Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 39, September 25, 2024
(a) The standard of
need includes an allowance to be provided by each social services district for
persons residing in the following living situations: room and board; approved
residential programs for victims of domestic violence; maternity homes; family
homes or boarding homes; family care or residential care facilities;
drug-abuse-control facilities and residential facilities for the mentally
disabled. With respect to residential programs for victims of domestic violence
operated in accordance with the provisions of Parts 452 and 453 or 454 or 455
of this Title, the allowance is established in accordance with the provisions
of Part 408 of this Title. With respect to a family or pregnant woman properly
referred and admitted to a shelter for families operated in accordance with the
provisions of Part 900 of this Title, the standard of assistance is and the
social services district making such referral must pay to the shelter the
family's cost of residence in the shelter, for periods of residence authorized
by Part 900, at a rate approved pursuant to section
900.16
of this Title. Part 900 governs all costs, payments and allowances for
maintenance of persons residing in family shelters.
(b) Each social services official must
establish:
(1) An allowance for each
recipient or family purchasing room and/or board to cover the cost of board,
room rent and other expenses, except where such items and services are
furnished by a legally responsible relative or a recipient of public
assistance. This allowance, including but not limited to rates set for entities
governed by section
352.3(e)
of this Part, is subject to review and approval by the Office of Temporary and
Disability Assistance (the office) pursuant to a timetable established by the
office in accordance with paragraph (2) of this subdivision. For each recipient
or family purchasing room and/or board from an individual, family or from a
commercially operated boarding house, such allowance cannot exceed the sum of
the statewide monthly grant and allowance, the statewide monthly home energy
payments, the statewide monthly supplemental home energy payments and the local
agency monthly shelter allowance schedule without children as contained in
section
352.3(a)(1)
of this Part.
(2)
[Reserved]
(3) An
allowance for each person residing in a maternity home, at the lowest rate for
which suitable care can be purchased from such facility.
(4) An allowance for each recipient receiving
care in a Level 1, Level 2 or Level 3 certified congregate care facility. The
allowance is based on the rates provided for care and maintenance under the
Supplemental Security Income Program for SSI beneficiaries residing in the same
facility, less the amount of any personal needs allowance included in the SSI
rate. The facilities included are:
(i) Level
1. Family-type homes certified by the Office of Children and Family Services
and family care homes certified by the Office of Mental Health or the Office of
Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities.
(ii) Level 2. Residences for adults certified
by the Department of Health; programs providing intensive residential
rehabilitation services, community residential services or supportive living
services certified by the Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services;
supportive community residences, supervised community residences and
individualized residential alternatives certified by the Office of Mental
Retardation and Developmental Disabilities; and apartment treatment, congregate
treatment and congregate support facilities certified by the Office of Mental
Health. For purposes of this subparagraph, congregate care Level 2 facilities
do not include intermediate care facilities or respite care
facilities.
(iii) Level 3. Adult
homes and enriched housing programs certified by the Department of Health and
schools for the mentally retarded certified by the Office of Mental Retardation
and Developmental Disabilities.
(5) An additional allowance for each public
assistance applicant/recipient who meets the requirements of section
349.4 or
section
369.4(c)
of this Title concerning temporary absences from the home and who is receiving
Level I, Level 2 or Level 3 care in a certified congregate care facility listed
in paragraph (4) of this subdivision at the rates provided for care and
maintenance under the Supplemental Security Income Program for SSI
beneficiaries residing in the same facility, less the amount of any personal
needs allowance included in the SSI rate.
(6) A per diem rate to cover the costs of
shelter, care and other activities in an approved residential program for
victims of domestic violence for persons who are in receipt of public
assistance and care at the time of admission to the program or who apply for
emergency assistance to needy families, family assistance, safety net
assistance or any other form of public assistance and care under section 131 or
131-a of the Social Services Law, during the time of residency in such program
and are found eligible for such assistance and care. This rate must be
established in accordance with the provisions of Part 408 of this
Title.
(c)
(1) Each social services official shall
provide an allowance for monthly personal needs for clothing and incidentals
for recipients residing in:
(i) Boarding
homes or under room and board arrangements or approved residential programs for
victims of domestic violence in which three meals per day are provided, or
facilities certified by the Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services
other than community residences, in the amount of $45; infirmaries, nursing
homes, intermediate care facilities, or similar medical facilities, in the
amount of $40.
(ii) Congregate care
Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 at the amount included in the SSI payment level as
the personal needs allowance for SSI recipients residing in the particular
facility. For recipients of public assistance who are required to participate
in appropriate residential rehabiliation programs pursuant to section
351.2(i)
and section
370.2(c)(8)(ii)
of this Title, such allowances must be made as restricted payments to the
residential programs and must be conditional payments. If a public assistance
recipient required to participate in an appropriate residential rehabilitation
program pursuant to section
351.2(i)
and section
370.2(c)(8)(ii)
of this Title leaves the program prior to completion of the program, any
accumulated personal needs allowance which is held by the program on behalf of
the recipient must be considered to be an overpayment and must be returned by
the program to the social services district which provided the personal needs
allowance. The question of whether the recipient has left the program prior to
completion will be determined solely by using the guidelines and rules of the
program.
(2) When a
facility provides some or all or the items for which the allowance is intended
through an in-kind contribution, the value thereof shall be computed and shall
be applied to reduce the amount of the allowance.
(3) When a facility does not provide needed
personal items including clothing and a recipient is deemed incapable of
managing funds, a protective payment shall be made, if feasible; if not, the
social services official shall meet such needs in kind.
(d) If necessary to retain Level 1, Level 2
or Level 3 care in a certified congregate care facility listed in paragraph
(b)(4) of this section for a recipient expected to be in a medical facility for
no more than 30 days, the social services district must authorize an allowance
sufficient to retain such care. Such allowance must not be paid for more than
30 days.
(e) An allowance to meet
the cost of board and room or care in a maternity home, family-type home, adult
home, residence for adults, enriched housing program, intermediate care
facility, hostel for the mentally retarded or residential facility for the
mentally retarded shall be made for the entire month in which the case is
accepted if essential to retain the use of the facility. An allowance may be
made to pay for the cost of such care for a period prior to the month in which
the case was opened, but not prior to the date of application under the
following specified conditions:
(1) such
payment is essential to retain the care in the facility and no other facilities
are available; and
(2) the
authorization for payment of such back bill receives written approval by the
social services official or such other administrative officer as he may
designate, provided such person is higher in authority than the supervisor who
regularly approves authorization.
(f) The standard of need for determining
eligibility of a single person who has applied for safety net assistance who
resides in a public shelter for the homeless other than a shelter for families
operated under Part 900 of this Title is the sum of the statewide monthly grant
and allowance, the statewide monthly home energy payments, the statewide
supplemental home energy payments and the local agency monthly shelter
allowance schedule without children, as contained in section
352.3(a)(1)
of this Part, each for a single person living alone. A single person who
resides in a shelter for the homeless who has applied for and is found eligible
for safety net assistance must be paid a monthly cash allowance of $45, reduced
by any available income in accordance with section
352.29
of this Part. The remainder of said standard of need is to be met through the
provision of items of need by the shelter.
