393.4 Eligibility.
(a) Eligibility for regular and emergency HEAP benefits must be
determined for each applicant in accordance with this Part.
(b) For purposes of the annual HEAP State Plan, a household is defined
as any individual or group of individuals who are living together as one economic unit for
whom residential energy is customarily purchased in common or who make undesignated
payments for energy in the form of rent and such individual or group of individuals occupy
a housing unit. Any individual residing in a housing unit who is related by blood,
marriage or adoption to any other household member shall be presumed a household member in
determining HEAP eligibility unless he/she supplies reasonable evidence to rebut this
presumption. Relationship by blood, marriage or adoption is deemed to include the
following:
(c) Regular HEAP benefit. Except as provided in paragraph (3) of this
subdivision, the following households shall be eligible to receive a regular HEAP benefit,
if and to the extent that an allocation of Federal funds is available to the district in
which the household resides.
(1) Categorically income eligible households.
For purposes of the annual HEAP State Plan, categorically income eligible households
include:
(i) households, any
member of which is in receipt of Family Assistance;
(ii) households, any
member of which is in receipt of Safety Net Assistance;
(iii) households, any
member of which is in receipt of SSI as a couple or individual living alone (SSI Living
Arrangement Code A); or
(iv) households where
at least one member is in receipt of food stamps.
(2) Income tested households. For purposes of
the annual HEAP State Plan, income tested households must have total household income
calculated on a monthly basis, that is less than or equal to the maximum limit established
by the department each program year in accordance with the requirements of 42 USC section
8624(b)(2)(B)(i) and (ii)/ (United States Code Annotated; Title 42, Section 7901 to 10226;
1992 Supplementary Pamphlet; page 89; West Publishing Co, St. Paul, Minnesota. Copies may
be obtained from the Department of Social Services, Division of Economic Security, 40
North Pearl Street, Albany, NY). Total income cannot include any income required by State
or Federal law to be excluded or disregarded.
(3) For purposes of the annual HEAP State Plan,
notwithstanding paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subdivision, categorical and income tested
households in the following living arrangements are ineligible to receive benefits under
HEAP:
(i) individual(s)
paying room only or room and board and not residing in a commercial enterprise;
(ii) individual(s)
temporarily housed in a hotel/motel;
(iii) residents of
licensed or unlicensed congregate care facilities, including title XIX facilities, and dormatories; and;
(iv) children residing
in agency boarding homes, group homes, or institutions who are in receipt of payments
pursuant to title IV-E of the Social Security Act or article 6 of the Social Services Law;
(v) persons living
temporarily in cars, vans, or recreational vehicles;
(vi) individuals who
live on military bases in government- provided housing with no utility or hearing bills in
their names;
(vii) individuals who
have no responsibility for any heating costs and do not make undesignated payments for
heat in the form of rent; and
(viii) individuals who
are migrant or seasonal farm workers provided room and board and with no heating expenses.
For purposes of the annual HEAP State Plan, eligibility for the regular HEAP benefit shall
be determined annually and must be based on the household's circumstances (income,
household size, energy type, etc.) for the entire calendar month in which the household
has filed its application. In order to be eligible for a regular HEAP benefit, a household
must pay for heat directly or make undesignated energy payments for heat in the form of
rent and not reside in an ineligible living situation as provided in paragraph (3) of
subdivision (c) of this section. If heat is not included in the applicant's rent, a vendor
relationship must be established for the applicant household. The vendor relationship must
be documented by a current fuel/utility bill or contact with the fuel/utility company.
While the applicant is not required to be the customer of record for regular HEAP, direct
responsibility for payment of the bill must be established if the applicant or member of
the applicant household is not the customer of record. The term customer of record means a
person or persons who have an account, in their name, with a home energy vendor. The term
home energy vendor means an individual or entity engaged in the business of selling
electricity, natural gas, oil, propane, kerosene, coal, wood, or any other fuel used for
residential heating. Once determined eligible, a household will receive a regular HEAP
benefit for such program year in an amount to be set by the office. The office shall
annually establish a payment matrix which will enable the office to meet the requirements
of 42 USC section 8624(b)(5) and (8) and which sets payment levels with consideration to
the availability of Federal funds and utilizes various factors including, but not limited
to, income and fuel costs.
