Section 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 alcoholism and substance  abuse  services  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.
    (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 alcoholism and substance abuse services.
  The assessment may be performed directly by the district or pursuant  to
  contract with the district.
    (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.