N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 18 § 393.4

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 51, December 18, 2024

Section 393.4 - Eligibility

(a) Eligibility for regular and emergency HEAP benefits must be determined for each applicant in accordance with this Part.

(b) For purposes of the annual HEAP State Plan, a household is defined as any individual or group of individuals who are living together as one economic unit for whom residential energy is customarily purchased in common or who make undesignated payments for energy in the form of rent and such individual or group of individuals occupy a housing unit. Any individual residing in a housing unit who is related by blood, marriage or adoption to any other household member shall be presumed a household member in determining HEAP eligibility unless he/she supplies reasonable evidence to rebut this presumption. Relationship by blood, marriage or adoption is deemed to include the following:

(1) father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister; or

(2) stepfather, stepmother, stepbrother, and stepsister.

In determining household size, adults in foster care, foster care children and nonrelated roomers and/or boarders must be excluded from the household count.

(c) Regular HEAP benefit. For purposes of the annual HEAP State Plan, eligibility for the regular HEAP benefit must be determined annually and must be based on the household's circumstances (income, household size, energy type, etc.) for the entire calendar month in which the household has filed its application. In order to be eligible for a regular HEAP benefit, a household must pay for heat directly or make undesignated energy payments for heat in the form of rent and not reside in an ineligible living situation as provided in paragraph (3) of this subdivision. If heat is not included in the applicant's rent, a vendor relationship must be established for the applicant household. The vendor relationship must be documented by a current fuel/utility bill or contact with the fuel/utility company. While the applicant is not required to be the customer of record for regular HEAP, direct responsibility for payment of the bill must be established if the applicant or member of the applicant household is not the customer of record. The term customer of record means a person or persons who have an account, in their name, with a home energy vendor. The term home energy vendor means an individual or entity engaged in the business of selling electricity, natural gas, oil, propane, kerosene, coal, wood, or any other fuel used for residential heating. Once determined eligible, a household will receive a regular HEAP benefit for such program year in an amount to be set by the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (the office). The office must annually establish a payment matrix which will enable the office to meet the requirements of 42 USC section 8624(b)(5) and (8) and which sets payment levels with consideration to the availability of Federal funds and utilizes various factors including, but not limited to, income and fuel costs. Except as provided in paragraph (3) of this subdivision, the following households shall be eligible to receive a regular HEAP benefit, if and to the extent than an allocation of Federal funds is available to the district in which the household resides.

(1) Categorically income eligible households. For purposes of the annual HEAP State Plan, categorically income eligible households include:

(i) households, any member of which is in receipt of Family Assistance;

(ii) households, any member of which is in receipt of Safety Net Assistance;

(iii) households, any member of which is in receipt of SSI as a couple or individual living alone (SSI Living Arrangement Code A); or

(iv) households where at least one member is in receipt of food stamps.

(2) Income tested households. For purposes of the annual HEAP State Plan, income tested households must have total household income calculated on a monthly basis, that is less than or equal to the maximum limit established by the department each program year in accordance with the requirements of 42 USC section 8624(b)(2)(B)(i) and (ii) (United States Code Annotated; Title 42, § 7901 to 10226; 1992 Supplementary Pamphlet; page 89; West Publishing Co., St. Paul, Minnesota. Copies may be obtained from the Department of Social Services, Division of Economic Security, 40 North Pearl Street, Albany, NY). Total income cannot include any income required by State or Federal law to be excluded or disregarded.

(3) For purposes of the annual HEAP State Plan, notwithstanding paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subdivision, categorical and income tested households in the following living arrangements are ineligible to receive benefits under HEAP:

(i) individual(s) paying room only or room and board and not residing in a commercial enterprise;

(ii) individual(s) temporarily housed in a hotel/motel;

(iii) residents of licensed or unlicensed congregate care facilities, including title XIX facilities, and dormitories;

(iv) children residing in agency boarding homes, group homes, or institutions who are in receipt of payments pursuant to title IV-E of the Social Security Act or article 6 of the Social Services Law;

(v) persons living temporarily in cars, vans, or recreational vehicles;

(vi) individuals who live on military bases in government-provided housing with no utility or heating bills in their names;

(vii) individuals who have no responsibility for any heating costs and do not make undesignated payments for heat in the form of rent; and

(viii) individuals who are migrant or seasonal farm workers provided room and board and with no heating expenses.

