TO:	Commissioners, TA & FS Directors, HEAP Coordinators, Staff Development Coordinators, TOP Coordinators, CAP Coordinators

FROM: Russell Sykes, Deputy Commissioner, Division of Employment & Transitional Supports

SUBJECT:	 Weekend Benefit Issuance To Hurricane Katrina Evacuees NYC

EFFECTIVE DATE:  Immediately

CONTACT PERSON:  Tom Hedderman @1-800-433-8859, extension 6-6939	

The purpose of this GIS is to inform the local districts of the availability of NYC WMS and other systems support for the next three Saturdays and Sundays to enable the New York City Human Resources Administration (HRA) to provide immediate support and assistance during the weekend to Hurricane Katrina evacuees residing in New York City.

As of Monday, September 12, 2005, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) reported that more than 2,300 families or individuals who have registered with FEMA as evacuees from the areas of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama that have been designated as federal disaster areas, have reported to FEMA that they now are residing, at least temporarily, in New York State.  These are not individuals and families who have been placed here as part of FEMA’s relocation effort, but either have found their way here on their own or have been assisted by a non-governmental agency such as the Red Cross.  Some of these folks already have been in to local district social services offices to apply for benefits.  At this time, FEMA has indefinitely suspended relocation efforts outside of the South, and we do not know if, when or how many Katrina evacuees New York State may receive as part of a FEMA relocation.  However, in the event that any local districts may be looking to accommodate evacuees and register cases and issue benefits on the weekend, OTDA is taking steps to ensure that all necessary systems are available.

HRA has set up the Hamilton Job Center at 530 West 135th Street in Manhattan as a one-stop center for Hurricane Katrina Evacuees applying for assistance.  OTDA IT staff and OFT Production Control staff have arranged for all of the pull downs, file transmissions to our EBT contractor’s host and verifications necessary to support weekend same-day benefit issuance on NYC WMS.

Also, OTDA also has been informed by the New York State Department of Health that DOH is not waiving the photo requirement for evacuees applying for Medicaid benefits.  Local districts seeking to meet evacuees’ assistance needs as comprehensively as possible in one intake session will want to ensure that the AFIS equipment necessary to fulfill the MA photo ID requirement is also available at the intake location.