April 19, 2021
Dear Community Partner:
Thank you for your ongoing partnership in our shared commitment to serve New Yorkers in need during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Following our standing weekly call, we continue to share important updates as well as an ongoing synopsis of the information shared in prior communications which can be found on our DSS COVID-19 Community Updates page.
COVID-19 Vaccination Updates
Pursuant to federal, State and DOHMH guidance on pausing use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, New York City appointments scheduled for Johnson & Johnson vaccines have been rescheduled. The homebound vaccinations for seniors program has also been paused as this program relies on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The New York State Health Commissioner announced that all appointments at New York State mass vaccination sites for Johnson & Johnson vaccines will be honored with the Pfizer vaccine.
Beginning on Saturday, April 17th, New Yorkers who are 50 and older are able to walk into City-run vaccine sites and get vaccinated without an appointment. Previously, walk-in appointments were exclusively for New Yorkers 75 and older.
The City-run sites offering walk-up appointments to New Yorkers 50 and older are:
BRONX
- Bronx Co-Op City Dreiser Community Center
- Northeast Bronx YMCA (Edenwald)
- South Bronx Educational Campus
- West Bronx Gymnasium
- Lehman College - Apex Center
- Bathgate Contract Postal Station
BROOKLYN
- Coney Island YMCA
- Teachers Prep High School
- Starrett City
- Flatbush YMCA
- Bushwick Educational Campus
- Event Space at City Point
- Brooklyn Army Terminal
MANHATTAN
- Ford Foundation
- NFL Experience Times Square
- Yeshiva University
- City College
- Essex Crossing
- Abyssinian Baptist Church
- Fulton Senior Community Center / Hudson Guild
QUEENS
- Modell's - Queens Center Mall
- Korean Community Services
- Beach Channel Educational Campus
- Long Island City Vaccine Site (Plaxall)
- Queens Public Library - Flushing Library
- Queens Public Library - Ozone
- CitiField
STATEN ISLAND
- Former Babies R Us - Staten Island Mall
- Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex
- Empire Outlets
- St. Thomas St. Joseph's School
For all others, New Yorkers can schedule appointments and locate their nearest vaccine site by visiting nyc.gov/vaccinefinder or calling 1-877-VAX-4-NYC.
New York State is providing a new, separate allocation of 35,000 vaccines for the college student population at SUNY schools, CUNY schools, and private colleges. An initial allocation of 21,000 vaccines will be sent to SUNY and CUNY schools. An additional 14,000 vaccines will be available to private colleges that request them. SUNY and CUNY students can make appointments directly through their schools. More information is available here.
Assistance for New Yorkers Who Test Positive for COVID
NYC Health & Hospitals' Test & Trace Corps is providing special services for New Yorkers who test positive and their close contacts:
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“Take Care” packages which include enough personal protective equipment for a household of three to quarantine for 10-14 days. Learn more here.
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A free hotel room for up to 14 days if quarantining at home is impossible. Click here to learn more or call (212) 268-4319 to book a room.
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Free dog walking and other pet drop-in services to ensure New Yorkers can remain safely separated in a hotel or at home. Learn more here.
COVID-19 Testing
New York is expanding the New York Forward Rapid Testing Program to help businesses and events safely reopen. There will be aa total of 70 sites statewide. The New York Forward Rapid Test Program provides affordable rapid (30 minutes or less) COVID tests at locations across the State. Learn more.
Free testing continues to be available throughout the five boroughs. A schedule of mobile testing locations throughout the City as well as detailed information on locations and types of testing offered at regular testing sites (including rapid testing and antibody tests) can be found here. Locations of testing sites can also be accessed by texting “COVID TEST” to 855-48. These are no cost testing sites open to all New Yorkers.
The Test-and-Trace corps offers the COVID 19 Wait Times Dashboard, which displays estimated wait times for NYC Health + Hospitals COVID-19 testing locations. This wait time information is updated by site staff every two hours.
