Presented here are suggestions by the Community Service Society of New York to the 1981 New York State Leqislature regarding state government's obligations to the poor and disadvantaged. The three recommendations that receive priority in the report are calls for increasing the public assistance grant, financing the Child Welfare Reform Act, and providing adequate funding for community based public services. Other areas of legislative concern include education, criminal justice, housing, and health and nutrition. Under education, the report proposes a more equitable state aid formula, and an increase in the State's share of the costs of educating disabled children. Criminal justice recommendations focus on the repeal of the juvenile offender law, an increase in community services for juveniles, sentencing reform, and an increase in funds for prison alternatives. An increase in funds for preventive and primary ambulatory care, home care, and maternal and child care is urged in the area of health services. Finally, for housing improvement, the report proposes real estate tax assessment reform, passage of the Emergency Tenant Protection Act, and the use of state bonding authority to establish a housing rehabilitation program. (APM)