§ 131-z. Child assistance program. 1. Notwithstanding any other\nprovision of law to the contrary, any district may operate a child\nassistance program as part of the family assistance program with the\napproval of the department. Approved expenditures for such child\nassistance program shall be subject to federal and state reimbursement\nas expenditures under the family assistance program in accordance with\nsection one hundred fifty-three of this chapter. Provided, however, on\nor after January first, nineteen hundred ninety-eight the department\nshall reimburse social services districts for the administrative costs\nof this program in accordance with the provisions of subdivision sixteen\nof section one hundred fifty-three of this chapter. All custodial parent\nfamilies receiving family assistance benefits shall be eligible for this\nprogram, provided they satisfy the requirements of this section, if they\nreside in a district which operates such a program.\n 2. Where a program has been authorized, child assistance payments\npursuant to the provisions of this section may be made to custodial\nparents on behalf of minor children in accordance with the criteria\nspecified in subdivisions three, four, five and six of this section in\nlieu of allowances determined in accordance with section one hundred\nthirty-one-a of this article. The amount of such child assistance\npayments shall be at least the sum of three thousand three hundred sixty\ndollars per annum for the first minor child and one thousand one hundred\nsixteen dollars per annum for each additional minor child, provided that\nsuch payments shall be reduced by the amounts specified in paragraph (a)\nof subdivision six of this section. The commissioner may develop a\nmethodology which will provide for the periodic adjustment of the\nbenefit level to reflect changes in maximum monthly grants and\nallowances authorized pursuant to section one hundred thirty-one-a of\nthis article for the family assistance program. In addition, the child\nassistance payments shall be established so that the payments combined\nwith earnings from full-time employment shall result in a family of\nthree having income at or above the poverty level for nineteen hundred\neighty-seven as reported by the federal department of health and human\nservices.\n 3. No custodial parent who resides in a social services district or\nportion of such district in which a child assistance program is operated\nshall be eligible under this program for receipt of child assistance\npayments for a child, unless:\n (a) An order of child support for such child has been made by a court\nof competent jurisdiction;\n (b) The order of child support is payable through a support collection\nunit as created by section one hundred eleven-h of this chapter or such\nother administrative mechanism as may be designated by the commissioner;\nor the custodial parent has cooperated in taking the necessary steps to\nensure that the child support order is payable through a support\ncollection unit or other administrative mechanism;\n (c) The parent subject to a support order described in paragraphs (a)\nand (b) of this subdivision is absent from the home;\n (d) The custodial parent and the child for whom, or on whose behalf an\napplication for child assistance program payments is made is at such\ntime, a recipient of family assistance benefits; and\n (e) The custodial parent has not withdrawn from the program within the\nthree months prior to the date of reapplication for benefits under this\nprogram.\n 4. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision three of this\nsection, a custodial parent may be eligible under this program even\nthough the custodial parent has failed to obtain an order of child\nsupport because:\n (a) The other parent is deceased;\n (b) The custodial parent has demonstrated to the satisfaction of the\ncommissioner, a diligent effort to obtain a child support order,\nincluding providing the local social
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