Vaccine Call Center for CBOs
The NYC Test and Trace Corps has developed a quick and easy way to help CBOs get their networks vaccinated. There is now a Call Center that will make appointment calls on their behalf. The process to participate is very simple. All CBOs have to do is submit a single spreadsheet with each individual’s name, phone number, email address, preferred language, and preferred time to be contacted (the template for this spreadsheet is provided on the CBO Vaccine Scheduling Form).
No other sensitive information is needed. Once this information is received, the Call Center will reach out and schedule vaccination appointments for locations throughout the city.
Emergency SNAP Allotments
As we reported last week, the State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) is issuing an emergency SNAP supplement to households who were issued SNAP benefits for April 2021. Starting with the April SNAP benefit, all households, even those receiving the maximum SNAP allotment, will receive the supplement. Households that previously would have received a supplement of less than $95 will now receive a supplement of at least $95. For households receiving a supplement of greater than $95, this policy change will not affect the amount of the supplement received. For households receiving supplements greater than $95, the supplement will continue to be the difference between the amount the household was issued and the maximum benefit amount for the household size.
This new provision which allows for the supplement to bring the benefit above the maximum allotment is the result of a lawsuit brought in Pennsylvania against the USDA. The plaintiffs in the case argued successfully that the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCR) sought to provide an emergency allotment to all SNAP recipients during the fiscal crisis, including those who received the maximum benefit.
As an example, if the maximum allotment for a household is $430 and the household received $370, the supplement would be $95 rather than $60 (as it would have been previously). But if the maximum allotment for the household is $430 and the household received $320, the supplement would remain $110.
Households that received benefits less than the maximum amount based on the size of the household for the month of April will receive the supplement, even if the case is now closed. Further information is available here.
Home Energy Assistance (HEAP)
The State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) announced an additional $12M in funding to help eligible New Yorkers facing home heating emergencies. Households can now apply for a third emergency HEAP benefit, even if they have already received a HEAP benefit this season. The deadline for HEAP applications has been extended from April 30 until August 31, 2021, or until funds allocated to this program have been exhausted. The State announcement can be found here. Additional information can be found here.
Home Energy Assistance (HEAP) Cooling Assistance Component
As we reported last week, the HEAP Cooling Assistance Component (CAC) will open on Monday, May 3, 2021.
Applications for the 2021 HEAP Cooling Assistance Component (CAC) will be accepted starting on Monday, May 3, 2021. Benefits will be provided on a first come, first served basis to eligible applicants through Tuesday, August 31, 2021, or until funding allocated to this component is exhausted.
As a reminder, to be eligible for a CAC benefit, the applicant or a household member must have a documented medical condition that is exacerbated by extreme heat. Requirements for medical documentation for CAC may be waived for applicants who are unable to obtain such documentation due to COVID-19. Additionally, the applicant household must not have a working air conditioner newer than five years old, or must not have received a HEAP-funded air conditioner within the past five years.
Excluded Workers Fund
The recently passed state budget included the Excluded Workers Fund, a $2.1 billion program designed to provide cash payments to workers who suffered income loss due to COVID-19 but were ineligible for unemployment and other federal assistance such as stimulus payments due to their immigration status or other factors. The program will allow applicants to receive either $15,600 or $3,200 depending on which of the criteria the applicant is able to satisfy. Further program details, including how to apply, will be shared when they become available.
Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) 2020-21 School Year
The State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) is providing Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) food benefits to all households with children who receive free school lunch under the National School Lunch Act and whose school was closed or operating with reduced school attendance due to COVID-19 during the 2020-2021 school year. OTDA has confirmed that the State’s P-EBT implementation plan for the 2020-2021 school year has been approved by the federal government. For students in schools in NYC the benefit amount will be based on counts of in-person and virtual learning days for each month, provided by the NYC DOE. The benefit amount for each child in a household is calculated based on the cost of breakfast, lunch, and snack for days the child was not in the school building during the 2020-21 school year (September 2020 – June 2021). The State expects to issue benefits in one payment for September through March. This payment will likely be issued in June 2021. The remaining benefit covering the period from April – June 2021 is projected to be issued during the months of July – September 2021. We will share additional information about the State’s plan to roll-out the benefit as it becomes available.
