NY Soc Serv L § 159 (2021)
2021 New York Laws SOS - Social Services Article 5 - Assistance and Care Title 3 - Home Relief 159 - Safety Net Assistance.

§  159.  Safety  net  assistance.  1.  Safety  net assistance shall be provided in amounts determined in  accordance  with  article  five  and, where  applicable,  section one hundred seventeen of this chapter in the following manner.  (a) Cash assistance. Safety net assistance shall be  granted  in  cash provided,  however,  that  where  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 in the case of vendor payments to landlords made for individuals residing in public housing or for similar other reasons as established by department  regulations,  or where  an  individual  has  so  requested,  safety net assistance may be granted in whole or in part by restricted payment.  (b) Non-cash  assistance.  Safety  net  assistance  paid  as  non-cash assistance  shall  be  paid in the following manner and in the following order:  (i) Shelter assistance. A district shall make a payment for shelter by direct payment, two-party check or other form of restricted  payment  up to  the  maximum  amount  established  by  the department in regulation, provided that a district may make a payment for a recipient's assistance in excess of such maximum at the request of the recipient. Payments  for shelter pursuant to this subparagraph shall be subject to the provisions of  section  one hundred forty-three-b of this chapter. A district shall make payment  for  shelter  by  two-party  check  upon  request  of  the recipient;  provided,  however,  that  the  district  may  make a direct payment whenever it finds that the recipient has persistently failed  to make  payment  for  rent without good cause as defined by regulations of the department. A district shall  provide  a  recipient  with  proof  of payment promptly upon request by the recipient.  (ii)  Utility  assistance.  A  social  services  district shall make a direct payment, a 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 shall include payment for fuel for heating on behalf of recipients who are eligible for a fuel for heating allowance pursuant to section one  hundred  thirty-one-a  of this  article  and  the  department's regulations. Payments for fuel for heating shall 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. A district  shall  provide  a  recipient  with  proof  of payment promptly upon request by the recipient.  (iii) Personal needs allowance. To the extent available within payment amounts  authorized by sections one hundred seventeen, where applicable, and one hundred thirty-one-a of this chapter, a social services district shall provide each household with a personal needs  allowance  equal  to twenty  percent of the sum of the monthly standard of payment determined in  accordance  with  the  schedule  contained  in  paragraph   (a)   of subdivision  three  of  section one hundred thirty-one-a of this article and the appropriate amount of home energy grant  and  supplemental  home energy  grant as determined by the schedules in subdivisions three-c and three-d of section one hundred thirty-one-a of  this  article,  for  the appropriate household size.  (iv)  Other  assistance.  The  remainder  of the safety net assistance shall be provided on a non-cash  basis,  provided  that  an  appropriate electronic  benefit  transfer  system  is  operating  in accordance with section twenty-one-a of this chapter in the social services district  in which the recipient resides.   2. Persons eligible for safety net assistance because they are persons described  in  paragraph  (b)  or  (d) of subdivision one of section one  hundred fifty-eight of this title  shall  receive  cash  assistance,  as defined in subdivision one of this section, for two years in a lifetime, whether  or  not  consecutive,  after the fourth day of August, nineteen hundred  ninety-seven.  On  or after the first day of December, nineteen hundred ninety-nine, persons who are eligible for safety net  assistance but  who  have  received  cash  assistance  for  two years or more shall receive assistance only in the form of non-cash assistance. A person may receive cash assistance  in  excess  of  two  years  if  the  person  is otherwise  eligible  for  safety  net assistance but the social services district in which the person resides has not yet implemented a  non-cash assistance  program.  Persons  who  would otherwise be eligible for cash assistance pursuant to this subdivision who are  referred  to  treatment pursuant  to section one hundred thirty-two of this article or reside in a family where an adult or  head  of  household  has  been  referred  to treatment shall receive assistance in the form of non-cash assistance.   3. Persons eligible for safety net assistance because they are persons described  in  paragraph  (a)  of subdivision one of section one hundred fifty-eight of this title  shall  receive  assistance  in  the  form  of non-cash assistance.   4. Persons eligible for safety net assistance because they are persons described  in  paragraphs (c), (e) and (f) of subdivision one of section one hundred fifty-eight of this title shall receive  assistance  in  the form of non-cash assistance.   5. Persons eligible for safety net assistance because they are persons described  in  paragraph  (g)  of subdivision one of section one hundred fifty-eight of this title shall receive cash assistance  in  the  safety net  program  for  two  years in a lifetime, whether or not consecutive, after the fourth day of August, nineteen  hundred  ninety-seven.  