353.2 Interim assistance to SSI applicants and recipients.
(a) Definitions.
(1) "Interim assistance" means
payments for basic needs made exclusively from State and/or local funds and furnished to
or on behalf of:
(i) an applicant for
SSI during the period in which the application is pending, beginning with the date on
which the recipient became eligible for SSI and ending with the month in which the initial
SSI payment is received or the following month if delivery of such payment for basic needs
cannot be stopped during the month the individual's SSI payment begins; or
(ii) a recipient or
former recipient of SSI for any period for which the recipient's SSI payment is reinstated
after a period of suspension or termination, such period ending with the month in which
the SSI payment is reinstated or the following month if delivery of such payment for basic
needs cannot be stopped during the month the individual's SSI payment resumes.
% (2) "Payments for basic needs made
exclusively from State and/or local funds" include but are not limited to costs
incurred for:
(i) safety net
assistance;
(ii) veteran
assistance;
(iii) pre-determination
grants under Part 382 of this Title;
(iv) institutional care
for adults under Part 371 of this Title;
(v) shelter care;
(vi) child care at
public expense; and
(vii) for any period in
which federal funds have not been used, family assistance.
(3) "Initial payment" means the total
amount of SSI benefits payable to an eligible individual (including retroactive amounts,
if any) at the time the first payments of SSI benefits are made or at the time SSI
benefits are first reinstated following a period of suspension or termination, but does
not include any emergency advance payments or presumptive disability or blindness payments
authorized by the Social Security Administration (SSA).
(4) "SSI benefits" means supplemental
security income payments made under Title XVI of the Social Security Act and any State
payments made under article 5, title 6 of the Social Services Law and agreements executed
pursuant thereto.
(5) "Repayment of interim assistance
authorization" or "interim assistance authorization form" means an
instrument signed by an applicant for or recipient of interim assistance or his or her
representative, authorizing SSA to make the initial payment of SSI benefits to the social
services district, and authorizing the social services district to deduct therefrom the
amount of interim assistance provided to the recipient. An authorization remains valid
until SSA has made a final determination on the SSI applicant's or recipient's
application. A signed authorization applies to any interim assistance received by the
individual, without regard to whether execution of such authorization is a condition of
eligibility under subdivision (b) of this section.
(6) Grants or payments "furnished to or on
behalf of an applicant for SSI" means the amount of assistance for basic needs given
to an individual applicant for SSI or the incremental amount of assistance for basic needs
given to such an individual above the amount given to a family with which the individual
resides, including amounts paid to vendors for such individual and amounts expended
directly on behalf of the individual. In the case of child care at public expense, such
term refers to payments made for the support and maintenance of a child applying for SSI.
(b) Eligibility requirements. As a condition of eligibility for public
assistance, applicants for or recipients of such assistance must sign a repayment of
interim assistance authorization. If an applicant for or recipient of any form of interim
assistance is, or reasonably appears to be, legally blind or disabled, or has become or
will become 65 years of age before the end of the following calendar month, the social
services district must promptly notify him or her that, as additional conditions of
eligibility or of continued eligibility, he or she or his or her authorized representative
must:
(1) if a recipient, provide verification within
the next 30 days that he or she has applied for SSI benefits;
(2) if an applicant, provide verification that
he or she has applied for SSI benefits;
(3) cooperate with the SSI eligibility
determination process; and
(4) appeal any denial of his or her SSI
application and exhaust the available administrative remedies.
(c) Administrative responsibilities and procedures.
(1) If the applicant is determined to be
eligible for interim assistance, the social services district must issue interim
assistance for so long as eligibility continues.
(2) If a social services district which does
not have an operating automated interim assistance referral procedure requires an
applicant for or recipient of interim assistance to apply for SSI benefits or discovers
that a recipient has applied for SSI benefits, the social services district must send
within five working days of the date that an applicant is found to be eligible for interim
assistance or within five working days of the date that the social services district
learns that a recipient has applied for SSI benefits, a copy of the signed, valid
repayment of interim assistance authorization and respective identifying information to
the appropriate SSA district office. In no event may an interim assistance authorization
be sent until an application for interim assistance has been approved.
(3) Upon receipt of any check or checks
comprising an initial payment, the social services district must deduct therefrom the
amount of interim assistance. Recovery of interim assistance cannot be made from
subsequent SSI payments.
% (4) Within 10 working days after receipt of a
check or checks comprising an initial payment, the social services district must send the
balance of the initial payment, if any, to the recipient. The social services district
must notify the recipient of the following:
(i) the initial date of
eligibility for SSI;
(ii) the amount of the
initial payment received by the social services district;
(iii) the period of
time during which interim assistance was provided, the total amount of interim assistance
provided and a monthly accounting of interim assistance benefits;
(iv) the amount
deducted as reimbursement of interim assistance; and
(v) the recipient's
right to a fair hearing if he or she objects to the amount deducted in accordance with
subparagraph
(iv) of this paragraph.
(5) Social services districts must keep
accurate records concerning each recipient covered by this section. These records must
include the following information:
(i) the amount of the
initial payment received from SSA;
% (ii) the amount of
interim assistance paid to the individual;
(iii) the amount of the
initial payment retained;
(iv) the amount of the
initial payment forwarded to the individual;
(v) the amount of the
initial payment returned to SSA;
(vi) the date the
initial payment was received from SSA;
(vii) the date the
respective individual accounting form was received from SSA; and
(viii) the date the
initial payment, or any portion thereof, was forwarded to the individual.
These records must be available for inspection by the department and by SSA.
(6) Reports concerning the payment and recovery
of interim assistance and consequent reduction adjustments under Part 608 and section
621.2 of this Title must be submitted to the department as the department may require.
(7) Administrative costs incurred by a social
services district in implementing this section must be borne by the district, subject to
the standard reimbursement provisions of the Social Services Law and this Title.