New York Codes, Rules and Regulations
Title 18 - DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES
Chapter II - Regulations of the Department of Social Services
Subchapter B - Public Assistance
Article 2 - Determination of Eligibility-Categorical
Part 370 - Safety Net Assistance
Section 370.4 - Determination and payment of the grant
Universal Citation: 18 NY Comp Codes Rules and Regs ยง 370.4
Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 39, September 25, 2024
(a) General. Determination of initial and continuing eligibility and the amount of the grant must be based upon the State-established standards of assistance. Needs must be determined, resources explored and utilized, and the budgetary method applied, as required by Part 352 of this Subchapter. The form and frequency of the grant must be appropriate to individual case circumstances.
(b) Payment of grants.
(1) Cash assistance. Except as provided in
subparagraph (i) of this paragraph, safety net assistance must be granted in
cash except when the granting of cash may be deemed inappropriate by the social
services district because of an inability to manage funds, or because less
expensive or more easily controlled alternative methods of payment are
available, or when vendor payments are made to landlords on behalf of
individuals residing in public housing, or for similar other reasons as
established by Part 381 of this Chapter. However, where an individual has so
requested, safety net assistance may be granted in whole or in part by
restricted payment. Safety net cash assistance is limited as follows:
(i) Cash assistance cannot be provided to:
(a) families in which the head of household
or an adult household member is determined to be unable to work by reason of
his or her need for treatment for alcohol or substance abuse in accordance with
section
351.2(i)
of this Title;
(b) members of a
household in which the head of household or an adult household member refused
to comply with screening or formal assessment for alcohol or substance abuse in
accordance with section
351.2(i)
of this Title;
(c) members of a
household in which the head of household or an adult household member fails to
comply with an alcohol or substance abuse rehabilitation program in accordance
with section
351.2(i)
of this Title;
(d) families which
are ineligible for FA because an adult in the family has exceeded the maximum
durational limit in accordance with section
369.4(d)
of this Title, unless the adult is exempt from employment requirements or is
HIV positive and not determined to be unable to work by reason of his or her
need for treatment for alcohol or substance abuse in accordance with section
351.2(i)
of this Title; and
(e) persons who
have received safety net cash assistance for a two-year (24- month) cumulative
total in a lifetime, including the receipt of recurring emergency safety net
cash assistance, unless an adult head of household is exempt from work
requirements or is HIV positive and not determined to be unable to work by
reason of his or her need for treatment for alcohol or substance abuse in
accordance with section
351.2(i)
of this Title.
Persons eligible for safety net assistance who cannot receive cash assistance pursuant to this subparagraph, must be provided with safety net non-cash assistance.
(ii) Safety net cash assistance must be
limited to a two-year (24-month) cumulative total for eligible persons not
exempt from employment requirements or not HIV positive and not determined to
be unable to work by reason of his or her need for treatment for alcohol or
substance abuse in accordance with section
351.2(i)
of this Title. Except as set forth in this subparagraph, the month in which a
safety net cash assistance benefit is issued, by any method of payment, counts
against the two-year (24-month) limit. This limitation applies to individuals
in receipt of safety net assistance or home relief on or after August 4, 1997.
Beginning on December 1, 2000, the month in which a safety net cash assistance
payment is made in an amount equal to a recipient's safety net cash assistance
deficit for the month, which is a work subsidy issued to an employer or a third
party for the costs of wages or benefits for the recipient, must not be counted
toward the recipient's two-year (24-month) time limit on the receipt of safety
net cash assistance. An individual or head of household who is exempt from
employment requirements or HIV positive and not determined to be unable to work
by reason of his or her need for treatment for alcohol or substance abuse in
accordance with section
351.2(i)
of this Title, continues to be eligible for cash assistance
indefinitely.
(iii) The months in
which any individual receives recurring emergency safety net assistance must
count against the two-year (24-month) cumulative total of safety net cash
assistance.
(iv) The cumulative
total of months in which an individual received safety net cash assistance
benefits is applied against the cumulative 60-month limit on the receipt of FA
in accordance with section
369.4(d)
of this Title.
(2)
Non-cash assistance. Safety net assistance paid as non-cash assistance must be
paid in the following manner and in the following order:
(i) Shelter assistance. A district must make
a payment for shelter by direct payment, two-party check or other form of
restricted payment up to the maximum amount established by Part 352 of this
Title. The district may make a payment for a recipient's shelter in excess of
such maximum, at the request of the recipient, limited by a sufficient budget
deficit amount. Payments for shelter are subject to the provisions of Social
Services Law, section 143-b. A district must make payment for shelter by
two-party check upon the request of the recipient, provided that the recipient
has not demonstrated persistent failure to make shelter payments as defined in
section
381.3
of this Title. The district must provide the recipient promptly with proof of
payment, upon request of the recipient.
(ii) Utility assistance. A district must make
a direct payment, payment by two-party check or other form of restricted
payment on behalf of recipients of safety net assistance who pay separately for
utilities. Payment for utilities must include payment for fuel for heating on
behalf of recipients who are eligible for a fuel for heating allowance pursuant
to section
352.5 of this
Title. Payments for fuel for heating may not exceed the fuel for heating
allowance except that a district may make a payment in excess of such amount at
the request of the recipient. The district must provide the recipient promptly
with proof of payment, upon request of the recipient.
(iii) Personal needs allowance. A district
must provide each household with a personal needs allowance, limited by a
sufficient budget deficit amount, equal to 20 percent of the sum of the
statewide standard of need, statewide home energy allowance and the statewide
supplemental home energy allowance, for the appropriate household size, in
accordance with sections
352.2
and
352.29
of this Title.
(iv) Other
assistance. Any remaining budget deficit amount must be provided on a non- cash
basis, provided that an electronic benefit transfer system is operating in the
district in which the recipient resides. Districts which do not have an
electronic benefit transfer system operating, must provide any remaining
deficit amount as a cash benefit to the recipient.
(3) Persons not residing in their own homes.
Persons residing in certain residential settings set forth in this paragraph
have living arrangements different from those of persons residing in their own
apartments or homes. Persons living in those living arrangements have a higher
standard of need than the maximum public assistance standards of need for
persons who maintain their own homes. Payments for persons in such residential
settings do not fit in the ordinary payment methods for safety net non-cash
assistance. For persons receiving non-cash safety net assistance in accordance
with paragraph (2) of this subdivision who are residing in room and board,
approved residential programs for victims of domestic violence operated in
accordance with Part 452, 453, 454 or 455 of this Title, maternity homes,
family care, residential care, drug abuse control facilities, or family
shelters operated in accordance with Part 900 of this Title the standards of
assistance and the amounts of the personal needs allowances are set forth in
section
352.8
and Parts 408 and 900 of this Title. Payments to such facilities or providers
of room and board for persons who receive non-cash safety net assistance and
personal needs allowances paid to such persons shall be in the amounts set
forth in section
352.8
and Parts 408 and 900 of this Title.
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