabilities and persons with disabilities)

 Bar Chart showing the Medicaid Expenditures and Enrollees by Category of Assistance for Fiscal Year 2012-13. (Dollar amounts in Thousands) - Number of Eligible People: Elderly - 333,233; Disabled - 501,253 (23%); Families - 1,235,560 (57%); Adults w/o children - 97.569 (5%). Expenditures: Elderly - $4,465,109; Disabled - $7,902,875; Families - $3,842,831; Adults w/o children - $738.717.

DPW by the Numbers:

  • 2,754,000 unique individuals receive a service from a DPW program. This means that for every 2.1 employed persons in PA there is one person receiving a DPW benefit
  • 1,838,016 individuals are enrolled in food stamps (December 2011)
  • 220,239 receiving TANF (December 2011)
  • 69,095 receiving CASH assistance via General Assistance (GA) (December 2011)
  • 41,077 individuals with intellectual disabilities receiving community base services (November 2011)
  • 366 Adults with Autism served in a community based program (November 2011)
  • 796,895 individuals receiving behavioral health services (For Fiscal Year 2010-11)
  • 126,786 receiving services through child care works (child care subsidies) (Sept 2011)
  • 171,353 children receiving child welfare services in the home (For Fiscal Year 2010-11)
  • 168,821 children served in high quality child care settings (Keystone STARS) (For Fiscal Year 2010-11)
  • DPW’s staff complement is 16,624 (as of December 2011)

 

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