Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 39, September 25, 2024
(a) Furnishings.
(1) If provision therefor cannot otherwise be
made, each social services district shall provide for the purchase of necessary
and essential furniture, furnishings, equipment and supplies required for the
establishment of a home for persons in need of public assistance. For purposes
of this subdivision, such an allowance shall be provided only when, in the
judgment of the social services official, one of the following conditions
exists:
(i) An individual or family
temporarily housed in a hotel, motel, homeless shelter, residential program for
victims of domestic violence or other temporary accommodation to which the
individual or family has been referred by the social services district is being
permanently rehoused in unfurnished housing accommodations, and suitable
furnished accommodations are not available.
(ii) An unattached individual, whose needs
cannot otherwise be met under Part 397 of this Title, is discharged from an
institution, is determined to be capable of maintaining an apartment in the
community, and suitable furnished accommodations are not available.
(iii) An adult, whose needs cannot otherwise
be met under Part 397 of this Title, is discharged from an institution and
wishes to rejoin his family, which is in need of additional furniture to
provide adequate shelter for him.
(iv) A child is returned to his parents, who
are in need of additional furniture to provide adequate shelter for
him.
(v) An individual's or
family's living situation adversely affects the physical and mental health of
that individual or family, and it is essential that the individual or family be
rehoused in unfurnished housing accommodations in order to safeguard his or
their health, safety and well-being.
(2) An allowance provided under paragraph (1)
of this subdivision may not exceed the amounts authorized for the appropriate
rooms and items in the following schedule:
SCHEDULE SA-4a INITIAL OR REPLACEMENT COST OF ESSENTIAL
HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE, FURNISHINGS, EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES
| Living room | $182 |
| Bedroom with a single bed | $145 |
| with two single beds | $205 |
| with double bed | $184 |
| Kitchen (excluding appliances) | $142 (plus
$12 for each additional person) |
| Range | $182 |
| Refrigerator) | $182 (or $258 for four or
more persons |
| Bathroom | $ 6 (plus $4 for each additional
person) |
| Other equipment |
| Cabinet for linens | $ 22 |
| Stove for heating | $ 72 (or $82 for five or
more persons) |
(3) Documentation of the need for such
furniture shall be fully recorded in each case record.
(b) Equipment repairs. Each social services
district must provide for the essential repair of heating equipment, cooking
stoves and refrigerators used by persons in need of public assistance in their
homes, provided provision therefore cannot otherwise be made except that
replacement may be authorized when less expensive than repair. Such allowances
for cooking stoves and refrigerators cannot exceed the amounts authorized under
schedule SA-4a.
(c) Additional cost
of meals. Each social services district must provide for the additional costs
of meals for persons unable to prepare meals at home or who do not otherwise
receive meals in their residences in accordance with the following
schedule:
(d)
Replacement of clothing or furniture. Each social services district shall
provide for partial or total replacement of clothing or furniture which has
been lost in a fire, flood or other like catastrophe, provided such needs
cannot otherwise be met through assistance from relatives or friends or from
other agencies or other resources. Such allowances shall not exceed the amounts
authorized under schedules SA-4a and SA-4b.
SCHEDULE SA-4b
REPLACEMENT COST OF CLOTHING
| Birth through 5 years | $48.00 |
| 6 through 11 years | $73.00 |
| 12 through adult | $89.00 |
(g) Payment for services and supplies already
received. Assistance grants shall be made to meet only current needs. Under the
following specified circumstances payment for services or supplies already
received is deemed a current need:
(1)
Replacement of lost or stolen checks.
(i) If
an applicant or recipient reports to a local social services official that a
check has been lost or stolen, an affidavit of loss shall be required of the
recipient, and payment of the check shall be stopped. If the recipient has not
already done so, he shall be required by the local social services official to
report the loss or theft to the police, to obtain from them the blotter entry
number, or classification number, or file number or other available evidence of
the reporting, and to furnish such evidence to the local social services
official. When satisfied that such police report has been made, the local
social services official shall issue a replacement check to the recipient, on
which there shall appear above the place for the recipient's signature, the
following: "By endorsing or cashing this check I acknowledge that this is a
replacement for a check, number ________ dated ________ drawn to my order on
________ which was lost/stolen; that I have not received the proceeds of said
check directly or indirectly; and that I have been informed it is illegal for
me to cash said check, and if I do so, I am liable to prosecution."