(4) (i) Notwithstanding the provisions of subparagraph (iii) of paragraph (3) of this subdivision. categorical and income tested households in the following living arrangements that make undesignated payments for heat in the form of rent are eligible for a maximum annual HEAP regular benefit of $1.00:
(a) government subsidized housing with heat included in the rent
(b) publicly operated or State-certified private nonprofit residential drug or alcoholic treatment facilities;
(c) private nonprofit residential drug or alcoholic treatment facilities that are authorized as a food stamp retailer by the United States Department of Agriculture or are in receipt of a letter from the certifying State agency stating that the facility operates to further the goals of Title XIX;
(d) publicly operated or State-certified private nonprofit enriched housing;
(e) publicly operated or State-certified private nonprofit residential group living facilities serving no more than 16 residents;
(f) publicly operated or State-certified private nonprofit supervised or supportive living arrangements; and
(g) State-Operated Community Residences.
(ii) Otherwise eligible households in the living arrangements defined in subparagraph (i) of this
paragraph are only eligible for a maximum annual HEAP regular benefit of $1.00 and are not
eligible for emergency HEAP or any other benefit under HEAP. except that eligible households
in government subsidized housing with heat included in the rent that pay a supplier directly for
heat-related utility service may be eligible for a HEAP emergency benefit if such benefit is
necessary to resolve the heat-related energy crisis of the household
(5) Notwithstanding paragraphs (1), (2) (3)
and (4)
of this subdivision, an individual is not eligible for HEAP unless he or she is a United
States citizen, a national or a qualified alien as defined by the federal government. The
federal government considers the following to be qualified aliens:
(i) an alien lawfidly
admitted for permanent residence under the Immigration and Nationality Act;
(ii) an alien granted
asylum under section 208 of the Immigration and Nationality Act;
(iii) a refugee
a&nitted to the United States under section 207 of the Immigration and Nationality
Act;
(iv) an alien paroled
into the United States under section 212(d)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act for
a Period of at least one year;
(v) an alien whose
deportation is being withheld under section 243(h) of the Immigration and Nationality Act
as in effect prior to April 1, 1997, or whose removal is being withheld under section
241(b)(3) of the Immigration and Nationality Act;
(vi) an alien granted
conditional entry under section 203(a)(7) of the Immigration and Nationality Act as in
effect prior to April 1, 1980;
(vii) an alien who is a
Cuban or Haitian entrant as defined in section 501 (e) of the Refugee Education Assistance
Act of 1980;
(viii) an alien who (or
whose child or parent) has been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty in the United
States and otherwise satisfies the requirements of 8 U.S.C. 1641(c); or
(ix) a native North
American Indian of 50 percent or more blood and born in Canada or a member of a federally
recognized Indian tribe who is residing in the United States.
(d) Emergency benefits.
(1) For purposes of the annual HEAP State Plan,
the applicant must document that he/she is the tenant of record with primary
responsibility for the payment of his/her residential energy bill. A tenant of record is a
person who has or persons who have primary responsibility for payment of the monthly rent
or mortgage for their dwelling unit. Individuals who contribute a portion of the monthly
rent/mortgage to a person responsible for payment of the rent/mortgage for their dwelling
unit will not be considered a tenant of record. To have primary responsibility for the
payment of residential energy costs the applicant must be the customer of record with a
home energy vendor. The term customer of record means a person or persons who have an
account, in their name, with a home energy vendor. The term home energy vendor means an
individual or entity engaged in the business of selling electricity, natural gas, oil,
propane, kerosene, coal, wood, or any other fuel used for residential heating. A HEAP
emergency benefit may be granted to an individual who is not a tenant and/or customer of
record where such individual is a spouse of a tenant and/or customer of record who is
living in the household of such tenant and/or customer of record or who is the surviving
spouse of a deceased spouse who was the tenant and/or customer of record. In addition,
emergency benefits may be provided under this subdivision when a household:
(i) is financially
eligible for the regular HEAP benefit except that a tenant of record and/or customer of
record who is ineligible for regular HEAP benefits because he or she is not a United
States citizen, a national or a qualfied alien may receive emergency HEAP benefits on
behalf of members of the household who are United States citizens, nationals or qualified
aliens; and
(ii) is currently
without heating fuel; or
(iii) has a heating
fuel supply that will last less than seven calendar days; or
(iv) has had utility
service disconnected; or
(v) has heat-related
utility service scheduled for disconnection;
(vi) has essential
applicant-owned heating equipment that is inoperable or unsafe and is in need of
repair/maintenance/replacement; or (vii) is in an emergency home heating situation which
is deemed by the social services district to be detrimental to the health or safety of
household members if temporary emergency shelter or relocation is not provided; and
(viii) cannot make
alternative payment arrangements and/or other housing accommodations appropriate for the
household's best interests are not available; and
(ix) has no liquid
resources to ameliorate the emergency except that households otherwise eligible for
replacement of essential heating equipment may have available liquid resources not
exceeding $3,000 per household. The following resources are exempt: amounts designatedfor
an allowable current monthly living expense such as food, shelter, employment-related
expenses, and other necessary and essential living expenses; money earmarked for payment
of current year's property and/or school taxes for the applicant's primary residence; one
burial plot per household member; one written pre-arranged burial agreement with a cash
value not exceeding $1500 per household member; accounts, such as plan for achieving
self support (PASS) accounts, designated by the Social Security Administration as exempt
from SSI eesource limits; real and personal property,equipment; automobiles and other
vehicles; household furnishings; livestock; Agent Orange payments; Nazi Restitution
payments; Attica Settlement payments; college grants; earned income tax credit (EITC)
payments; loans; credit cards or advances from credit cards; individual development
accounts for public assistance recipients; and payments from reverse annuity mortgages.
