Dear Community Partners,
Thank you for your leadership during this unprecedented time. We are grateful for your partnership in our efforts to serve New Yorkers in need during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Following our standing call last week, we wanted to shar
e im
portant recent developments.
HRA Benefits Recertification
Last week after our call, the State informed us that our recertification waiver request had been granted and clients who would otherwise be required to recertify their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)/Food Stamps or Cash Assistance (CA) cases do not need to do so at this time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As such, all clients have no need to call our offices to recertify. Recertifications are postponed and clients will get a letter in the mail when it is time to recertify. We would appreciate any assistance you can provide in disseminating this important news.
HRA HASA Center Locations
To help stop the spread of COVID-19, effective Thursday, April 1, we consolidated two HASA Center locations in Brooklyn. On
Monday, April 6
, we plan to consolidate three additional ones. As a result, one HASA Center will remain open in each borough. Even though these offices are still open, clients need not come into our offices as assistance can be obtained online and by telephone.
In light of these consolidations, we are reminding HASA clients – as we are doing for all New Yorkers applying for HRA benefits – to apply for benefits online at ACCESS HRA in order to prevent unnecessary visits to an HRA Center. As you know, we began accepting Cash Assistance (CA) applications online on Friday, March 20. SNAP applications, and those for emergency benefits such as utility or rent arrears, were already available through ACCESS HRA.
If you or anyone you know is new to this online resource, or needs a refresher, you can find a copy of our
users guide here
. For HASA clients who cannot or do not want to apply online, we strongly advise them to call the Service Line at (212) 971-0626
for help rather than traveling to an office.
Clients are being informed of this change via ACCESS HRA, email, robocalls, text messages, flyers, and signage in our offices as well as social media. For the most recent information about this and other changes, however, please visit our website
here
.
We will also continue to share information and recent developments as they become available.
Face Coverings
On the night of Thursday, April 2,
DOHMH released new guidance recommending that all New Yorkers wear a face covering when leaving their home or when they are in a location where they cannot keep 6 feet of distance between themselves and others. We sent this guidance to our staff as well as DHS/HRA providers, noting that a face covering does not need to be a surgical grade mask but should be made of paper or cloth and able to cover an individual’s nose and mouth. We are working to source appropriate face coverings that can be provided to those who do not have their own.
Community-wide Conference Call
If you were not able to join Tuesday’s call, please find an audio recording
here
, and use
Covid-19
as the password. For a copy of our previous communications, click on the following links:
As a reminder, we now have a standing informational call on
Tuesdays at 4:00PM
. Details about this call will be sent under separate cover.
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 these changes, please do not hesitate to reach out to Vanessa Fuentes in the Office of Advocacy and Outreach, at fuentesv@dss.nyc.gov.
Sincerely,
Steven Banks
DSS Commissioner
New York City Department of Social Services
