N.Y. Social Services Law § 132: Investigation of applications

§ 132. Investigation of applications. 1. When an application for

assistance or care is received, or a social services official is

informed that a person is in need of public assistance and care, an

investigation and record shall be made of the circumstances of such

person. The object of such investigations shall be to secure the facts

necessary to determine whether such person is in need of public

assistance or care and what form thereof and service he or she should

receive. Information shall be sought as to the residence of such person,

the name, age, religious faith, physical condition, earnings or other

income, and ability to work of all members of the family, the cause of

the person's condition, the ability and willingness of the family,

relatives, friends and church to assist, and such other facts as may be

useful in determining the treatment which will be helpful to such

person. However, nothing in this subdivision or elsewhere in this

chapter contained shall be construed to require a social services

official to communicate with or require assistance from any person or

persons liable by law to contribute to the support of a woman pregnant

with, or the mother of, an out of wedlock child, in need of care away

from home during pregnancy and during and after delivery, in the case

where the surrender of the child to the social services official is

under consideration, for such period as may be necessary for such mother

and official to decide whether the child will be surrendered for

adoption to such official, which period shall not extend beyond ninety

days after birth of the child. Except where the welfare official is in

possession of positive proof that the applicant is receiving or is

eligible to receive unemployment insurance benefits and the amount

thereof such investigations shall include written request to the

commissioner of labor or his or her duly authorized officer charged with

administration of the unemployment insurance law for information as to

the status of such person in respect to unemployment insurance benefits.

2. (a) All applications received by a town social services officer

shall be forwarded to the county commissioner immediately and all such

applications shall be investigated by the staff of the county

commissioner. After investigation the county commissioner shall return

to the town social services officer every application for safety net

assistance made by a person residing or found in such town, together

with his or her recommendation as to the eligibility of the applicant

and the amount of assistance to be granted, if any. In addition thereto,

the county commissioner shall keep the town social services officer

currently informed of persons residing in his or her town who are

receiving any form of public assistance and care other than safety net

assistance.

(b) In a city social services district, investigation of applications

shall be made by the city commissioner of social services and his staff.

(c) In a city which is functioning under section seventy-four-a of

this chapter, investigation shall be made by the county commissioner of

social services and his staff.

3. The commissioner of the department of family assistance shall

provide by regulation for methods of determining eligibility for public

assistance and care, other than medical assistance, to be utilized by

all social services officials. Such regulations shall provide for

methods of verifying information supplied by or about recipients with

information contained in the wage reporting system established pursuant

to section one hundred seventy-one-a of the tax law and similar systems

in other geographically contiguous states, and, to the degree mandated

by federal law with the non-wage income file maintained by the United

States internal revenue service, with the benefits and earnings data

exchange maintained by the United States department of health and human

services, and with the unemployment insurance benefit file.

4. (a) Investigation into the cause of the condition of a head of

household or of any adult applicant or recipient and the treatment which

will be helpful to such person shall include a screening for alcohol

and/or substance abuse using a standardized screening instrument to be

developed by the office of addiction services and supports in

consultation with the department. Such screening shall be performed by a

social services district at the time of application and periodically

thereafter but not more frequently than every six months, unless the

district has reason to believe that an applicant or recipient is abusing

or dependent on alcohol or drugs, in accordance with regulations

promulgated by the department. Such screening may be conducted by

telephone or other digital means at the request of the applicant or

recipient.

(b) When the screening process indicates that there is reason to

believe that an applicant or recipient is abusing or dependent on

alcohol or drugs, the social services district shall require a formal

alcohol or substance abuse assessment, which may include drug testing,

to be performed by an alcohol and/or substance abuse professional

credentialed by the office of addiction services and supports. Provided

however, if the applicant or recipient tests positive for the presence

of cannabis, the positive result alone shall not be sufficient to

establish a dependence for purposes of requiring an individual to

participate in a treatment program pursuant to paragraph (c) of this

subdivision. The assessment may be performed directly by the district or

pursuant to contract with the district. Such assessment may be conducted

by telephone or other digital means at the request of the applicant or

recipient.

(c) The social services official shall refer applicants and recipients

whom it determines are presently unable to work by reason of their need

for treatment for alcohol or substance abuse based on the formal

assessment to a treatment program licensed or certified by the office of

alcoholism and substance abuse services or operated by the United States

office of veterans affairs and determined by the social services

official to meet the rehabilitation needs of the individual. When

residential treatment is appropriate for a single custodial parent, the

social services official shall make diligent efforts to refer the parent

to a program that would allow the family to remain intact for the

duration of the treatment.

(d) A person who fails to participate in the screening or in the

assessment shall be ineligible for public assistance. Other members of a

household which includes a person who has failed to participate in the

screening or assessment shall, if otherwise eligible, receive public

assistance only through safety net assistance if they are otherwise

eligible for public assistance.

(e) A person referred to a treatment program pursuant to paragraph (c)

of this subdivision, and the household with which he or she resides

shall receive safety net assistance while the person is participating in

such treatment, if the household is otherwise eligible for public

assistance. If a person referred to treatment cannot participate in that

treatment because treatment is not presently available, that person and

the household with which he or she resides shall receive safety net

assistance if the household is otherwise eligible for public assistance.

(f) If an applicant or recipient is required, pursuant to paragraph

(c) of this subdivision, to participate in an appropriate rehabilitation

program and refuses to participate in such program without good cause or

leaves such program prior to completion of the program without good

cause, provided that program completion shall be solely determined by

the guidelines and rules of such rehabilitation program, or if an

applicant or recipient has been suspended from the receipt of social

security disability benefits or supplemental security income benefits by

reason of noncompliance with requirements of the federal social security

administration for treatment for substance abuse or alcohol abuse, the

person will be disqualified from receiving public assistance as follows:

(i) for the first failure to participate in or complete the program,

until the failure ceases or for forty-five days, whichever period of

time is longer;

(ii) for the second such failure, until the failure ceases or for one

hundred twenty days, whichever period of time is longer; and

(iii) for the third and subsequent failures, until the failure ceases

or for one hundred eighty days, whichever period is longer.

Good cause shall be defined in regulations by the commissioner.

The household with which the person resides shall continue to receive

safety net assistance if otherwise eligible.

(g) Persons disqualified from receiving public assistance pursuant to

paragraph (f) of this subdivision who would otherwise be eligible for

public assistance and who return to required treatment prior to the end

of the disqualification period and are receiving residential care as

defined in paragraph (d) of subdivision three of section two hundred

nine of this chapter shall be eligible for safety net assistance.

(h) Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of section one hundred

thirty-one-o of this article, if a recipient required to participate in

an appropriate treatment program pursuant to paragraph (c) of this

subdivision receives a personal needs allowance, such allowance shall be

made as a restricted payment to the treatment program and shall be a

conditional payment. If such recipient leaves the treatment program

prior to the completion of such program, any accumulated personal needs

allowance will be considered an overpayment and returned to the social

services district which provided the personal needs allowance.

(i) Compliance with the provisions of this subdivision shall not be

required as a condition of applying for or receiving medical assistance.