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| Law Services News - March/April, 2004 New Plan to Fight HomelessnessAfter years of litigation and in response to lawsuits filed by Nassau Suffolk Law Services (Golding, Sharp, Holmes), the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTADA) increased the shelter allowance for public assistance households with minor children in November 2003. The increases were rather modest (see chart below) as we reported in our November 2003 issue of Law Services News.
However, the regulatory changes that brought about the increases in the shelter allowance throughout the State also allowed local social services districts to provide an additional monthly shelter supplement to families with children who are public assistance applicants or recipients upon the submission and approval of a plan to OTADA. Nassau and Suffolk Departments of Social Services have submitted plans that were recently approved by OTADA in February 2004. Nassau’s new Rent Supplement Program is intended to help families retain their current housing or to help those in emergency housing obtain permanent housing. Families with children, both Family Assistance and Safety Net Assistance eligible cases, are eligible for the supplement if they have documented legal evictions or are homeless.¹ For DSS to consider a rent arrears payment request, a court proceeding is not necessary. A legitimate verifiable threat of eviction is acceptable. The amount of the supplement will be an amount not to exceed the shelter allowance maximum for that household size. For example, a household of four would be entitled to a shelter allowance of $501 and would be entitled to a shelter supplement up to $501 for a total of $1002 maximum allotted for rent. (As with the shelter supplement provided thru intervention into the Golding lawsuit, the amount of the supplement is counted as income for food stamp purposes and in most cases food stamp benefits to the household, if being received, will decrease. The general rule of thumb is that for every three dollars of income, food stamp benefits decrease by one dollar.) There are a number of conditions that must be met and agreed to by the family in order to receive this benefit under the Program. Recipients must have their rent sent directly to the landlord; they must establish eligibility for public assistance and remain eligible without the rent supplement factored in (if the family is eligible for public assistance, then they can have the rent supplement added to their grant); they must apply for Section 8 when available and accept the program if offered; homeless families must secure a written lease on the premises for at least a year. In addition, 30% of the income of non-public assistance household members must be applied toward the rent. This includes SSI household members and earnings from household members who are not included in the public assistance unit. The Department of Social Services will approve a shelter allowance supplement when the actual rent is above the maximum amount (shelter allowance times 2), if there is some reasonable way to pay the difference. If there is enough money left in the household’s basic needs allotment, the Agency will restrict the amount and send it directly to the landlord. If the household will receive contributions from a non-legally responsible relative to pay the difference between the rent and the shelter allowances, DSS will verify various factors to determine if the promise to contribute is valid. If it is determined that the promise to pay is not valid and there is no viable means to pay the full rent with the shelter allowance and supplement, then the request for the supplement will be denied. Once provided, the rent supplement will be discontinued due to any sanction (eg., a work rule violation, failure to cooperate with child support enforcement). Similarly, if the public assistance case is closed for any reason, the shelter supplement ends. However, if the family reapplies for assistance the month after the case was closed (in non-sanction cases) and are found eligible for assistance, the shelter supplement may be reactivated. In addition, the shelter supplement will not be approved when any member of the household has lost Section 8 or public housing within the last two years without good cause. Finally, the Rent Supplement Program allows for an exception to the general rule that local districts cannot pay more than six months of rent arrears in a five year period. Households may be granted an exception after a review of their past management, willingness to be referred for financial counseling, future management, alternative housing, excess payments, and past excess rent pay backs. The Suffolk County Plan went into effect on March 15, 2004 and is similar to Nassau's in that it will also be available to both Family Assistance and Safety Net families who require the supplement in order to retain housing or to relocate to permanent housing from emergency housing. The same restrictions apply including: no sanctioned families; direct payment by DSS to the landlord; and the maximum rent supplement portion will match the shelter allowance for that family size for a total of twice the shelter allowance. The family may contribute between $150 and $300 over this amount from basic needs, earned income, or another source but the total amount of the rent will be subject to agency approval. Though a lease will be requested of the landlord, it will not be required. Applications for this rent supplement should be made at one of the five Suffolk DSS Centers (Wyandanch, Smithtown, South Shore, Coram or Riverhead). When appropriate, interventions into the Sharp and Holmes lawsuits will continue through Nassau/Suffolk Law Services, though we are hopeful that with the new county plan, this will become less and less frequent. |
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