16 Del. Admin. Code § 6000-6005
31Del. Code§ 521
This policy applies after applicants are determined eligible for Emergency Assistance services.
Recipients with an emergency as defined in DSSM 6000 and who meet the eligibility criteria in DSSM 6002 are eligible to receive emergency assistance.
The covered items and the conditions that must be present before payments can be authorized are listed below.
The repair must be needed to assure adequate heating, refrigeration, cooking facilities, and water supplies.
The recipients must be homeless or in jeopardy of losing their home. They cannot be more than 60 days behind in making payments on rent or mortgage or property taxes.
A maximum of $1,200 is allowed to provide a homeless recipient with up to 90 consecutive days of temporary emergency shelter in a DHSS certified shelter.
A maximum of $650 is allowed to help a recipient:
Cooperation with the housing search requires the recipient to:
Failure to cooperate without good cause (e.g., illness of recipient or immediate family member, no viable contacts remaining) will result in termination of the recipient's authorization for temporary emergency shelter
Good cause includes the need for a family member to remain in a school district or near an employer when public or private transportation is not reasonably available.
Recipients must be able to maintain ongoing permanent shelter costs in order to receive help toward permanent shelter. Assistance can be used to pay up to two months' arrearage or the first month's rent and/or security deposit. See DSSM 6003 for amounts and limitations.
The move must be necessitated by a crisis situation such as fire, eviction or condemnation of a house. The applicant must provide estimates before payments can be authorized.
The appliance or furnishing must be needed to assure adequate heating, refrigeration, and cooking facilities, and to provide appropriate sleeping arrangements. Funds may be used to purchase new items or replace existing items.
| Exception: When an existing item is replaced, it must be worn out. Replacement of existing items is not permitted if the item is still serviceable. |
A medical need is present if that need could result in serious impairment of health, prolonged hospitalization, or death.
The recipient must have an unpaid bill which became due and payable within 60 consecutive days immediately prior to the day the recipient applies for assistance. The recipient must be in immediate jeopardy of having his or her service disconnected or be unable to purchase fuel to maintain adequate living conditions. Recipients who have applied for funds under the Energy Crisis Assistance Program (ECAP) are eligible for assistance only when a delay in receiving ECAP funds will cause a hardship.
A food need is present that could result in hunger in spite of the expedited service requirements of the Food Supplement Program. Households eligible for expedited service must receive their food benefits within 7 calendar days following the date the application was filed.
Payments for food expense are limited as follows
| 1 person | $20.00 |
| 2 - 4 persons | $27.00 |
| 5 - 7 persons | $33.00 |
| 8 - 10 persons | $40.00 |
| 11 or more persons | $53.00 |
Assistance for clothing is authorized only if the need results from fire or theft and there is no other resource available.
Costs are allowed only when:
16 Del. Admin. Code § 6000-6005