Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 18, September 16, 2024
(a) The county or municipal agency is authorized
to provide the following kinds of assistance to meet emergency situations when there is no other source of
support available: payment for emergency shelter and emergency temporary housing and allowances for permanent
living arrangements including, but not limited to, allowances for retroactive rental, mortgage or utility
payments, security deposits for rent and utilities and advance rent, eviction related costs that are
authorized by DFD, reasonable costs of transportation required to search for housing, reasonable costs of
temporary storage of personal possessions (see (a)4iv below), moving expenses, food, clothing, essential
house furnishings including a one-time purchase of an air conditioning unit when medically necessary and,
when applicable, the one-time payment of a Citizenship Application Fee and associated fingerprinting fee.
1. The county/municipal agency shall determine the most appropriate form of
emergency housing which is required to address the need and authorize payment of the costs of adequate
emergency shelter/housing, taking into consideration individual/family circumstances and services provided.
Such emergency housing shall include placement in shelters; hotel/motel placement; transitional housing; or
shelters for victims of domestic violence.
i. Adult EA recipients
transitioning from GA to TANF, who are residing in transitional housing, shelter or hotel/motel placement,
and who appear to meet the TANF Initiative for Parents (TIP) eligibility requirements, shall receive a
mandatory TIP assessment by the TIP Vendor for continued EA eligibility. The outreach and assessment results
shall be documented on the EA service plan.
ii. A pending
eviction or foreclosure must be documented, either through a tenancy complaint filed by the landlord or an
order from a court for eviction or foreclosure. Where such documentation does not exist, a letter from a
landlord or other person serving in such capacity (relative/friend with whom the individual/family is
residing), subject to agency verification, stating that eviction is imminent or has occurred shall be
accepted by the agency.
2. When food is not available
from any other source, an amount of $ 4.50 per day per person shall be authorized and allowed until such time
as other funds become available (for example, the next regular assistance payment, support payment, receipt
of earnings or receipt of NJ SNAP benefits).
i. When it is necessary to
provide temporary living arrangements for a recipient by utilizing emergency shelter/housing in a hotel,
motel, or other facility in which cooking facilities are not available or are determined by the county or
municipal agency to be inadequate, payments for restaurant meals, not to exceed $ 7.50 per person per day,
shall be authorized and allowed until such time as other funds become available.
3. When the agency determines that they are necessary, payments to enable a
recipient to purchase minimum essential clothing for physical health and safety shall be granted, not to
exceed the amounts stated below, unless authorized by DFD on a case-by-case basis.
i. Adult--$ 86.00;
ii. Child,
age 13 and over--$ 86.00;
iii. Child, age five through 12--$
48.00;
iv. Child, birth through four--$ 29.00.
4. Allowances for those items deemed urgent and essential to the
physical health and safety of the recipient shall not exceed those amounts stated at (a)4i below. The
recipient is obligated to use any other reasonable source for provision of these items, including, but not
limited to, relatives and charitable organizations.
i. Items deemed urgent
and essential to the physical health and well being of the individual or family, as appropriate, include, but
are not limited to, the following: a refrigerator, a dinette set, kitchen equipment, lamps, beds, cribs,
chests of drawers and bed and bath linens. A maximum allowance is provided for the purchase of such items.
Payment for these items shall not be made on more than three occasions during the 60 cumulative month
lifetime limit under WFNJ assistance.
| No. of eligible persons: |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
| Maximum allowance: |
$ 585 |
$ 745 |
$ 895 |
$ |
$ |
$ 1,365 |
| 1,045 |
1,195 |
| Add $ 150 for each additional person |
ii.
Replacement of house furnishings is not solely limited to replacement of items lost or destroyed in the
incident that gave rise to the emergency. For example, a recipient may be moving from a hotel/motel shelter
or furnished apartment into an unfurnished living arrangement where there is no essential furniture.
Likewise, when an item which is essential for the recipient's health and well-being, such as a refrigerator,
wears out, EA funds may appropriately be used to replace it.
iii.
Itemized invoices and vouchers shall be provided to the county or municipal agency for all
purchases.
iv. Payment of storage costs shall be made at the most
reasonable rates available and shall not exceed six months. If additional time is required due to individual
circumstances, the agency shall request approval from DFD.
5. Payment shall be authorized for up to any three calendar months of
retroactive rental or mortgage payments if it will prevent actual eviction or foreclosure, and/or six
calendar months of retroactive utility payments if it will prevent the loss of utilities or make utilities
operable.
i. Payment for more than three calendar months of retroactive
rental or mortgage payments and/or six months of retroactive utility payments shall be made only under
extraordinary circumstances (as found at
10:90-6.4(b)1
) subject to authorization by DFD.
ii. Basic utilities are those that are necessary to make a dwelling
habitable. At a minimum, basic utilities shall include electric, water, a fuel source for heating and cooking
and, where applicable, sewerage and garbage disposal. In those instances where it is necessary to pay a
utility deposit in order to reinstate utilities, such payment may be made under EA.
6. If appropriate for the individual/family situation, WFNJ recipients
shall be notified that temporary rental assistance (TRA) may be provided, when the recipient is facing
eviction, in order to maintain current permanent housing which had previously been affordable but which is no
longer affordable for reasons such as, but not limited to, loss of employment, temporary unemployment or
underemployment and it is anticipated that such housing will again become affordable; or when it is
determined that maintaining the unit in the current housing arrangement is both the least costly alternative
and serves to preserve the family structure while the search for affordable housing continues. TRA is the
preferred form of emergency housing assistance in all situations, as appropriate.
