What's happening
This bill sets new monthly public assistance amounts for people receiving temporary housing and three meals per day in New York.
Why it matters
Establishes clear, predictable cash assistance amounts. for individuals and families in shelters or temporary housing with three daily meals, potentially reducing uncertainty and inconsistencies in benefits.
Links assistance levels directly to household size. , with a set schedule and an $85 monthly increase for each additional eligible person, which may better reflect actual family needs and support larger families more equitably.
Targets a specific population—public assistance recipients in meal-providing shelters or temporary housing—. potentially improving support for some of New York’s most vulnerable residents who may otherwise receive lower cash benefits due to their meals being provided.
May impact local and state budgets as well as shelter operations. , since standardized benefit levels could influence how social service agencies allocate resources and how shelters calculate their funding and services.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Raise Public Assistance Allowances
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to social services
- Referred to social services
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
5753
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
May 14, 2019
Introduced by Sen. RAMOS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Social Services
AN ACT to amend the social services law, in relation to the standards of monthly need for persons in receipt of public assistance
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Section 131-a of the social services law is amended by adding a new subdivision 6 to read as follows:
6. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, social services officials shall, in accordance with the provisions of this section, provide public assistance to persons and families who receive temporary housing assistance and three meals per day or reside in a shelter for adults that provides three meals per day, shelter for families that provides three meals per day, or a public home that provides three meals per day and determined to be eligible by the application of the standard of need prescribed by the provisions of subdivision two of this section, less any available income or resources which are not required to be disregarded by other provisions of this chapter, in accordance with the following schedule:
Number of Persons in Household
One Two Three Four Five Six
$144 $238 $322 $419 $520 $603
For each additional eligible needy person in the household there shall be an additional allowance of eighty-five dollars monthly.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the first of April in the year next succeeding the year in which it shall have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01052-01-9
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the social services law, in relation to the standards of monthly need for persons in receipt of public assistance
Purpose or general idea of bill
To provide a long overdue increase in the needs allowance provided to individuals and families residing in homeless shelters.
Summary of provisions
Section 1 adds a new subdivision 6 to Section 131-a of the social services law to require social services districts to provide a personal needs allowance to individuals and families living in shelters that provide three meals a day, and includes a schedule which sets the allow- ance based on the number of persons in the household.
Section 2 is the effective date.
Justification
The current needs allowances have not been increased in decades and are woefully inadequate to meet the most basic needs of the individuals and families who find themselves living in homeless shelters.
Individuals and families living in a shelter that provides three meals a day do not qualify for a public assistance cash grants, because they have a bed to sleep on and some food to eat. To meet every other personal need, they are provided a personal needs allowance. Currently, a mother with two children in a shelter that serves 3 meals a day receives an allowance every two weeks that equates to between $4.82 and $6.3o per day, depending on the type of facility, to meet all of the other personal needs of her family, including clothing, transportation, over-the-counter medication, etc.
This bill sets the personal needs allowance for individuals and families in shelters at the same level as those in Congregate Care Level 1 settings, such as Family Care Homes and Family Type Homes for Adults.
Under the bill, a mother with two children in the same shelter would receive $322 per month, which equates to under $11 per day for the fami- ly.
Prior legislative history
A. 10317 of 2017-2018
Fiscal implications for state and local governments
To be determined
Effective date
The act takes effect April 1 of the year next succeeding its enactment NEW YORK STATE SENATE INTRODUCER'S MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT submitted in accordance with Senate Rule VI. Sec 1
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.