On  or after  the  first day of December, nineteen hundred ninety-nine, persons who are eligible for  safety  net  assistance  but  have  received  cash assistance for two years or more in the safety net program shall receive assistance only in the form of non-cash assistance. A person may receive cash  assistance  in  excess  of  two  years  if the person is otherwise eligible for safety net assistance but the social services  district  in which the person resides has not implemented a non-cash program.   6.  In  calculating the period of cash assistance for new residents of the state, periods in which they received reduced safety net  assistance benefits pursuant to section one hundred seventeen of this chapter shall be  included.  In  calculating the period of cash assistance, periods in which a recipient received federally funded refugee assistance shall  be included.   7.  (a)  Notwithstanding  subdivisions  two and three of this section, adults eligible for safety  net  assistance  who  are  exempt  from  the employment  requirements  contained  in  title  nine-B  of  this article pursuant to section three  hundred  thirty-two  of  such  article  shall receive  cash  assistance,  unless  the  adult has been determined to be abusing  illegal  substances  or  engaged  in  habitual  consumption  of alcohol.  (b) Notwithstanding subdivisions two and three of this section, adults eligible  for  safety  net  assistance  who are also eligible to receive comprehensive health care services through a special needs plan  defined in   paragraph   (n)   of  subdivision  one  of  section  three  hundred sixty-four-j of this chapter shall receive cash  assistance,  regardless of  whether  such  a  plan  is  operating  in the district in which they reside. An adult who would be eligible to receive such services  through such  a  special  needs plan but for the application of paragraph (d) of subdivision three of section three hundred sixty-four-j of this  chapter shall also receive cash assistance.    8.  Social  services  districts  shall  provide non-cash assistance to persons eligible for safety net  assistance  because  they  are  persons described  in  paragraphs  (b) and (d) of subdivision one of section one hundred fifty-eight of this title, who have received cash assistance for two  years  or  more,  on  or  after the first day of December, nineteen hundred ninety-nine. Social services districts  shall  provide  non-cash assistance  for persons described in paragraph (a) of subdivision one of section one hundred fifty-eight of this title on or after the first  day of  December, two thousand. However, social services districts shall not implement subparagraph (iv) of paragraph (b) of subdivision one of  this section  until  an  appropriate  electronic  benefit  transfer system is operating in the district.   9. Notwithstanding subdivision eight of  this  section  or  any  other inconsistent provision of this section, the department may approve up to five social services districts to provide non-cash assistance to persons described  in  paragraphs (b), (d) and (g) of subdivision one of section one hundred fifty-eight of this title who have received cash  assistance for  two  years,  beginning  the first day of December, nineteen hundred ninety-eight, provided that an appropriate electronic  benefit  transfer system is operating in the district.   10.  Social  services  district  providing  safety  net  assistance to persons receiving care as defined in paragraphs  (c),  (d)  and  (e)  of subdivision three of section two hundred nine of the social services law shall  pay  such  facility at the rate provided for care and maintenance under the supplemental security income program for beneficiaries of that program in the same facility, less the  amount  of  any  personal  needs allowance  included  in  the supplemental security program. In addition, social services districts shall provide such  persons  receiving  safety net assistance with a personal needs allowance in the amount included in the  supplemental  security  payment level as a personal needs allowance for recipients of that program residing in the particular facility.   11. The provisions of  section  three  hundred  forty-nine-a  of  this article,  with  respect  to victims of domestic violence, shall apply to applicants for and recipients of  safety  net  assistance  to  the  same extent  as  it  applies  to  applicants  for  and  recipients  of family assistance.   12. To the extent allowable under federal law and to the  extent  that the  state  has  spending  sufficient  to  exceed the federally required maintenance of effort for the temporary assistance  for  needy  families block  grant,  the  office  of  temporary  and disability assistance may maximize the state's work participation rate  by  targeting  safety  net assistance  payments utilized to meet the federally required maintenance of effort for the temporary assistance for needy families block grant to safety net assistance cases that are not exempt  from  work  activities, that have not been in sanction status for over three months, and that do not  include two parents who are eligible for assistance who live in the same dwelling unit, or to other categories of cases, as defined  by  the office  of  temporary  and  disability  assistance,  that  have no other potential  impediments  to  participating  in  countable  federal   work activities.