§ 131-Z — Child assistance program

§ 131-z. Child assistance program. 1. Notwithstanding any other\nprovision of law to the contrary, any district may operate a child\nassistance program as part of the family assistance program with the\napproval of the department. Approved expenditures for such child\nassistance program shall be subject to federal and state reimbursement\nas expenditures under the family assistance program in accordance with\nsection one hundred fifty-three of this chapter. Provided, however, on\nor after January first, nineteen hundred ninety-eight the department\nshall reimburse social services districts for the administrative costs\nof this program in accordance with the provisions of subdivision sixteen\nof section one hundred fifty-three of this chapter. All custodial parent\nfamilies receiving family assistance benefits shall be eligible for this\nprogram, provided they satisfy the requirements of this section, if they\nreside in a district which operates such a program.\n 2. Where a program has been authorized, child assistance payments\npursuant to the provisions of this section may be made to custodial\nparents on behalf of minor children in accordance with the criteria\nspecified in subdivisions three, four, five and six of this section in\nlieu of allowances determined in accordance with section one hundred\nthirty-one-a of this article. The amount of such child assistance\npayments shall be at least the sum of three thousand three hundred sixty\ndollars per annum for the first minor child and one thousand one hundred\nsixteen dollars per annum for each additional minor child, provided that\nsuch payments shall be reduced by the amounts specified in paragraph (a)\nof subdivision six of this section. The commissioner may develop a\nmethodology which will provide for the periodic adjustment of the\nbenefit level to reflect changes in maximum monthly grants and\nallowances authorized pursuant to section one hundred thirty-one-a of\nthis article for the family assistance program. In addition, the child\nassistance payments shall be established so that the payments combined\nwith earnings from full-time employment shall result in a family of\nthree having income at or above the poverty level for nineteen hundred\neighty-seven as reported by the federal department of health and human\nservices.\n 3. No custodial parent who resides in a social services district or\nportion of such district in which a child assistance program is operated\nshall be eligible under this program for receipt of child assistance\npayments for a child, unless:\n (a) An order of child support for such child has been made by a court\nof competent jurisdiction;\n (b) The order of child support is payable through a support collection\nunit as created by section one hundred eleven-h of this chapter or such\nother administrative mechanism as may be designated by the commissioner;\nor the custodial parent has cooperated in taking the necessary steps to\nensure that the child support order is payable through a support\ncollection unit or other administrative mechanism;\n (c) The parent subject to a support order described in paragraphs (a)\nand (b) of this subdivision is absent from the home;\n (d) The custodial parent and the child for whom, or on whose behalf an\napplication for child assistance program payments is made is at such\ntime, a recipient of family assistance benefits; and\n (e) The custodial parent has not withdrawn from the program within the\nthree months prior to the date of reapplication for benefits under this\nprogram.\n 4. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision three of this\nsection, a custodial parent may be eligible under this program even\nthough the custodial parent has failed to obtain an order of child\nsupport because:\n (a) The other parent is deceased;\n (b) The custodial parent has demonstrated to the satisfaction of the\ncommissioner, a diligent effort to obtain a child support order,\nincluding providing the local social services district with the\ninformation necessary to file a petition for child support, but due to\nreasons outside of the control of the custodial parent, a child support\norder is not obtainable in a reasonable period of time;\n (c) The custodial parent has good cause as defined in regulations, not\nto cooperate in obtaining a child support order; or\n (d) The child resides with both parents and paternity has either been\nacknowledged or established.\n 5. A participant is no longer to be considered a participant in this\nprogram when such individual is not eligible for payments as a result of\nthe operation of paragraph (a) of subdivision six of this section for\nfour consecutive months.\n 6. (a) So long as funds are available therefor, the amount received by\neach custodial parent eligible to receive child assistance payments\npursuant to this section shall be reduced by an amount equal to:\n (i) An amount which reflects a portion of the actual income of the\ncustodial parent pursuant to a methodology to be established by the\ncommissioner; and\n (ii) An additional amount which reflects that portion of the custodial\nparent's spouse's income which is deemed to be available to other\nhousehold members pursuant to a methodology to be established by the\ncommissioner.