(4)

(i) Notwithstanding the provisions of subparagraph (3)(iii) of this subdivision, categorical and income tested households in the following living arrangements that make undesignated payments for heat in the form of rent are eligible for a maximum annual HEAP regular benefit of $1:

(a) government subsidized housing with heat included in the rent;

(b) publicly operated or State-certified private nonprofit residential drug or alcoholic treatment facilities;

(c) private nonprofit residential drug or alcoholic treatment facilities that are authorized as a food stamp retailer by the United States Department of Agriculture or are in receipt of a letter from the certifying State agency stating that the facility operates to further the goals of title XIX;

(d) publicly operated or State-certified private nonprofit enriched housing;

(e) publicly operated or State-certified private nonprofit residential group living facilities serving no more than 16 residents;

(f) publicly operated or State-certified private nonprofit supervised or supportive living arrangements; and

(g) State-operated community residences;

(ii) Otherwise eligible households in the living arrangements defined in subparagraph (i) of this paragraph are only eligible for a maximum annual HEAP regular benefit of $1 and are not eligible for emergency HEAP or any other benefit under HEAP, except that eligible households in government subsidized housing with heat included in the rent that pay a supplier directly for heat-related utility service may be eligible for a HEAP emergency benefit if such benefit is necessary to resolve the heat-related energy crisis of the household.

(5) Notwithstanding paragraphs (1), (2), (3) and (4) of this subdivision, an individual is not eligible for HEAP unless he or she is a United States citizen, a national or a qualified alien as defined by the Federal government. The Federal government considers the following to be qualified aliens:

(i) an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence under the Immigration and Nationality Act;

(ii) an alien granted asylum under section 208 of the Immigration and Nationality Act;

(iii) a refugee admitted to the United States under section 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act;

(iv) an alien paroled into the United States under section 212(d)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act for a period of at least one year;

(v) an alien whose deportation is being withheld under section 243(h) of the Immigration and Nationality Act as in effect prior to April 1, 1997, or whose removal is being withheld under section 241(b)(3) of the Immigration and Nationality Act;

(vi) an alien granted conditional entry under section 203(a)(7) of the Immigration and Nationality Act as in effect prior to April 1, 1980;

(vii) an alien who is a Cuban or Haitian entrant as defined in section 501(e) of the Refugee Education Assistance Act of 1980;

(viii) an alien who (or whose child or parent) has been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty in the United States and otherwise satisfies the requirements of 8 U.S.C. 1641(c); or

(ix) a native North American Indian of 50 percent or more blood and born in Canada or a member of a federally recognized Indian tribe who is residing in the United States.

(d) Emergency benefits.

(1) For purposes of the annual HEAP State Plan, to be eligible for a HEAP emergency benefit, the applicant must document that he/she is the tenant of record with primary responsibility for the payment of his/her heat-related residential energy bill. A tenant of record is a person who has or persons who have primary responsibility for payment of the monthly rent or mortgage for their dwelling unit. A homeowner whose mortgage has been satisfied is also considered a tenant of record. Individuals who contribute a portion of the monthly rent/mortgage to a person responsible for payment of the rent/mortgage for their dwelling unit will not be considered a tenant of record. To have primary responsibility for the payment of residential energy costs the applicant must be the customer of record with a home energy vendor. The term customer of record means a person or persons who have an account, in their name, with a home energy vendor. The term home energy vendor means an individual or entity engaged in the business of selling electricity, natural gas, oil, propane, kerosene, coal, wood, or any other fuel used for residential heating. To be considered heat-related, a residential energy bill must be for the household's primary heating fuel or for electricity essential to operate the household's primary heating equipment. A HEAP emergency benefit may be granted to an individual who is not a tenant and/or customer of record where such individual is a spouse of a tenant and/or customer of record who is living in the household of such tenant and/or customer of record or who is the surviving spouse of a deceased spouse who was the tenant and/or customer of record. In addition, emergency benefits may be provided under this subdivision when a household:

(i) is financially eligible for the regular HEAP benefit except that a tenant of record and/or customer of record who is ineligible for regular HEAP benefits because he or she is not a United States citizen, a national or a qualified alien may receive emergency HEAP benefits on behalf of members of the household who are United States citizens, nationals or qualified aliens; and

(ii) is currently without heating fuel; or

(iii) has a heating fuel supply that will last less than seven calendar days; or

(iv) has had heat-related utility service disconnected; or

(v) has heat-related utility service scheduled for disconnection;

