§ 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.