March 1, 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
In a partnership between NYS and FEMA, two new vaccination sites at Medgar Evers College and York College opened on Wednesday, February 24. These locations are prepared to vaccinate 3,000 New Yorkers a day, seven days a week.
Brooklyn: Medgar Evers College
231 Crown Street
Brooklyn, NY 11225
Hours: 8 am - 8pm beginning February 24
Eligible Zip Codes: 11206, 11221, 11216, 11238, 11225, 11213, 11233, 11207, 11208, 11236, 11212, 11203, 11226, 11210
Queens: York College
160-2 Liberty Avenue
Jamaica, NY 11451
Hours: 8 am - 8pm beginning February 24
Eligible Zip Codes: 11418, 11419, 11420, 11435, 11436, 11439, 11432, 11433, 11434, 11423, 11412, 11413, 11427, 11428, 11429, 11411, 11422, 11691, 11692, 11693
Appointments can be scheduled at here or by calling 1-833-967-4829.
A dedicated vaccine site only for Staten Island residents opened on Friday, February 19 at the Empire Outlets. This site will be open 7 days a week from 8am to 5pm.
Seniors in New York City can now make appointments to get their COVID-19 vaccine at local pharmacies. New Yorkers 65 and older can schedule appointments at pharmacies by visiting their websites; this information was also included in last week’s communication and is now on our website.
As a reminder, appointments are required at all locations in order to be vaccinated. Please visit the NYC COVID-19 Vaccine Finder at here or call 877-VAX-4NYC (877-829-4692) for more information, to find a vaccine hub near you, or to schedule an appointment. Additional sites are coming online every day, so please continue to check the Vaccine Finder site often.
Yankee Stadium and CitiField remain open as vaccine sites serving eligible residents of the Bronx and Queens, respectively. Individuals are required to bring proof of residency to their appointments.
Toolkits and Resources for Sharing Vaccine Information
NYC Test & Trace Corps has created a folder of documents for public sharing, including flyers, palm cards, holiday guidance, travel guidelines, and more. The documents are available here. Learn more about how New York City is here to help with testing and tracing in this Test and Trace FAQ or by visiting www.testandtrace.nyc.
The City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has created a social media toolkit with vaccine-related content in over ten languages. The toolkit is available here.
Vaccine Outreach
The City will be hosting free trainings to teach community leaders and organizations how to help local community members schedule vaccination appointments and answer questions about the vaccine. Visit nyc.gov/vaccinetrainthetrainer to learn more.
DHS Vaccination Sites
DHS established a vaccination site on January 18. Staff and residents of DHS shelters have the option of using the DHS site or the City’s Vaccination Hubs.
Vaccine Eligibility for HASA Clients
As of February 15, New Yorkers who are immunocompromised are eligible for the COVID vaccine under tier 1b, including individuals with HIV/AIDS. HASA case managers are discussing this information with clients during telephonic wellness checks and assisting clients with vaccine appointment registration when necessary. This information will also be posted on ACCESS HRA in an effort to ensure that clients are aware of their eligibility.
Free COVID-19 Testing Sites
Free testing continues to be available throughout the five boroughs. As a reminder, getting tested is safe, confidential, and free. All New Yorkers should get tested, even those who do not have symptoms or are unsure if they were exposed to COVID-19. Getting frequent tests should be every New Yorker's goal. Don't stop at just one test. 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. This dashboard displays estimated wait times for NYC Health + Hospitals COVID-19 testing locations. This wait time information is updated by site staff every two hours.
DOE students and employees, and employees of DOE-contracted early childhood programs and the Learning Bridges Program can get priority COVID testing at 22 Health and Hospitals testing sites. These locations are walk-in only. More information can be found here.
Infoline and Third-Party Authorization
In order to provide case management support or advocacy, advocates and case workers are allowed to join HRA clients or applicants on phone calls with Infoline. HRA Infoline representatives are allowed to share information over the phone with both the client (or applicant) and the third party, if the client (or applicant) provides the representative with verbal consent to do so.
Clients or applicants may also complete a fillable PDF of the HRA third-party authorization form that can be signed digitally / electronically using Adobe or other third-party software. The PDF form can be downloaded here. Completed third-party authorization forms can be emailed to constituentaffairs@hra.nyc.gov or faxed to 212-331-4685.
Once a third-party authorization form is on file, Infoline agents are able to reference these forms and can provide case updates to a third-party representative as authorized by a client.
Relief for Homeowners
The actions include:
- Extending a moratorium on foreclosures through June 30;
- Extending an enrollment window for mortgage payment forbearance requests until June 30; and
- Providing up to six months of additional mortgage payment forbearance for borrowers who entered forbearance on or before June 30.
This is part of a concerted effort to reduce the burden on homeowners during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the independent agency that oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, extended forbearance by three months for borrowers coming to the end of their forbearance period, and extended the moratoria on single-family foreclosures and real estate owned (REO) evictions until March 31, 2021. The current moratoria were set to expire on February 28, 2021. More information can be found here.
Recertifications
As a reminder, households due to recertify between December 2020 and March 2021 who were not previously given a recertification extension, were given up to a 6-month extension on their certification period. The agency has requested additional extensions for future months. We will continue to keep you updated on the status of our request.
Pursuant to the waiver we received, clients who already received an extension of their recertification in 2020 are not eligible for another extension, and will receive a notice informing them that they must recertify.
Medicaid Excess Income Program
In response to questions received regarding the Medicaid Excess Income Program, the easements that have been put in place during the public health emergency allowing for the self-attestation of medical bills for activation of coverage will remain in place until the end of the public health emergency.