All available liquid resources must be used to help ameliorate the emergency. However,
emergency HEAP cannot be denied if available liquid resources are not sufficient to
completely resolve the emergency situation; and
(x) receives a regular
HEAP benefit which is insufficient or unavailable to ameliorate the emergency.
(2) For purposes of the annual HEAP State Plan,
a household may be eligible for one or all of the following emergency benefits if and to
the extent that an allocation of Federal funds is available to the district in which the
household resides:
(i) Heat-related
utility disconnection. For purposes of the annual HEAP State Plan, and subject to the
availability of federal funds, the district may authorize one or more household payments
per program year in an amount which coincides with the emergency benefits matrix developed
annually by the department for the current program year. The only exception to this one or
more payments per program year requirement is when an eligible household receives heating
utility service and domestic utility service necessary for the operation of the
household's primary heating equipment as a combined bill from one utility company or from
more than one utility company concurrently. A household may receive two or more emergency
utility payments per program year, which coincides with the emergency benefits matrix
developed by the department for the current program year including one payment for utility
service essential to operate the household's heating equipment.
(ii) Non-utility fuel
emergency. For purposes of the annual HEAP State Plan, subject to the availability of
federal funds, the district may authorize one or more HEAP emergency benefits per program
year to provide fuel for a HEAP-eligible household facing a nonutility heating fuel
emergency. The amount authorized must equal the appropriate amount established in the
emergency benefits matrix developed annually by the department for the current program
year.
(iii)
Repair/maintain/replace heating equipment, temporary emergency shelter, or relocation. For
purposes of the annual HEAP State Plan, and subject to the availability of federal funds,
the district may authorize HEAP emergency benefits to repair applicant/recipient owned
heating equipment, and/or replace inoperable/unsafe and irreparable
applicant/recipient-owned primary heating equipment, and/or replace applicantl recipient
owned heating equipment that is unsafe and/or detrimental to the health andlor safety of
the applicant/recipient; and/or to provide temporary emergency shelter or relocation for a
HEAP-eligible household facing a heat- related emergency situation. These instances must
be evaluated on a case-by- case basis. The amount authorized must only be that amount
necessary to alleviate the emergency but in no event can such emergency benefits exceed a
total of $500 per p[rogram year to provide a temporary emergency shelter or relocation for
a household. Provided that federal funds are available, the maximum HEAP emergency benefit
permitted to replace and/or repair an applicant/recipient owned furnace may not exceed
$2500 except where the district has received approval from the office to exceed such
maximum amount.
(iv) Propane
installation/reconnection. For purposes of the annual HEAP State Plan, HEAP emergency
benefits may be authorized to cover installation, reconnection or deposit costs for heat-
related propane usage. These instances must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. The
amount authorized must only be that amount necessary to alleviate the emergency but in no
event can such emergency benefits exceed a total of $500 per program year.
(v) Weather related and
supply shortage. For purposes of the annual HEAP State Plan, the district may authorize
one HEAP emergency benefit per program year to purchase an appropriate supply of safe
supplemental heating devices which meet local building codes and which can be loaned to
eligible households until such time as a delivery of the household's primary heating fuel
can be obtained.