N.Y. Social Services Law § 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.