Section 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.