Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 39, September 25, 2024
(a)
General. Local social services districts shall take the following actions in
cases in which a household is identified during a utility's or municipality's
service disconnection process to be "elderly, blind or disabled." These actions
shall complement and be in concert with rules and regulations of the Public
Service Commission regarding discontinuance of utility service and shall be in
effect as a mandate on a year-round basis.
(b) Liaison. The local social services
official shall designate a staff member to function as liaison to appropriate
utility corporations to insure timely and effective implementation of these
procedures. Appropriate utility corporations are those which are regulated by
the Public Service Commission.
(c)
Elderly, blind or disabled determination.
(1)
A household shall be given an elderly designation if the utility customer is 62
years of age or older, and all the remaining residents of the household are 62
years of age or older, 18 years of age or under, or blind or
disabled.
(2) A person shall be
considered disabled if the person has a disability as that term is defined in
the Human Rights Act (Executive Law, § 292[21]). The definition is as
follows: The term disability means a physical, mental or medical impairment
resulting from anatomical, physiological or neurological conditions which
prevents the exercise of a normal bodily function or is demonstrable by
medically accepted clinical or laboratory diagnostic techniques; provided,
however, that in all provisions of this Article dealing with employment, the
term shall be limited to physical, mental or medical conditions which do not
prevent the complainant from performing in a reasonable manner the activities
involved in the job or occupation sought.
(3) A person shall be considered blind if the
person has central visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with the
use of a correcting lens. An eye which is accompanied by a limitation in the
field of vision such that the widest diameter of the visual field subtends an
angle no greater than 20 degrees shall be considered as having a central visual
acuity of 20/200 or less.
(d) Receipt of referrals. The local social
services district shall receive initial verbal and subsequent written referrals
on a year-round basis involving elderly, blind or disabled customers who are
facing a utility service termination. There referrals will be on forms
prescribed by the Public Service Commission/Department of Social
Services.
(e) Social services
district activities. Upon receipt of an elderly, blind, or disabled referral
the district must perform the following activities:
(1) Screen all referrals against WMS or other
public assistance files to determine if the customer is a recipient of public
assistance or SSI.
(2) When it is
found that the customer of record or other person residing in the premises is
aged, blind or disabled and the referred household has been contacted by the
utility corporation prior to termination of utility service to devise a plan
that precludes termination and that arranges for payment of bills but a plan to
avoid service termination was not made:
(i)
send to each referred household an appropriate letter which clearly explains
how the household can apply for emergency assistance. The letter must identify
a telephone number which may be called to request emergency assistance and must
indicate the date by which utility service will be terminated unless an
application for assistance has been completed by the household and reviewed and
approved by the district, or the situation which will result in the
disconnection of utility service will be resolved in a timely manner.
(ii) Take appropriate steps to ensure that
support services are involved to coordinate applications for emergency
assistance to continue or to restore service.
(f) Training. The local social services
district shall participate with the utility corporation, as necessary, in joint
training/orientation programs to insure the effective implementation of these
procedures.