(ii) If payment is not stopped on the
original check and it and the replacement check are both cashed, only one shall
be subject to State reimbursement, and the social services district shall limit
its claim for State reimbursement to one of the two checks.
(iii) If it is established that a recipient
endorsed and cashed an allegedly lost or stolen check which has been replaced,
the amount of such check shall be recovered from the recipient as provided for
by the provisions of the regulations of this department.
(2) Replacement of electronic benefits. When
a recipient claims that he or she has not received electronic cash public
assistance benefits which the department's computer issuance record indicates
were issued, the social services district must verify the validity of the
computer issuance record in accordance with procedures established by the
department. If it is verified that a valid issuance transaction occurred, the
benefits cannot be replaced. If it is determined that a valid issuance
transaction did not occur, the benefits must be restored in accordance with
section
352.31(f)
of this Part.
(3) A grant may be
made to pay for rent, property taxes or mortgage arrears for the time prior to
the month in which the public assistance case was opened or for applicants for
emergency assistance under Parts 370 and 372 of this Title. Shelter arrears
payments authorized for applicants under this paragraph are limited to a total
period of six months once every five years unless the district determines at
its discretion that additional shelter arrears payments are necessary based on
the individual case circumstances. Such payments may be made only when:
(i) such payment is essential to forestall
eviction or foreclosure and no other shelter accommodations are available;
or
(ii) the health and safety of
the applicant is severely threatened by failure to make such payment;
and
(iii) the authorization for the
payment receives special written approval by the social services official or
such other administrative officer as he or she may designate, provided such
person is higher in authority than the supervisor who regularly approves
authorization;
(iv) the applicant
reasonably demonstrates an ability to pay shelter expenses, including any
amounts in excess of the appropriate local agency maximum monthly shelter
allowance, in the future. However, when in the judgment of the local social
services official, the individual or family has sufficient income or resources
to secure and maintain alternate permanent housing, shelter arrears need not be
paid to maintain a specific housing accommodation;
(v) such payment does not exceed the local
agency maximum monthly shelter allowance. A district may, consistent with
subparagraph (iv) of this paragraph, issue a grant for arrears in excess of the
maximum monthly shelter allowance. However, any amount above the local agency
maximum monthly shelter allowance paid towards the monthly arrears is an
overpayment subject to recovery and recoupment in accordance with section
352.31
of this Part;
(vi) the applicant,
if accepted for on-going public assistance, agrees to future restriction of
shelter payments in accordance with Part 381 of this Title; and
(vii) in the case of an applicant who is not
eligible for Safety Net Assistance, Family Assistance, Emergency Assistance to
Families, or Emergency Assistance to Adults, such applicant is without income
or resources immediately available to meet an emergency need, such applicant's
gross household income at the time of application does not exceed 125 percent
of the Federal income official poverty line as defined and annually revised by
the United States Department of Health and Human Services under the authority
of 42 U.S.C.
9902(2), and such applicant
signs an agreement to repay the assistance in a period not to exceed 12 months
from receipt of such assistance. The repayment agreement must set forth a
schedule of payments that will assure repayment within the 12-month period, and
must specify the frequency of the payments, the due date of the first payment,
the address where payments must be made and the consequences of failing to
repay the assistance as agreed. Subsequent assistance to pay arrears may not be
granted unless there are no past-due amounts owed under any such repayment
agreement. The social services district, in addition to any rights it has
pursuant to the Social Services Law, may enforce the repayment agreement in any
manner available to a creditor.
(4) A recipient of public assistance who is
threatened with eviction or foreclosure or who is being evicted or whose
property is being foreclosed upon for nonpayment of rent, mortgage or taxes
incurred during a period for which a grant had been previously issued to the
recipient may be provided with an advance allowance for rent, mortgage
principal and interest payments or taxes in accordance with section
352.11 of this
Part. Shelter arrears payments, including advance allowance payments,
authorized under this paragraph are limited to a total period of six months
once every five years unless the district determines at its discretion that
additional shelter arrears payments are necessary based on the individual case
circumstances. Advance investigation of the need for restricted payments must
be conducted in accordance with Part 381 of this Title. An allowance for rent,
mortgage principal and interest payments or taxes which exceeds the appropriate
local agency maximum monthly shelter allowance can be made only if all of the
following conditions are met:
(i)
notwithstanding section
352.23(b)
of this Part, the recipient agrees to use all available liquid resources for
the payment of shelter expenses necessary to prevent eviction or
foreclosure;
(ii) the recipient
demonstrates an ability to pay shelter expenses in the future, including any
amounts in excess of the appropriate local agency maximum monthly shelter
allowance;
(iii) the recipient
agrees to future restriction of rent or mortgage payments; and
(iv) the recipient has not previously
received an allowance in excess of the appropriate local agency maximum monthly
shelter allowance pursuant to this paragraph and, subsequent to receiving such
allowance, requested discontinuation of restriction of the shelter payments to
which he or she agreed pursuant to this paragraph.
