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 387 - Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program › Section 387.5 - General application process

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
(a) Any household has the right to make
			 application for food stamps either in person, through an authorized
			 representative or through the mail. Such application shall be completed on the
			 State-prescribed form which shall be filed with the local department on the day
			 the application is requested or at a later date at the discretion of the
			 household. The household shall be advised that it does not need to be
			 interviewed before filing an application and may file an incomplete application
			 form so long as the form contains the applicant's name and address, and is
			 signed by a responsible member of the household or the household's authorized
			 representative.
(b) All local
			 departments shall act promptly on all applications and shall provide food stamp
			 benefits retroactively to the day of application to those households that have
			 completed the application process and have been determined eligible.
(c) The date of application filing is the
			 date the signed form containing at least the applicant's name and address is
			 received through the mail or in person by the social services district. An
			 address may consist of a mailing address provided a reasonable explanation is
			 presented by the applicant which explains the use of such a mailing address. An
			 interview with the applicant/authorized representative is not required prior to
			 the filing of an application. The date of application filing for a resident of
			 a public institution who applies jointly for Supplemental Security Income and
			 food stamps as part of the Federal Social Security Administration's Pre-release
			 Program for the Institutionalized is the date the applicant is released from
			 the institution.
(d) A social
			 services district must provide each household, at the time of application, with
			 a written statement explaining what action the household must take to cooperate
			 with the district in obtaining verification of appropriate information and
			 otherwise completing the application process.
(e) Application procedures must be designed
			 to identify each household eligible for expedited food stamp service at the
			 time the household requests assistance. Expedited service must be available to
			 the following households:
(1) households with
			 less than $150 in monthly gross income, provided their liquid resources do not
			 exceed $100;
(2) migrant or
			 seasonal farmworker households which are destitute households, as defined in
			 section
			 387.1(k) 
			 of this Part, provided their liquid resources do not exceed $100;
(3) eligible households in which all members
			 are homeless individuals as defined in section
			 387.1(v) 
			 of this Part; and
(4) eligible
			 households whose combined monthly gross income and liquid resources are less
			 than the household's monthly rent or mortgage and utilities.