§ 139-A — Special provisions to avoid abuse of assistance and care

§ 139-a. Special provisions to avoid abuse of assistance and care. 1.\nAny person who shall apply for safety net assistance or family\nassistance within one year after arrival in this state, shall be\npresumed to have come into the state for the purpose of receiving public\nassistance or care and the social services official where application is\nmade, shall deny public assistance and care to such applicant unless\nsuch applicant shall establish by clear and convincing proof that the\npurpose of his or her entry was not for the purpose of securing public\nassistance and care in this state. In addition to complying with the\nforegoing provisions, the applicant shall also submit with his or her\napplication a certificate from the appropriate local employment office\nof the state department of labor issued within a two week period from\nthe date of his or her application stating that such employment office\nhas no order for an opening in part-time, full-time, temporary or\npermanent work of any kind to which the applicant could properly be\nreferred by such office, taking into consideration only his or her\nphysical and mental capacity without reference to his or her customary\noccupation or acquired skill.\n 2. The social services official shall in every case complete his\ninvestigation and make his determination of the application under this\nsection not more than thirty days after receipt of the application.\n 3. (a) The social services districts of Allegany, Broome, Dutchess,\nNiagara, Onondaga, Oneida, Orange, Oswego, Rensselaer, Rockland,\nSteuben, and Suffolk shall authorize and implement demonstration\nprojects for the purposes of determining the cost-effectiveness of\npreventing multiple enrollment of home relief benefit recipients through\nthe use of an automated two-digit finger imaging matching identification\nsystem. The system shall only include home relief benefit recipient\nfinger imaging upon application for eligibility for such benefits and\nfinger imaging of home relief recipients currently receiving home relief\nbenefits.\n (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of section one hundred thirty-six\nof this article or any other provision of law, data collected and\nmaintained through the use of an automated finger imaging matching\nidentification system as authorized by this subdivision may not be used,\ndisclosed or redisclosed for any purpose other than the prevention of\nmultiple enrollments in home relief, may not be used or admitted in any\ncriminal or civil investigation, prosecution, or proceeding, other than\na civil proceeding pursuant to section one hundred forty-five-c of this\narticle, and may not be disclosed in response to a subpoena or other\ncompulsory legal process or warrant, or upon request or order of any\nagency, authority, division, office or other private or public entity or\nperson, except that nothing contained herein shall prohibit disclosure\nin response to a subpoena issued by or on behalf of the applicant or\nrecipient who is the subject of the record maintained as a part of such\nsystem. Any person who knowingly makes or obtains any unauthorized\ndisclosure of data collected and maintained through the use of an\nautomated two-digit finger imaging matching identification system shall\nbe guilty of a class A misdemeanor, and shall be punished in accordance\nwith the provisions of the penal law.\n (c) Data collected and maintained on the automated two-digit finger\nimaging matching identification system shall be subject to those\nprovisions relating to unauthorized disclosure of confidential client\ninformation currently subject to part 357 of the commissioner's\nregulations.\n (d) Such social services districts shall develop a competitive request\nfor proposal for an automated two-digit finger imaging matching\nidentification system, and shall thereafter contract for the services of\na firm certified by the department as able to design and implement such\nautomated two-digit finger imaging matching identification system. The\ndepartment shall oversee the process by which districts select and award\ncontracts for the demonstration projects. Prior to the implementation of\nany contracts, the department shall certify that a system exists for\ndata collection and for destroying and expunging a recipient finger\nimage upon such recipient ceasing to be a home relief recipient and that\nthe design of the demonstration project fulfills all the requirements of\nthis section. The department shall provide such assistance as needed to\nfacilitate finger image matching among social services districts\nincluding centralized sharing of data when local matching among social\nservices districts is not feasible. After award the department shall be\nresponsible for ensuring that the demonstration projects are carried out\nin accordance with the requirements of this section, that adequate\ntraining for local district staff involved with the project will be\nprovided and taking any actions necessary to bring such programs into\ncompliance if required. Such contractual arrangement shall ensure that\nstate payments for the contractor's necessary and legitimate expenses\nfor the administration of such program are limited to amounts specified\nin advance and that such amounts shall not exceed the amount\nappropriated therefor in any fiscal years.\n (e) Immediate notice of all the provisions of this subdivision shall\nbe provided to home relief recipients or applicants.\n (f) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, nothing contained\nherein shall be deemed to authorize or permit the termination,\nsuspension, or diminution of home relief benefits except as elsewhere\nspecifically authorized in this chapter, provided, however, that where\nthe basis of a proposed sanction is a determination of a fraudulent\nmultiple enrollment based on the use of an automated finger imaging\nmatching identification system authorized pursuant to this section, no\nsuch sanction shall be imposed pending a hearing conducted pursuant to\nsection twenty-two of this chapter within forty-five days of the\nnotification of the applicant or recipient of the alleged fraudulent\nmultiple enrollment, or pending a final determination of a request by an\napplicant or a recipient for correction or amendment of a record\npursuant to section ninety-five of the public officers law, and no such\nsanction shall be imposed unless the local social services district has\nverified the results of the automated finger imaging matching\nidentification system by means of a manual match conducted by a person\nwho is qualified to perform such identifications.