§ 303. Character and adequacy.
1.It shall be the duty of the social\nservices official to provide emergency assistance, in accordance with\nregulations of the department, to an eligible aged, blind or disabled\nperson who has one or more of the following needs:\n (a) Replacement or repair, as the case may be, of clothing, furniture,\nfood, fuel and shelter; (including repairs to homes owned by aged,\nblind, and disabled persons and temporary shelter until necessary\nrepairs are completed or replacement shelter is secured), provided such\nclothing, furniture, food, fuel or shelter was lost or rendered useless\nas a result of burglary, theft or vandalism, or as a result of fire,\nflood or other similar catastrophe which could not have been forseen by\nsuch person, and was not under his c
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§ 303. Character and adequacy. 1. It shall be the duty of the social\nservices official to provide emergency assistance, in accordance with\nregulations of the department, to an eligible aged, blind or disabled\nperson who has one or more of the following needs:\n (a) Replacement or repair, as the case may be, of clothing, furniture,\nfood, fuel and shelter; (including repairs to homes owned by aged,\nblind, and disabled persons and temporary shelter until necessary\nrepairs are completed or replacement shelter is secured), provided such\nclothing, furniture, food, fuel or shelter was lost or rendered useless\nas a result of burglary, theft or vandalism, or as a result of fire,\nflood or other similar catastrophe which could not have been forseen by\nsuch person, and was not under his control. All such losses shall have\nbeen reported to and appropriately verified by local officials before\nsuch replacement or repair;\n (b) Replacement of stolen cash if reported to and appropriately\nverified by local officials;\n (c) Replacement of lost or mismanaged cash by a person who by reason\nof advanced age, illness, infirmity, mental weakness, physical handicap,\nintemperance, addiction to drugs, or other cause, has suffered\nsubstantial impairment of his ability to care for his property;\n (d) Payments to a secured party in whose favor there is a security\ninterest, pursuant to the provisions of article nine of the uniform\ncommercial code, on furniture or household equipment essential to making\nliving accommodations habitable, in an amount not to exceed the cost of\nreplacement. Such payments shall be authorized only after every effort\nhas been made by the social services official to defer, cancel, reduce\nor compromise payments on such security interests;\n (e) Household moving expenses when a change of residence is necessary\nbecause the health, welfare or safety of the eligible person or persons\nis endangered and such move is not caused by eviction for nonpayment of\nrent, or when such move will substantially reduce rental costs;\n (f) Furniture or clothing which may be necessary in order to enable\nsuch person to move to a private residence from a nursing home, hospital\nor other institution;\n (g) Household expenses essential to the maintenance of a home, in the\ncase of a person whose supplemental security income benefit has been\nreduced because he has been placed in a medical facility. Within\nforty-five days following placement in such a facility, the social\nservices official shall determine whether, and payments under this\nsubdivision shall not continue unless, such person is expected to remain\nin such a facility for less than one hundred eighty days following the\nreduction in such benefits;\n (h) Repair or replacement of essential household heating, cooking,\nrefrigeration, water supply, personal safety equipment, plumbing and\nsanitary equipment;\n (i) Security against nonpayment of rent or for damages, as a condition\nto renting a housing accommodation, as provided in section one hundred\nforty-three-c of this chapter;\n (j) Broker's fees necessary to securing shelter;\n (k) Essential storage of furniture and personal belongings during such\ncircumstances as relocation, eviction or temporary shelter and for so\nlong as the circumstances necessitating the storage continue to exist\nand provided that eligibility for emergency assistance continues;\n (l) Household expenses (including rent, fuel for heating, gas and\nelectric utilities) incurred during the four month period prior to the\nmonth in which such person initially applied for supplemental security\nincome benefits or additional state payments, when payment of such\nhousehold expenses is necessary to prevent eviction or a utility\nshut-off or to restore such utility services, and, in the judgment of a\nsocial services official, other housing accommodations appropriate for\nsuch person's best interests are not available in a particular area.\n (m) Household expenses (including rent, fuel for heating, gas and\nelectric utilities) incurred during the four month period immediately\nprior to the month in which such person applied for emergency assistance\nfor adults when payment of such household expenses is necessary to\nprevent eviction or a utility shutoff or to restore such utility\nservices and, in the judgment of a social services official, other\nhousing accommodations appropriate for such person's best interests are\nnot available in a particular area. A social services official shall not\ngrant emergency assistance under this paragraph if a person has received\na grant under this paragraph within the preceding twelve months, unless\nthe granting of such assistance is recommended by the social services\nofficial and has been approved by a duly designated official of the\ndepartment. For purposes of this paragraph, a person shall be deemed to\nhave received a grant under this paragraph within the preceding twelve\nmonths if he is residing in a household with another person who has\nreceived a grant under this paragraph within the preceding twelve\nmonths.\n (n) Replacement of so much of a person's lost, stolen or unreceived\nfederal supplemental security income and/or additional state payments\ncheck or checks up to a maximum of one-half the amount of each such\ncheck, predicated upon the estimated period of time required for the\nreceipt of the original check or replacement check. Such person shall be\nrequired, as a condition of eligibility for such emergency assistance,\nto agree in writing to repay any amount granted as emergency assistance\npursuant to this paragraph and paragraph (o) hereof for which he\nsubsequently receives the original or replacement check of supplemental\nsecurity income payment and/or additional state payments. All such\nincidences of loss, theft or non-receipt shall have been reported to and\nappropriately verified by local officials before such replacement.\n (o) Assistance by monetary payment or food voucher, as determined by\nthe social services official, in an amount necessary to meet a person's\nnutritional requirements for a period of not more than one week,\npursuant to regulations of the department for applicants for\nsupplemental security income and/or additional state payments or for\nemergency assistance pursuant to paragraph (n) of this subdivision. Such\nassistance shall be provided within twenty-four hours of application\nwhere the applicant demonstrates that he requires such assistance to\navoid hunger and has no cash or personal assets readily reducible to\ncash with which to purchase food.\n 2. The maximum grant available for any emergency need specified in\nsubdivision one above shall be limited to the amount and paid in the\nmanner as specified by regulations of the department.\n