\n (b) Persons in receipt of both child assistance under this section and\nmedical assistance pursuant to title eleven of article five of this\nchapter who, prior to April first, two thousand five, become ineligible\nfor medical assistance solely due to increased earnings from employment\nor loss of earned income disregards shall, if otherwise eligible, remain\neligible for medical assistance until March thirty-first, two thousand\nfive or until such later time as may be required by the provisions of\nsuch title or of this subdivision. Such medical assistance shall be\nprovided initially pursuant to paragraphs (a) and (b) of subdivision\nfour of section three hundred sixty-six of this article.\n (c) With respect to persons described in paragraph (b) of this\nsubdivision, including those no longer in receipt of child assistance\ndue to increased earnings from employment, when the medical assistance\nprovided pursuant to paragraphs (a) and (b) of subdivision four of\nsection three hundred sixty-six of this chapter ends, such persons, if\nineligible for medical assistance solely due to earnings from employment\nor loss of earned income disregards shall, if otherwise eligible, remain\neligible for medical assistance for an additional twelve months.\nHowever, in no event shall medical assistance be provided pursuant to\nthis paragraph for any period that is more than twelve months after such\npersons cease to participate in the child assistance program.\n (d) Social services districts shall take all necessary actions to\nprovide medical assistance pursuant to paragraphs (a) and (b) of\nsubdivision four of section three hundred sixty-six of this chapter to\nindividuals described in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this subdivision who\nare eligible for such assistance. Social services districts shall\nprovide to individuals described in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this\nsubdivision information as to the availability of the child health\ninsurance plan described in title one-A of article twenty-five of the\npublic health law.\n 7. Each participating social services district shall provide to all\nrecipients eligible for participation in this program in accordance with\nthe approved program a comparison of the benefits that would be\navailable to the household under family assistance and the child\nassistance payments as provided in this section. Each participating\ndistrict shall inform all eligible recipients that participation in this\nprogram is voluntary.\n 8. Participation in this program shall be voluntary. Should a\nparticipant elect to terminate his or her participation in this program,\nthen, upon reapplication for family assistance benefits and a subsequent\ndetermination of eligibility, such participant shall be restored to\nbenefits effective from the date of reapplication.\n 9. The department shall promulgate regulations for the operation of\nthe child assistance program. Such regulations shall include but not be\nlimited to:\n (a) Resources. At program entry, program participants may not have\nresources which exceed the level permitted for eligibility for the\nfamily assistance program. Once eligible for the program, no further\nresource tests shall be imposed;\n (b) Eligibility determinations. Program participants shall not be\nrequired to report changes in income more frequently than quarterly;\n (c) Lump sums. If a child or relative participating in the program\nreceives, in any month or months in a quarter, a non-recurring amount of\nearned or unearned income, the quarterly total of which exceeds one\nquarter of the annual poverty level for nineteen hundred eighty-seven\nfor a family of the same size as the program household which received\nthe lump sum, the case shall be ineligible for assistance for the whole\nnumber of quarters that equals the amount of the non-recurring income\nreceived, adjusted for any applicable disregards of income, divided by\nthe quarterly poverty level applicable to the case;\n (d) One hundred eighty-five percent of gross income test. Program\nparticipants shall be allowed to have income in excess of one hundred\neighty-five percent of the state standard of need;\n (e) Loss of eligibility. Non-compliance with a condition of\neligibility shall result in the ineligibility of the whole family for\nthe child assistance program;\n (f) Determination of available income. Notwithstanding section one\nhundred thirty-one-a or any other provision of this chapter,\ndetermination of available income and the determination of income to be\ndisregarded shall be in accordance with these regulations provided\nhowever that the methodology shall not be adjusted in a manner such that\na household would receive a lower benefit than a similarly situated\nhousehold would have received in January, nineteen hundred ninety-seven\nfor the same amount of earned income; and\n (g) Cash out of food stamps. To the extent permitted by federal law,\nprogram participants shall receive the value of their food stamps in\ncash.\n (h) Child support pass through. The requirement that certain child\nsupport collected be passed through to the custodial parent pursuant to\nsection one hundred eleven-c of this chapter shall not apply to persons\nparticipating in the child assistance program.\n