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 4 - Services to Individuals › Part 393 - Home Energy Assistance Program › Section 393.2 - Administration

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
(a) Local social
			 services districts shall:
(1) assume
			 responsibility for the performance of outreach activities to assure that
			 eligible households, especially households with elderly and/or disabled
			 individuals are made aware of the assistance available under HEAP;
(2) assume responsibility for determining
			 eligibility for low-income households;
(3) assume responsibility for the provision
			 of HEAP benefits to those low- income households determined eligible for
			 assistance. For purposes of the current HEAP State Plan, where an eligible HEAP
			 household pays a home energy vendor directly for his/her heating costs, the
			 HEAP payment must be issued as a vendor payment. These vendor payments may be
			 issued in one or a combination of the following methods: two-party check made
			 payable to the recipient and home energy supplier as co-payees, and/or
			 establishment of a line of credit with a home energy supplier on behalf of the
			 recipient, and/or, if county fiscal policy permits, a check for the recipient's
			 full HEAP benefit may be sent to the home energy supplier. The term home energy
			 supplier means an individual or entity engaged in the business of selling
			 electricity, oil, gas, wood, kerosene or any other fuel used for home energy in
			 a residential dwelling. All other benefits under HEAP must be made to the
			 eligible households by means of the following methods to be exercised at the
			 option of the district: direct payment to the eligible household, establishment
			 of a line of credit with a home energy supplier on behalf of the eligible
			 household, issuance of a restricted payment in the form of a two-party check
			 issued to the eligible household and its home energy supplier as co-payees or
			 any combination of the foregoing methods. If the district chooses to pay home
			 energy suppliers directly, the district must:
(i) notify each eligible household of the
			 amount of assistance paid on its behalf; and
(ii) enter into a written agreement with the
			 home energy supplier which includes at least those provisions prescribed by the
			 department and the following mandated requirements:
(a) the home energy supplier will charge the
			 eligible household, in its normal billing process, no more than the difference
			 between the actual cost of the home energy and the amount of the payment made
			 by the district under HEAP;
(b) no
			 household receiving assistance under HEAP will be treated any differently
			 because of the receipt of such assistance; and
(c) any home energy supplier receiving direct
			 payments will not discriminate, either in the cost of goods supplied or the
			 services provided, against the eligible household on whose behalf payments are
			 made;
(4)
			 maintain such documentation as the department shall prescribe in support of
			 claims for reimbursement in connection with HEAP;
(5) provide the department with any
			 information and reports necessary for the proper and efficient administration,
			 monitoring and evaluation of HEAP; and
(6) be held liable for payments negligently
			 or voluntarily incurred in violation of Federal or State statutes and
			 regulations and for all payments above the district's funding
			 allocation.