Immigration Updates
On February 18, 2021, President Biden formally introduced a much-anticipated comprehensive immigration reform proposal, the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021. The bill includes:
- A path to permanent residence and citizenship for qualifying undocumented foreign nationals and those holding Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA);
- Ways to clear extensive green card backlogs in the employment-based and family-based programs;
- A streamlined process for graduates of U.S. universities with advanced STEM degrees to obtain permanent residence; and
- An increase in Diversity Lottery Visas, among other provisions.
Undocumented people physically present in the United States on January 1, 2021, through the date of their application would be immediately eligible to apply for temporary immigrant status and eventually, after 5 years in temporary status and 3 years in permanent status, would qualify for naturalization, provided they meet several other conditions, including paying U.S. taxes.
On February 22, 2021, the Supreme Court of the United States agreed to review a case brought by numerous advocacy groups and attorneys general challenging former President Trump's public charge executive order. The Biden administration also issued an executive order for immediate review of former President Trump's public charge policy changes and their application.
Nursing Home Visitation
On Friday, February 26, new State regulations on nursing home visitations will go into effect. Visitation guidelines depend upon a county’s COVID risk level, and will continue to depend upon the nursing home facility being free of COVID-19 cases for 14 days. For counties with COVID-19 positivity rates between 5-10 percent (on a 7-day rolling average), visitor testing is required, and visitors must have a negative test before entry. For counties with COVID-19 positivity rates below 5 percent, visitor testing is strongly encouraged, and rapid tests may be utilized. Alternatively, visitors may provide proof of a completed COVID-19 vaccination no less than 14 days from the date of the visit. Visitation will not be permitted if the county’s COVID-19 positivity rates are greater than 10 percent. Compassionate care visits are always permitted. The full State guidance can be found here.
Discounted Telephone/Wireless Service Through Lifeline
Lifeline is a federal program that offers a monthly discount to qualified low-income customers. The Lifeline discount can be applied to either home telephone service (landline or cable) or wireless service, and is available for only one line per household. The FCC has temporarily eased the documentation requirements for those who seek to qualify for the Lifeline program based on their income. You can find more information here.
Emergency Utility Intervention Program (EUIP)
As a reminder, recipients of social service benefits are eligible for the National Grid and Con Edison utility rate reduction program. In November, HRA completed its final low-income rate match for the 2020 program year for the utility rate reduction for customers receiving social services benefits. HRA clients with utility accounts were automatically enrolled and were provided an opportunity to opt-out of the program if they wished to do so.
Enrollment is ongoing and HRA clients who were not automatically enrolled can participate by contacting their utility company to enroll. Clients can contact Con Edison at 1-800-75-CONED (1-800-752-6633) to enroll by phone, or by email at lowincomerate@coned.com. Con Edison will provide further instructions regarding enrollment requirements.
For questions, clients should contact the Emergency Utility Intervention program at 212-331-4120 or by email at EUIP@hra.nyc.gov.
Pending State Legislation
The agency is working with State legislators to pass new legislation on two important issues impacting recipients of Cash Assistance:
Telephone interviews for Cash Assistance (S3223A/A5414) — the proposed legislation, introduced by Social Services Committee Chairs Senator Roxanne Persaud and Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal, seeks to make permanent the current emergency waiver allowing Cash Assistance interviews for new applications and recertifications to be conducted by telephone. This waiver has been critical to our ability to provide service to clients during the pandemic. We are hopeful that the passage of this bill will support our ongoing efforts to provide flexibility to clients in the benefits application process by allowing clients the option to complete applications for Cash Assistance without having to come to an HRA center, in the same way we have been successfully serving SNAP clients with telephone interviews for several years. During the week of February 22, 2021, the bill was reported out of the Senate and Assembly Social Services Committees.
The Home Stability Support rent supplemental program (S856) — this bill introduced by Senator Krueger, and supported by Senator Persaud and Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal, provides for a statewide rent supplement for families and individuals who are facing eviction, homelessness or loss of housing due to domestic violence or hazardous living conditions. The program seeks to provide support to families and individuals to keep them in their homes and out of homeless shelters by providing sufficient rental and, in some cases, heating assistance.
The SUNY Online Training Center
SUNY is providing a wide range of short and free online skill-building programs to help prepare individuals for a new job. After an individual successfully completes a program certificate (and has a high school diploma), they will be eligible for automatic enrollment to any SUNY community college or SUNY Empire to continue to an associate or bachelor’s degree. More information is available online here.
SCHE/DHE Renewals
Due to a new law passed in response to COVID-19, most current Senior Citizen Homeowners’ Exemption (SCHE) and Disabled Homeowners’ Exemption (DHE) recipients are not required to renew their benefits this year.
The NYC Dept of Finance (DOF) will mail homeowners a renewal letter if there is a need to take any action before the March 15th renewal deadline; otherwise, the benefit will automatically renew at its current level.
Please Note: renewal applications are still required in the event of:
- Changes to the recipient’s primary residence
- The addition of another owner to the deed
- The transfer of the property to a new owner
Also, if an individual’s income decreased in 2020, they have the option to submit a renewal application so that DOF can determine eligibility for a larger benefit.
For those that are not yet a SCHE or DHE recipient, the deadline for initial applications is March 15, 2021. Application instructions can be found here. DOF on-line information sessions can be found by clicking here.
Updated Guidance for Infection Rates on College Campuses
On February 19, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced updated guidance for infection rates and testing protocols on college campuses. More information can be found here.
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.
If you were not able to join our weekly call (usually on Tuesdays), please find an audio recording here and use Covid-19 as the password. The information contained in this communication is a synopsis of what was shared.
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
