December 14, 2020


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 now be found on our DSS COVID-19 Community Updates page. 

Free COVID-19 Testing Sites

Free testing continues to be available throughout the five boroughs. 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. These are no cost testing sites open to all New Yorkers.

The Test-and-Trace corps has launched 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.

Pandemic EBT Benefits (P-EBT) Outreach

Following up on the text messages State OTDA sent out on November 30th to approximately 96,000 individuals (statewide) in “Group 2” (Medicaid households) who had not redeemed any of their P-EBT benefits, OTDA sent a second round of text messages last week. Approximately 26,000 of these individuals did not receive those messages because their wireless carriers filtered them out as spam. A second round of text messages was sent out to those 26,000 individuals on either Friday, December 4 or Monday, December 7.

As we reported last week, the text message is being sent to Group 2 households which have not redeemed benefits and for which OTDA has a working cell phone number. The text message will remind them that their P-EBT food benefits are still available and will provide a link to resources to assist them in creating a PIN for the CBIC linked to the P-EBT account. If clients are unable to set up a PIN because they are unsure of what zip code they have on record, they can contact the Medicaid Helpline at 888.692.6116 to confirm the information.

The State’s text message was sent from 877-452-0098 and stated the following:

Your child has been issued P-EBT food benefits that have not been accessed. Visit https://otda.ny.gov/PEBT for info on how to access these benefits. 
 
There are approximately 603,000 children across the State in Group 2 – approximately 92,000 children in approximately 82,000 households who receive Medicaid (MA) and who are known to the State’s Welfare Management System (WMS), and approximately 511,000 children in approximately 337,000 households who applied for and receive Medicaid through the New York State of Health exchange and are not known to WMS. The State reports that benefits were issued and letters about the benefits were sent to these households in June and July.
 
By sending out these text messages to the approximately 96,000 households in Group 2 who have not yet accessed P-EBT food benefits and providing a link to resources intended to assist them with creating a PIN, State OTDA hopes to increase the number of households accessing these benefits.

Updates to ACCESS HRA

On Saturday December 5th, HRA released updates to ACCESS HRA expanded access for individuals and an improved client experience. These updates include:
 
  • Cash Assistance (CA) case change requests can now be made online including change of address, change of income, and removing a case member. Supporting documentation can be uploaded through the mobile document upload, and following a case change submission, a client will see document return appointments with a ten-day due date.
  • Find out more about acceptable documents and submission options here. Document guides are available to download in multiple languages.

  • CA clients will now be able to request a case change only, emergency grant only, or case changes and emergency grant together in a single submission.

  • Substance abuse screening instructions will be added within the CA application.

  • CA recertification appointment instructions will be updated.
 
  • The rescheduling phone number will be updated for CA applications and recertifications.

  • The AHRA mobile app will now allow clients to launch CA case change requests, seamlessly navigating clients to the AHRA client portal to submit.

  • Brad H clients will have updated interview instructions and a number to contact upon their release.

This information was sent last week to those community partners who have signed up to receive ACCESS HRA maintenance notifications. These notifications provide important updates on ACCESS HRA outages and updates. To sign up please contact dssoutreach@dss.nyc.gov.

ACCESS HRA Provider Portal

In response to questions received on this week’s call, we are including information on how to enroll in the provider portal. This information is found on our DSS COVID-19 Community Updates page. To enroll in the ACCESS HRA Provider Portal, email DSSoutreach@dss.nyc.gov to receive the onboarding package and information on how to become a Provider Portal Partner. 

If your organization is already a member of the Provider Portal, email DSSoutreach@dss.nyc.gov to receive your Organization ID and instructions on how to create an account.

Family Justice Centers

NYC Family Justice Centers are available by phone to offer guidance on immediate safety planning, shelter assistance, legal consultations, counseling sessions, case management sessions, community resources, and more. You can find borough-specific phone numbers and more information here.

Persons with hearing impairments can use TTY 866-604-5350 to speak with a counselor.

Student Loan Forbearance

The relief afforded to federal student loan borrowers under the federal CARES Act has been extended through January 31, 2021. Federal student loan borrowers are automatically being placed in administrative forbearance, which allows borrowers to temporarily stop making monthly loan payments until January 31, 2021.

New Yorkers with privately-held loans who are impacted by COVID-19 should contact their student loan servicer to request relief.

You can learn more about Federal and Private Student Loan Debt from the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP).

Access-A-Ride

The State MTA Access-A-Ride program is currently not collecting cash fare for the safety of drivers and customers.

Shared rides are not permitted, but passengers may still travel with a personal care attendant or a guest.

The MTA’s AAR eligibility process was temporarily adjusted. Assessment centers are temporarily closed. Those who wish to apply for AAR may call the MTA Eligibility office at 877-337-2017, prompt #1 and speak with an agent for assistance. Those customers whose service is scheduled to expire shortly should also call the MTA Eligibility office.

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, please click on the links below:
 

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