Overview
The Targeted Inflationary Increase (TII) and Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) help service providers address inflation by providing funding to first increase wages for non-executive direct care, support, and clinical staff and then to cover other critical service needs. Over recent years, TIIs and COLAs have been included in the state budget as follows:
- 5.4 percent Cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) funding from the 2022/2023 NYS Budget
- 4 percent COLA funding from the 2023/2024 NYS Budget
- 2.84 percent funding from the 2024/2025 NYS Budget
- 2.6 percent Targeted Inflationary Increase (TII) funding from 2025/2026 NYS Budget
OPWDD providers receiving TII and COLA funds are required to complete a certification form, confirming how the funds were used or will be used. They are required to identify wage increases given to staff and report that increase as a percentage of base salaries.
Each service provider submitted a completed certification survey describing how the following TIIs and COLAs will be or was used to promote the recruitment and retention of direct support professionals, clinical staff or to respond to other critical non-personal service costs.