Section 350 - Character and adequacy1.(a) Allowances shall be adequate to enable the father, mother or other relative to bring up the child properly, having regard for the physical, mental and moral well-being of such child, in accordance with the provisions of section one hundred thirty-one-a of this chapter and other applicable provisions of law. Allowances shall provide for the support, maintenance and needs of one or both parents if in need, and in the home and for the support, maintenance and needs of the other relative if he or she is without sufficient means of support, provided such parent, parents and relative are not receiving federal supplemental security income payments and/or additional state payments for which they are eligible. The social services official may, in his discretion, make the incapacitated parent the grantee of the allowance and when allowances are granted for the aid of a child or children due to the unemployment of a parent, such official may make the unemployed parent the grantee of the allowance.(b) When permitted in accordance with regulations of the department, provision may be made under this title for any item of maintenance of eligible individuals who are receiving medical assistance for needy persons in a hospital, nursing home, infirmary or other eligible medical institutions. However, aid under this title shall not include provisions for care or services in any hospital, nursing home, infirmary or other eligible medical institutions when such care and services may be provided as medical assistance for needy persons pursuant to title eleven of article five.(e) Any inconsistent provisions of this title notwithstanding, so long as federal law and regulations require, family planning services and supplies shall be offered and promptly furnished to eligible persons of childbearing age, including children who can be considered sexually active, who desire such services and supplies, in accordance with the regulations of the department. In order to maximize federal financial participation, the department may require that such services shall be furnished under title eleven of article five. No person shall be compelled or coerced to accept such services or supplies.(f) When, in the judgment of the social services official, care cannot be provided in the mother's own home, care may be provided in a licensed maternity home, a family home or boarding home for a child or his mother in need of public assistance and care during pregnancy and during and after delivery and for eligible persons assistance may be provided in a family home or boarding home, provided that no assistance will be provided under this title when such assistance can be provided under title eleven. Payments to such homes and institutions for care and maintenance provided by them shall be at rates established pursuant to law, and regulations of the department. The department, however, shall not establish rates of payment to homes and institutions without approval of the director of the budget.(g) The social services official of a social services district shall advise persons who are eligible for aid under this title of the availability for their benefit of child health screening services and of care and treatment of disabilities and conditions discovered by such screening under the provisions of title eleven of article five of this chapter; and upon request such official shall promptly furnish such services or care and treatment under the provisions of such title.2. Assistance funded in whole or in part under the temporary assistance to needy families block grant program temporary assistance to needy families (a)shall not be granted to any family which includes an adult who has received any form of assistance funded in whole or in part under the temporary assistance to needy families block grant program under title IV-A of the federal social security act in this state or in any other state for a cumulative period of longer than sixty months, provided that, (i) in determining the number of months for which an individual who is a parent or pregnant has received assistance, there shall not be included any period in which the individual was a minor child who was not the head of household or married to the head of household, and (ii) the social services district shall, in accordance with regulations of the department, subject to any federal limitations, exempt a family from the application of this subdivision on the basis of hardship when the adult family member is unable to work because of an independently verified physical or mental impairment including those resulting from domestic violence, or when the adult family member is in receipt of supplemental security income payments under title XVI of the federal social security act or additional state payments under title six of this article, and (iii) provided that periods in which an adult receives cash assistance in the safety net assistance program shall be included in the cumulative period referred to in this paragraph regardless of whether such assistance was funded in whole or in part by the temporary assistance to needy families block grant program;(b) may be increased, decreased or revoked at any time; and(c) except in the case of a child reaching the age of eighteen years, may be continued for a period of not more than one month after a child becomes ineligible to be granted allowance under this title.4. Adequate supervision of all families receiving such aid shall be provided and supervisory visits shall be made to each family as frequently as the regulations of the department and the circumstances of the case may require.5. The social services official of the social services district shall in cooperation with other public officers, private relief societies and individuals seek to secure for persons to whom allowances are granted as provided in this title or who apply for such allowances additional assistance whenever the social services official is unable adequately to provide for their needs and the needs of their families. It shall be the duty of such official and the family court to cooperate with each other in the effective enforcement of the obligation of the parents of children for whose benefit such allowances are granted to support such children to the extent of the parents' ability to do so.N.Y. Soc. Serv. Law § 350
Amended by New York Laws 2021, ch. 126,Sec. 1, eff. 6/30/2021.