§ 65 — County commissioners of public welfare

New York § 65

• Jurisdiction: New York
• Law SOS: Social Services
• Title 3: County Public Welfare Districts
• Art. 3: Local Public Welfare Organization; Powers and Duties

Text

§ 65. County commissioners of public welfare. 1. There shall be a\ncounty commissioner of public welfare in each county public welfare\ndistrict who shall administer the public assistance and care for which\nthe county public welfare district is responsible and shall have general\nsupervision and care of persons in need in the territory over which he\nhas jurisdiction.\n 2. The county commissioner shall be responsible for the administration\nof all the assistance and care for which the county is responsible.\n 3. The county commissioner shall act as the agent of the department in\nall matters relating to assistance and care administered or authorized\nby the town public welfare officers.\n 4. The county commissioner shall be appointed in accordance with the\nprovisions of section one hundred sixteen of this chapter or other\nprovisions of law relating to the appointment of such commissioner.\n 6. (a) A county commissioner is authorized and required to provide\nsafety net assistance for persons residing or found in a city or town of\nthe county when in his judgment they are eligible for and in immediate\nneed of such assistance and either: the city or town public welfare\nofficer, as the case may be, is absent from his city or town under\ncircumstances indicating his absence may extend beyond two days and such\nofficer has no deputy or assistant authorized to grant such assistance\nor his or her deputy or assistant is also absent from such city or town\nunder circumstances indicating his or her absence may also be for a\nperiod of more than two days; or, such county commissioner shall have\nappealed to the department, pursuant to section seventy-four-h, the\ndecision of the social services official of such city or town not to\ngrant the safety net assistance recommended by such commissioner after\nhis or her staff shall have investigated the application for assistance\npursuant to the provisions of section one hundred thirty-two. Such\ncounty commissioner may continue to grant safety net assistance in the\nformer case until the city or town public welfare officer or his or her\ndeputy or assistant returns to such city or town, and in the latter case\nuntil the department shall have decided the appeal of the county\ncommissioner.\n (b) Expenditures of a county for safety net assistance pursuant to\nthis section may be made from county social services funds appropriated\nor otherwise made available therefor and shall be subject to\nreimbursement by the state in accordance with and to the extent\nauthorized by section one hundred fifty-three; and the local share of\nsuch expenditures shall become a charge on, and shall be reimbursed to\nthe county by the city or town which was otherwise responsible for\nfurnishing the safety net assistance for which the expenditure was made,\nprovided the county commissioner shall give appropriate written notice\nthereof to the appropriate city or town public welfare officer within\nthirty days of the date the expenditure was made by the county and\nprovided further that in the case of an appeal to the department that\nsuch appeal shall be decided in favor of the county.\n 7. (a) In the event of a vacancy in the office of county commissioner\nof social services the appointing authority may, subject to the\nprovisions of paragraph (b) of this subdivision, appoint as acting\ncommissioner of social services any employee of the county social\nservices agency. Such appointment shall be for no longer than one year.\n (b) Prior to filling a vacancy in the office of county commissioner of\nsocial services the appointing authority shall certify to the state\ncommissioner of social services: (i) that there is an unavailability of\nqualified candidates; (ii) that the district is making continued efforts\nto recruit qualified candidates; (iii) that the appointment shall be\neffective only until a qualified person becomes available; and (iv) that\na waiver by the appointing authority of any specific qualification\nrequired by section one hundred sixteen of this chapter shall not be\neffective without the consent of the state commissioner of social\nservices.\n (c) The acting commissioner may be paid compensation in addition to\nhis normal salary during the period of time that he serves as acting\ncommissioner.\n (d) The acting commissioner shall have the same power as a\ncommissioner during the period of time that he serves as acting\ncommissioner.\n (e) Service as an acting commissioner shall in no way affect the\npermanent civil service status, or any other employment rights of the\nappointee.\n 8. Notwithstanding any other law, rule, or regulation to the contrary,\neach county commissioner of social services is hereby authorized and\ndirected to ensure that their social services district allows\nindividuals submitting an application or other paperwork relating to\npublic assistance and care to do so electronically.\n