370.3 Emergency and short-term cases.
(a) General. Social services districts must authorize safety net
assistance to provide for the effective and prompt relief of identified needs which cannot
be provided for under Emergency Assistance to Needy Families with Children (EAF) or Family
Assistance FA, including presumptive eligibility for FA. Emergency and short-term
assistance is limited to the items, conditions and amounts specified in Part 352 of this
Subchapter. The district must provide necessary supervision to such cases in order to
modify or terminate grants as quickly as circumstances require. An emergency or short-term
case is a case in which need is presumed to continue for a period of less than three
months; provided, however, that cases in which frequent reapplications for assistance are
made are not considered emergency or short-term.
(b) Eligibility for emergency safety net assistance. Social services
districts must authorize emergency safety net assistance only under the following
conditions:
(1) there is an identified emergency need. An
emergency is a serious occurrence or situation needing prompt action;
(2) the individual or household is without
income or resources immediately available to meet the emergency need; and the individual's
or household's gross income at the time of application does not exceed 125 percent of the
current federal income official poverty line, as defined and annually revised by the
United States Department of Health and Human Services under the authority of 42 U.S.C.
9902(2). For purposes of determining eligibility for assistance pursuant to this section,
these annually revised poverty lines are effective April 1st through March 31st of each
fiscal year. If the emergency is the result of fire, flood or other like catastrophe or if
the emergency assistance is granted in accordance with subdivisions 352.5(c), (d) and (e)
of this Part, the individual's or household's gross income at the time of application can
exceed 125 percent of the federal income official poverty line;
(3) the emergency need cannot be met under the
Emergency Assistance to Needy Families with Children, the Home Energy Assistance Program,
FA or Safety Net Assistance programs;
(4) the applicant is not disqualified from
receiving recurring assistance or subject to a durational sanction, or the emergency did
not arise because the applicant had previously been disqualified or sanctioned for failure
to comply with the non- financial requirements of this Title; and
(5) in an application for an allowance to pay
shelter arrears where the applicant reasonably demonstrates an ability to pay shelter
expenses, including any amounts in excess of the appropriate local agency maximum monthly
shelter allowance in the future. In determining an applicant's ability to pay shelter
expenses, a social services district must consider the applicant's ability to make
payments under any repayment agreements entered into in accordance with this paragraph.
However, when in the judgment of the local social services official, the individual or
household has sufficient income or resources to secure and maintain alternate permanent
housing, shelter arrears need not be paid to maintain a specific housing accommodation. To
receive assistance to pay shelter arrears, the applicant must sign an agreement to repay
the assistance arrears, the applicant must sign an agreement to repay the assistance in a
period not to exceed 12 months from receipt of such assistance. The repayment agreement
must set forth a schedule of payments that will assure repayment within the 12 month
period, and must specify the frequency of the payments, the due date of the first payment,
the address to where payments must be made and the consequences of failing to repay the
assistance as agreed. Subsequent assistance to pay arrears may not be granted unless there
are no past-due amounts owed under any such repayment agreement. The social services
district, in addition to any rights it has pursuant to the social services law, may
enforce the repayment agreement in any manner available to a creditor.
(c) Emergency safety net assistance must not be used to meet needs
during a period of ineligibility for public assistance due to the receipt of a lump sum.
(d) Determination. When emergency need is met prior to the completion
of investigation, the evidence on which the presumption of eligibility and need is based
must be documented in the case record.
(e) Authorization. Where the need for safety net assistance is
short-term or where emergency needs are met prior to the completion of an investigation,
assistance must be authorized on a one time basis or for the period during which need is
expected to continue. In cases where the need is deemed to be emergency or short-term, the
grant may be limited to those items for which there is immediate need. When emergency or
short-term safetynet assistance is granted, the district may accept a deed for real
property and/or a mortgage pursuant to section 106 of the Social Services Law as security
for the value of assistance granted. The months in which any individual receives recurring
emergency safety net assistance, must count against the two year (twenty four month)
cumulative total of safety net cash assistance in accordance with paragraph 370.4(b)(1) of
this Title. Recurring emergency safety net assistance is assistance authorized for a time
period to meet the continuing needs of the applicant rather than assistance authorized on
a one-time basis.
(f) Mass emergency assistance. When emergency needs occur on a mass
basis, such as the need for mass feeding or clothing distribution and other essential
items, these needs must be considered as emergency and short-term and provided for in
accordance with subdivision (a) of this section. Names of persons requesting such
assistance must be recorded on form DSS-880, Register of Application and Authorization for
Emergency Assistance. This form constitutes their application. The DSS-880, when signed by
the social services official, serves as the authorization of such assistance.
(g) Town social service officer. When application is made to a town
social service officer, he or she may make an emergency grant of safety net assistance and
immediately forward the application to the county department of social services for
investigation. Such investigation must be completed as promptly as possible, at least
within 30 days.