(h) Chattel mortgages or
conditional sales contracts. If the furniture or household equipment of an
applicant, who has not been a recipient of public assistance within the
previous six months preceding his application, is essential to making his
living accommodations habitable but are presently encumbered by a chattel
mortgage or a conditional sales contract, every effort shall be made to defer,
cancel or reduce payments on such chattel mortgage or conditional sales
contract. If all such efforts fail, an allowance may be made for a compromise
settlement of such payments or, if a compromise cannot be reached, for other
essential payments; provided, however, that the compromise settlement or
allowances shall not exceed the cost of replacement.
(i) Camp fees. When funds cannot be obtained
from other sources, camp fees may be paid for children receiving Family
Assistance or Safety Net Assistance not in excess of total cost of $400 per
child per annum, in amounts not to exceed $200 per week.
(k) Additional needs because of pregnancy. A
monthly allowance of $50 shall be added to the appropriate monthly grant and
allowance of a needy pregnant woman beginning with the fourth month of
pregnancy or the month in which medical verification of the pregnancy is
presented to the district, whichever is later.
(m) Supplemental payments. The social
services official must provide a monthly allowance to supplement the income of
an ADC, PG-ADC, HR or VA household when the household experiences a net loss of
cash income due to the acceptance of employment by a JOBS participant who is a
member of the household, when such acceptance is required by the social
services district. A net loss of cash income occurs when the monthly gross
income of the household, subtracting necessary actual work-related expenses, is
less than the cash assistance the household received in the month in which the
offer of employment was made. The supplement must equal the monthly net loss of
cash income that would occur if the supplement were not paid to the household.
(1) Gross income includes, but is not limited
to, earnings, unearned income and cash assistance.
(2) Cash assistance means the budget deficit
as defined in section
352.29
of this Part.
(3) Necessary actual
work-related expenses are the actual, verifiable and unreimbursed expenses
directly related to maintaining employment.
(i) Such expenses include, but are not
limited to:
(a) mandatory payroll deductions
such as Federal, State and local taxes, social security taxes, disability
insurance and union dues;
(b)
tools, materials, uniforms and other special clothing required for the
job;
(c) mandatory fees for
licenses or permits fixed by law;
(d) deductions for medical insurance
coverage;
(e) child care up to the
local market rate; and
(f)
transportation, including the cost of transporting children to and from day
care, except that the amount for use of a motor vehicle must be computed on a
mileage basis at the same rate paid to employees of the social services
district and must only be allowed when public transportation is not
available.
(ii) Such
expenses do not include:
(a) meals;
(b) business-related depreciation;
(c) personal business and entertainment
expenses;
(d) personal (not
work-related) transportation;
(e)
purchase of capital equipment; and
(f) payments on the principal of
loans.
(n) Burials. Allowances shall be made for
burial of applicants for and recipients of public assistance in accordance with
section 141 of the Social Services Law.
(o) Removals. Allowances must be made to
applicants for or recipients of public assistance who are removed to another
state or country in accordance with this section. Such allowances can only be
made for the reasonable and necessary expenses of such removals, as authorized
by the following:
(1) Conditions for
removals. A social services official shall authorize removal of a person to
another state or foreign country only when the official has determined that:
(i) the person belongs in the other state or
foreign country, based upon settlement, residence or otherwise, or relatives or
friends have given assurances that they will support the person, in whole or in
part; and
(ii) the welfare of the
person to be removed and the interest of the State will be promoted by the
removal.
(2) Costs of
removal. Costs of removing persons from this State to another state or another
country are reimbursable at 50 percent for reasonable and necessary
expenditures for:
(i) meals
enroute;
(ii) transfer of
baggage;
(iii) transportation by
such means as circumstances warrant; and
(iv) other reasonable and necessary expenses,
including meals and lodging, and transportation costs of an attendant,
including the attendant's meals and lodging but excluding charges for the
attendant's time or services.