7. If appropriate for the individual/family situation, WFNJ recipients
shall be notified that TRA may also be provided to recipients who have experienced an actual state of
homelessness and are able to locate a housing arrangement or can be accommodated in a housing arrangement in
lieu of temporary shelter when the county/municipal agency has determined that a TRA is the appropriate
remedy to address the emergency. The agency may authorize TRA when the total cost of housing inclusive of
basic utilities is equal to or below the current Fair Market Rent (FMR), as established by the United States
Department of Housing and Urban Development for the county of residence. The agency shall also consider the
recipient's eligibility for the Universal Service Fund or other utility assistance programs in the FMR
calculation.
i. TRA shall be provided when:
(1) The total cost of housing does not exceed the current FMR for the
county in which the recipient resides. Amounts in excess of the current FMR will require prior approval and
authorization of subsidy level by DFD; and
(2) The recipient's
service plan and individual responsibility plan states the conditions under which a TRA has been granted and
reflect the recipient's understanding of such.
ii. TRA
shall not be discontinued when an adult recipient of WFNJ benefits has been sanctioned for noncompliance with
the work requirement until one month after all WFNJ cash assistance to the eligible unit has been terminated
and the case closed as a result of a failure to correct a sanction, provided this period of time in sanctions
is prior to the 12-month lifetime limit placed on EA.
iii. In a
household with two adult recipients, where one adult is noncompliant, and the cash assistance is reduced by
the pro rata share, the agency portion of the EA/TRA shall be adjusted to offset the decrease in the cash
assistance.
(b) The county or municipal
agency may authorize payment for security deposits when a TRA is being provided. Issuance of a new security
deposit shall not be contingent upon return of the previous deposit.
(c) EA shall not be provided to adult recipients who are terminated without
good cause from an EA placement, such as a hotel/motel shelter or transitional housing for a period of six
months when the termination is the result of the adult recipient's actions, which may include, but are not
limited to, the actions identified in (c)1 through 6 below. Such a determination cannot be made unless the
county and municipal agencies have thoroughly reviewed with the recipient, prior to placement, the hotel,
motel, shelter, or transitional housing violations that could result in EA termination and a six-month period
of ineligibility.
1. Possession of a weapon or an instrument used as a
weapon after entry into the shelter;
2. Destruction of shelter
property or the property of others;
3. Threatening and/or
disruptive behavior that affects the operations of the shelter or the safety of the other
residents;
4. Possession or use of drugs or alcohol on the
premises. If the recipient is terminated from the shelter for this reason, EA cannot be terminated unless the
recipient is already participating in the SAI and with the consultation of the SAI coordinator. Otherwise,
the recipient shall be referred to the SAI;
5. Violation of
health and safety policies, including, but not limited to, smoking in undesignated areas, burning of candles
or incense in the room, and the use of hotplates or other cooking devices in the room; or
6. More than one violation of the same rule of the hotel/motel or shelter,
other than those enumerated in (c)1 through 5 above, which has a substantial effect on the health and safety
of the residents, staff or facility.
(d) The CWA/MWA
shall request, prior to EA termination, that the facility provide written documentation to support the
termination, if possible.
(e) The recipient shall be eligible for
continued EA for other violations, including, but not limited to, those identified in (e)1 below, that may
result in a termination from a facility. The caseworker shall evaluate the recipient's circumstances and make
an appropriate placement. A hotel/motel placement shall be considered as a last resort when there are no
supervised placements available.
1. An adult EA recipient who incurs two or
more terminations, for reasons that may include, but are not limited to the following will result in a loss
of EA for a period of six months.
i. Failure to observe the curfew policy
of the facility, without good cause;
ii. An absence from the
facility without good cause, for 24 hours or more, without prior notification or approval; or
iii. Violation of the facility's policies concerning visitation, for
example, visits to other floors, rooms or outside guests.
(f) For other minor violations that may result in an eviction from the
hotel/motel or transitional housing placement, the adult recipient will be eligible for continued EA in a
supervised placement only. However, hotel/motel placements may be utilized when there are no supervised
placements available. A second eviction will result in a loss of EA for a period of six months, unless good
cause has been determined.
(g) Prior to EA termination, the
agencies shall review, with the recipient, the reason(s) for the termination. If additional barriers are
identified that may have prevented EA compliance, then the recipient is considered to have good cause and
shall not be terminated and a penalty shall not be imposed. The recipient shall be required to follow through
with services to address those barriers for continued EA eligibility. Such services shall be identified as
mandatory activities in the EA service plan.
(h) For any
subsequent placement, the CWA/MWA shall revise the EA service plan and ensure that the recipient is made
aware that failure to comply with the rules of the placement will render him or her ineligible for EA for six
months.
(i) The EA penalty shall be lifted when the applicant or
recipient experiences a new emergency, which may include, but is not limited to, a fire, natural disaster or
a new eviction, through no fault of the applicant or recipient; or if the family has a Division of Child
Protection and Permanency case opened for abuse and neglect pursuant to
10:90-6.1(c)3
xii.
1. On a case-by-case basis and in
consultation with DFD, the penalty may also be lifted when deemed appropriate by the county or municipal
agency.
