REMARKS
Explanation of mandatory engagement implementation and sanction process
0:55:33
·
5 min
Administrator French provides a comprehensive explanation of the implementation of mandatory engagement and the sanction process for cash assistance recipients. He details the tiered approach, education efforts, and safeguards in place to minimize negative impacts on clients.
- Mandatory engagement was reintroduced gradually, starting with education in late 2022
- The sanction process was restarted on August 19th, 2023
- French explains that increased application rates may contribute to higher percentage of denials
- The cash assistance caseload continues to increase monthly, indicating eligible individuals are still being approved
- An extensive 8-week process is in place before sanctions are imposed, including multiple outreach attempts and opportunities for clients to address issues
Scott French
0:55:33
Certainly.
0:55:33
Thank you for the question.
0:55:34
So first, we were ordered by the states and federal government to reinstitute mandatory engagement and the sanction process.
0:55:43
We delayed it as long as we could.
0:55:46
And we also did it in a tiered approach.
0:55:48
So we implemented mandatory engagement in, say, October or November, where we've just started to reintroduce the concept to individuals, especially to those who are completely new to cash assistance, who have never had to engage with.
0:56:03
What do you mean a work requirement and an engagement requirement is?
0:56:07
And so we started that process to really educate folks, and we only just restarted the sanction process on August 19th.
0:56:14
So that period in between, there wasn't negative implications on folks if they didn't engage with mandatory engagement, but we really wanted it to be that place where we're not catching people off guard and we're explaining to them.
0:56:27
This is actually a value and a benefit to you.
0:56:30
This is meant to help you and not meant to be punitive.
0:56:35
So in that way, you know, I I will say that.
0:56:38
And then in regards to denial rates Yeah.
0:56:42
You know, I think one of the challenges or one of the drivers behind the increase in the percentage that I think Commissioner Park has also spoken to is There are also a lot more people applying to cash assistance than did before.
0:56:55
We've made it much easier, which we are very happy about, to apply for cash assistance.
0:56:59
You can do it 247 right from your home, from a phone, from a computer, which as we have seen is record high numbers of applications.
0:57:09
Increased applications doesn't necessarily mean that's increased number of people who are actually ultimately eligible for the benefit.
0:57:16
But I hear you, and we certainly don't want to be negatively denied individuals who are eligible.
0:57:22
I will say seeing that the cash assistance caseload does continue to increase month over month.
0:57:27
I feel like that is a counter to say that we are still finding individuals who are eligible eligible for cash assistance, and they are entering the caseload.
0:57:37
But we obviously don't want any unintended consequences on increasing denials.
0:57:41
Since the imposition of sanctions, we have not seen an increase in denials in that way.
0:57:49
We probably wouldn't see an engagement in that way because the sanction process would only happen once you've actually been accepted onto cash assistance.
0:57:58
But we have also, you know, to your second point around imposing this, will that mean more people are then ultimately denied or taken off cash assistance?
0:58:07
The administration going back to the prior administration as well worked very hard on expanding how we look at mandatory engagement, what is eligible for that, and then the process by which we go through sanctioning someone.
0:58:22
And I would say we have an extensive process that is really focused on engaging someone in services we think are beneficial to them and only in the most extreme situations actually sanctioning someone's case.
0:58:38
So it takes approximately 8 weeks or more from when someone say doesn't comply with an engagement requirement until we would actually start imposing a sanction on someone's case.
0:58:50
And in that period of time, we have extensive outreach and engagement with individuals to make sure, a, they understand what are your right responsibilities as part of cash assistance.
0:59:02
What does this mean?
0:59:04
Right?
0:59:04
How do you have to be connected?
0:59:06
Has something changed since we initially assessed you?
0:59:08
That leads to you having a barrier to being able to engage that we can reassess that.
0:59:14
And so we do that first through our providers who proactively outreach to individuals assigned to their services who do not show up for the services they need to engage in.
0:59:25
We give that a couple of weeks where it's just about the provider.
0:59:28
And then the agency and agency staff also start to communicate with individuals through mail mailings, text messages, emails, meetings that outlines multiple times.
0:59:41
Here are the requirements, and here's how you're not meeting those requirements.
0:59:45
Is there some reason that you're not able to meet these requirements at that time?
0:59:49
And if there is, say, an imminent short term issue that comes up.
0:59:53
Someone broke their leg.
0:59:54
They're not able to transport to somewhere.
0:59:56
Right?
0:59:56
We then take action to make sure someone isn't negatively impacted.
0:59:59
So we've really put in places where someone can also cure any issue immediately We, you know, in the prior prior administration, advocated for, and ultimately, we were able to get non duration sanctions impacted for New York City.
1:00:15
This is not how it is across the rest of the state.
1:00:18
Which means someone can cure their issue immediately and resume their benefits, especially for cash assistance.
1:00:26
SNAP, depending on the situation, does still have some duration benefits because it's run by the federal government, but we've implemented a lot of different ways to try to avoid this.
1:00:37
And I will say prior to COVID, 2019 was probably the the 1st full year where this process was in and very, very few people who entered the process ultimately ended up being sanctioned.