As a reminder, the State OTDA has distributed all P-EBT benefits for the spring 2020 school year. The State OTDA is providing a P-EBT helpline at 833-452-0096 for questions concerning the disbursement of these benefits (for spring 2020). The helpline is available from 8:30am – 5pm, Monday through Friday. Translation services are available. Questions can also be submitted through the State’s contact form regarding P-EBT food benefits.
DOE School COVID-19 Closures
As of April 12, school buildings will no longer close for 10 days when two unrelated COVID cases are detected. Rather than entire buildings closing, individual schools will turn to remote learning if there are four or more cases within a week in different classrooms, and if test and trace investigators find that these cases were contracted inside of the school. School buildings will no longer close for 24-hours when cases are detected, but individual classrooms will still close for ten days when someone tests positive for the virus. You can view the new policy details on the NYC DOE website under “Cases in a School” here.
Accessibility Guides
The Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities has developed guidance to assist organizations in improving communication with the 11% of New Yorkers who identify as having a disability. The Accessible Documents Guide and Accessible Social Media Guide provide assistance to organizations to ensure communication is clear to those with disabilities.
Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) Family Death Benefit
As part of the FY 2022 Enacted Budget, direct payments made to families of MTA employees through the COVID family death benefit program will be exempt from State income taxes. The program provides $500,000 as a direct payment to families of MTA employees who passed away from COVID-19. But the benefit is still subject to taxes at the federal level. More information is available here in numerous languages.
Medicaid Renewal Extensions
As we reported last week, Medicaid cases with authorization ending in July, August, September, October, November and December 2020 and January, February, March, April, May and June 2021 will be automatically extended for 12 months.
Community-wide Conference Call
We appreciate your continued participation in our weekly briefing calls and your ongoing work to help make sure that the critical information and details about changes we are making in response to the pandemic are being communicated to our clients. Your active engagement is appreciated, and your questions and suggestions help us better understand the needs of those we serve and respond accordingly.
Each week, we include here a link to the audio recording of the prior week’s call for those who may have missed it. The audio recording for April 13, 2021 is currently unavailable, but we will share the link when it becomes available. The information contained in this communication is a synopsis of what was shared as well as new developments.
Each week, we will provide all of the information included in each of our prior communications on our website on the COVID-19 Community Updates page. If you would like to reference a specific prior communication, links to each of the prior communications can be found on the community updates page.
As a reminder, we have a standing informational call on Tuesdays at 4:00PM. In the event that the date or time of the weekly call needs to change due to extenuating circumstances, a notification is sent out from DSSoutreach@dss.nyc.gov, in addition to an updated calendar invitation to those who have signed up to join the calls. To be added to this list, please reach out to DSSoutreach@dss.nyc.gov.
Please note that there are several hundred participants on these weekly calls, and as a result they may start a few minutes late to allow as many people to join as possible and hear all the information. In addition, the large number of participants does not allow us to have individual conversations efficiently, which is why we respond to individual inquiries through the chat box. If you have additional questions after the call, please reach out to DSSoutreach@dss.nyc.gov or the appropriate contact area listed on our COVID 19 Community Updates page.
CART (Communication Access Realtime Translation) is available during these calls as an accommodation for individuals who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. Please contact oria@dss.nyc.gov at least four hours prior to the call to enable this service.
As always, thank you for your continued partnership in serving New Yorkers in need, particularly now when our clients need us more than ever. If you have any questions or concerns about the changes we have made and are continuing to develop to address the COVID pandemic, please do not hesitate to reach out to the Office of Advocacy and Outreach at DSSoutreach@dss.nyc.gov.
Sincerely,
Steven Banks
DSS Commissioner
New York City Department of Social Services
