PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THE State Administrative Procedure Act, NOTICE is hereby given of the following proposed rule:

This is a consensus rule making to repeal section 352.2(b), add new section 352.2(b), amend sections 352.3(l), 352.30(a), (f) and 352.31(a)(2) of Title 18 NYCRR.

Public Assistance Budgeting.

Update regulations regarding the treatment of public assistance budgets when the family unit includes a member who is a recipient of Supplemental Security Income.

Subdivision (b) of section 352.2 is repealed and a new subdivision (b) is added as follows:

Subdivision (l) of section 352.3 is amended to read as follows:

(l) Shelter allowances in excess of the standards. A shelter supplement plan under paragraph (a) (3) of this section may include provisions for treatment of SSI family members that differ from the requirements of section 352.2(b) of this Part, [but such provisions shall not be more restrictive] but only with respect to the shelter supplement and only if approved by the Office.

Subdivision (a) of section 352.30 is amended to read as follows:

(a) For budgetary purposes, the number of persons in the public assistance household are those persons who the applicant, recipient or a representative indicates wish to receive public assistance and who reside together in the same dwelling unit. The applicant or recipient must include his or her minor dependent children in the application. When a minor dependent child is named as an applicant for public assistance, his or her natural or adoptive parents and blood-related or adoptive brothers and sisters (who are also minor dependent children) must also apply for public assistance and have their income and resources applied toward the public assistance household if they reside in the same dwelling unit as the applying minor dependent child. A person required to be added to the public assistance household is deemed to be included in the application already on file as of the date the person joins the household, either by birth, adoption, or by moving into the dwelling unit of the existing public assistance household. For the purposes of this subdivision, a minor dependent child is a child who is under 18 years of age. [Subject to section 352.2(b) of this Part, parents] Parents and siblings who are SSI recipients, stepbrothers and stepsisters, ineligible sponsored aliens, aliens who fail to meet the citizenship and alienage requirements in section 349.3(a) of this Title, individuals ineligible due to the lump sum provision of section 352.29(h) of this Part, or children who are receiving adoption subsidies which are exempt under section 352.22(p) of this Part are not required to apply in accordance with this subdivision. The public assistance household may also include persons who are temporarily absent from such household, such as children or minors attending school away from home whose full needs are not otherwise met.

Subdivision (f) of section 352.30 is amended to read as follows:

(f) When an applicant for or recipient of public assistance refuses to cooperate in applying for or accepting SSI benefits for himself or herself or for a member of the public assistance household, the [pro rata] needs of such individual shall be eliminated from the grant, and the needs of the family shall be determined based on the remaining persons in the grant. If, however, such individual is physically or emotionally unable to complete the SSI application process, the local department of social services shall provide any services which are necessary to insure that the individual is assisted in making the SSI application. In such instance, that individual shall not be denied public assistance and care.

Paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of section 352.31 is amended to read as follows:

(2) All available and unrestricted income of a legally responsible relative in the home and/ or a relative required to be in the public assistance household pursuant to section 352.30 of this Part must be applied against his/her own needs and the needs of the other persons in the public assistance household. [The income of an SSI recipient who is a member of a family unit shall be applied only against his or her pro rata share of the needs.] In determining eligibility and degree of need, if one of the relatives referenced in this paragraph is sanctioned under Part 347, 349, 352, 369, [or] 370 or 385 of this Title [or 12 NYCRR Part 1300], all of that person's income, minus any appropriate disregards under section 352.19 or 352.20 of this Part, must be applied against the needs of the public assistance household.

Jeanine Stander Behuniak, New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, 40 North Pearl Street, 16C, Albany, New York 12243-0001, (518) 474-9779, email: [email protected]

Same as above.

45 days after publication of this notice.

The Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) is proposing a rule to amend 18 NYCRR Part 352 which governs the standards of assistance for public assistance programs. The specific sections subject to amendment specify the treatment of a public assistance family when the family unit includes a member who is a recipient of Supplemental Security Income (SSI). The proposed changes remove the regulatory support for the policy that was overturned in the Doe vs. Doar litigation. The OTDA and the social services districts have not been following that overturned policy, and OTDA has determined that no person is likely to object to the adoption of the proposed rule as written.

The proposed rule conforms to the decision in the Doe vs. Doar litigation which challenged OTDA's policy of providing public assistance based on a reduced standard of need when a member of the family unit was an SSI recipient. The proposed subdivision (b) of section 352.2 specifies that the public assistance filing unit members and the SSI recipient family member(s) are separate households for the purpose of the determination of grants and allowances, unless otherwise specified.

Subdivision (l) of section 352.3 is amended to conform the regulation to the policy regarding the treatment of the family in receipt of a shelter supplement under paragraphs (2) and (3) of subdivision (a) of section 352.3.

Subdivision (a) of section 352.30 is amended to remove the now unnecessary qualifying reference to subdivision (b) of section 352.2.

Subdivision (f) of section 352.30 corrects the penalty for refusal to cooperate with the requirements to apply for or accept SSI when a member of the filing unit refuses to comply with this requirement on behalf of himself or herself or a member of the filing unit.

Lastly, paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of section 352.31 removes the reference to the treatment of the income of the recipient of SSI who is a member of a family unit because that reference is specific to the overturned policy. The proposed change also updates the reference from 12 NYCRR Part 1300, which was repealed, to 18 NYCRR Part 385.

Since the proposed amendments remove regulatory support for an overturned policy which is no longer followed by either OTDA or the social services districts, OTDA has determined that no person is likely to object to the adoption of the proposed rule as written.

A Job Impact Statement has not been prepared for the proposed regulatory amendments. It is evident from the subject matter of the amendments that the jobs of the workers applying the regulations impacted by the proposed amendments will not be affected in any real way. The proposed amendments remove regulatory support for an overturned policy which is no longer followed by either OTDA or the social services districts. Thus the changes will not have any impact on jobs and employment opportunities in the State.