\n (g) The department shall conduct periodic audits to monitor compliance\nwith all laws and regulations regarding the automated finger imaging\nmatching system to insure that any records maintained as part of such\nsystem are accurate and complete, that no illegal disclosures of such\nrecords have taken place, that effective software and hardware designs\nhave been instituted with security features to prevent unauthorized\naccess to such records, that access to record information system\nfacilities, systems operating environments, data file contents whether\nwhile in use or when stored in a media library is restricted to\nauthorized personnel only, that operation programs are used that will\nprohibit inquiry, record updates, or destruction of records, from any\nterminal other than automated finger imaging matching system terminals\nwhich are so designated, that operational programs are used to detect\nand store for the output of designated department employees all\nunauthorized attempts to penetrate any automated finger imaging matching\nsystem, program or file, that adequate and timely procedures exist to\ninsure that the recipient or applicant's right to access and review of\nrecords for the purpose of accuracy and completeness, including\nprocedures for review of information maintained about such individuals\nand for administrative review (including procedures for administrative\nappeal) and necessary correction of any claim by the individual to whom\nthe information relates that the information is inaccurate or\nincomplete.\n (h) The department shall report to the speaker of the assembly and the\ntemporary president of the senate on the operation of the demonstration\nproject by March first, nineteen hundred ninety-six. This report shall\ninclude analysis of the cost-effectiveness of such project, and shall\ninclude information concerning instances of multiple enrollment detected\nthrough use of this system, and shall include a detailed summary of the\nresults of audits required by paragraph (g) of this subdivision. The\nreport shall include recommendations regarding whether the program\nshould be discontinued, expanded, or otherwise modified.\n (i) The department of social services shall contract with an\nindependent academic or research organization (the "contractor")\nexperienced in evaluating public assistance programs for a comprehensive\nevaluation of the automated finger imaging matching identification\nsystem authorized in this section. The results of such evaluation shall\nbe set forth in a report which shall include, but not be limited to the\nfollowing:\n (1) a description of the demonstration project, its implementation\nschedule and the problems encountered in implementation;\n (2) investigations of each instance where a recipient does not respond\nto a notice informing the recipient of the need to submit to finger\nimaging. Such investigation shall determine, to the extent possible, why\nthe recipient did not respond and whether such failure to respond was\ndue to the recipient: (a) becoming eligible for federal supplemental\nsecurity income benefits, if any; (b) no longer being eligible because\nof earned income, if any; (c) no longer being a resident of the county,\nif any; or (d) failing to respond because of other reasons;\n (3) an evaluation of historical caseload trends, both statewide and in\nthe demonstration counties, including a study of monthly records for the\ntwo years prior to the demonstration, and also including the closing of\ncases at recertification. Analysis of such monthly records shall be\nconducted as part of the basis of estimating benefits under the\ndemonstration;\n (4) an analysis of the procedures used to verify suspicions of fraud\nincluding follow-up of identified cases of fraud, if any;\n (5) aggregate totals of false matches, if any, found by the system,\nthe methods used to correct such errors and an accounting of the\nduplicate applications for benefits, if any, that are detected by the\nsystem; and\n (6) an estimate of the savings, if any, resulting from the\nimplementation of finger imaging, and an estimate of the actual costs of\nthe system including, but not limited to equipment costs, the costs of\nlinking terminals, site preparation and the costs of any additional\nstaff required to operate the system.\n (j) Not later than February first, nineteen hundred ninety-six, the\ncontractor shall submit the report required by paragraph (i) of\nsubdivision three of this section to the governor, the majority leader\nof the senate and the speaker of the assembly and to the commissioner of\nthe department of social services.\n (k) The local social service districts establishing an automated\nfinger imaging matching identification system pursuant to this\nsubdivision shall be deemed an agency as defined in subdivision one of\nsection ninety-two of the public officers law, and data collected and\nmaintained in such automated system shall be deemed records and systems\nof records as defined in subdivisions nine and eleven of such section of\nsuch law. Except as otherwise specifically provided in this section, the\nprovisions of article six-a of such law, known as the "personal privacy\nprotection law" shall apply to the records and systems of records\ncollected and maintained by such local social service districts pursuant\nto this section.\n (l) Expenditures made by social services districts, and determined\ncost effective by the department, including those expenditures necessary\nfor contracts planned or executed on or before the effective date of\nthis section, for the design, development, implementation and\nadministrative costs of the automated finger imaging matching\nidentification system shall be subject to one hundred percent state\nreimbursement.\n (m) The automated finger imaging matching identification system shall\nbe established in the selected districts not later than October first,\nnineteen hundred ninety-four, and such demonstration projects shall\nexpire upon the enactment of a chapter of the laws of nineteen hundred\nninety-five providing for an automated fraud prevention system based on\npersonally unique identification factors.\n