(vi) has essential applicant-owned heating equipment that is inoperable or unsafe and is in need of repair/maintenance/replacement; or

(vii) is in an emergency home heating situation which is deemed by the social services district to be detrimental to the health or safety of household members if temporary emergency shelter or relocation is not provided; and

(viii) cannot make alternative payment arrangements and/or other housing accommodations appropriate for the household's best interests are not available; and

(ix) has no liquid resources to ameliorate the emergency except that households otherwise eligible for replacement of essential heating equipment may have available liquid resources not exceeding $3,000 per household. The following resources are exempt: amounts designated for an allowable current monthly living expense such as food, shelter, employment-related expenses, and other necessary and essential living expenses; money earmarked for payment of current year's property and/or school taxes for the applicant's primary residence; one burial plot per household member; one written pre-arranged burial agreement with a cash value not exceeding $1,500 per household member; accounts, such as plan for achieving self support (PASS) accounts, designated by the Social Security Administration as exempt from SSI resource limits; real and personal property; equipment; automobiles and other vehicles; household furnishings; livestock; Agent Orange payments; Nazi restitution payments; Attica settlement payments; college grants; earned income tax credit (EITC) payments; loans; credit cards or advances from credit cards; individual development accounts for public assistance recipients; and payments for reverse annuity mortgages. All available liquid resources must be used to help ameliorate the emergency. However, emergency HEAP cannot be denied if available liquid resources are not sufficient to completely resolve the emergency situation; and

(x) receives a regular HEAP benefit which is insufficient or unavailable to ameliorate the emergency.

(2) For purposes of the annual HEAP State plan, a household may be eligible for one or all of the following emergency benefits if and to the extent that an allocation of Federal funds is available to the district in which the household resides:

(i) Heat-related utility disconnection. For purposes of the annual HEAP State Plan, and subject to the availability of Federal funds, the district may authorize one or more household payments per program year in an amount which coincides with the emergency benefits matrix developed annually by the department for the current program year. The only exceptions to this one or more payments per program year requirement is when an eligible household receives heating utility service and domestic utility service necessary for the operation of the household's primary heating equipment as a combined bill from one utility company or from more than one utility company concurrently. A household may receive two or more emergency utility payments per program year, which coincides with the emergency benefits matrix developed by the department for the current program year including one payment for utility service essential to operate the household's heating equipment.

(ii) Non-utility fuel emergency. For purposes of the annual HEAP State Plan, subject to the availability of Federal funds, the district may authorize one or more HEAP emergency benefits per program year to provide fuel for a HEAP-eligible household facing a non-utility heating fuel emergency. The amount authorized must equal the appropriate amount established in the emergency benefits matrix developed annually by the department for the current program year.

(iii) Repair/replace heating equipment, temporary emergency shelter, or relocation. For purposes of the annual HEAP State Plan, and subject to the availability of Federal funds, the district may authorize HEAP emergency benefits to repair applicant/recipient owned primary heating equipment, and/or replace inoperable/unsafe and irreparable applicant/recipient owned primary heating equipment, and/or replace applicant/recipient owned heating equipment that is unsafe and/or detrimental to the health and/or safety of the applicant/recipient; and/or to provide temporary emergency shelter or relocation for a HEAP-eligible household facing a heat-related emergency situation. These instances must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. The amount authorized must be that amount necessary to alleviate the emergency but in no event can such emergency benefits exceed a total of $500 per program year to provide temporary emergency shelter or relocation for a household. Provided that Federal funds are available, the maximum HEAP benefit permitted to replace and/or repair an applicant/recipient owned furnace may not exceed $2,500 except where the district has received approval from the office to exceed such maximum amount.

(iv) Propane installation/reconnection. For purposes of the annual HEAP State Plan, HEAP emergency benefits may be authorized to cover installation, recondition or deposit costs for heat-related propane usage. These instances must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. The amount authorized must only be that amount necessary to alleviate the emergency but in no event can such emergency benefits exceed a total of $500 per program year.

(v) Weather related and supply shortage. For purposes of the annual HEAP State Plan, the district may authorize one HEAP emergency benefit per program year to purchase an appropriate supply of safe supplemental heating devices which meet local building codes and which can be loaned to eligible households until such time as a delivery of the household's primary heating fuel can be obtained.

N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. Tit. 18 § 393.4