* § 36-c. Savings plan for the city of New York. 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, in any social services district with a city having a population of five million or more, the social services district shall conduct a demonstration project as set forth in this section, and shall evaluate and report on such project annually, pursuant to a plan approved by the office of temporary and disability assistance and the division of budget. A comprehensive report shall be provided to the governor, the temporary president of the senate and the speaker of the assembly by December thirty-first, two thousand twenty-one. Such report shall include but not be limited to information regarding the program such as the number of participants for the previous three years; the percentage of participation as measured by the number of participants making contributions into such savings plan; the average amount payable to a participant upon leaving the program; the average length of time a participant remained in the program; the number of situations in which the participant moved out of the program but reengaged in the program within the previous twelve months; the number of participants leaving the program voluntarily and the number of participants removed due to failure to comply; and any other demonstrated outcomes of such program.

2. Such social services district, in lieu of applying that portion of a temporary housing assistance recipient's earned income that, but for the provisions of this section, would be applied to reduce the need for the shelter component of temporary housing assistance provided in a temporary emergency shelter, shall direct such a recipient to participate in a savings plan with such funds and, as long as such funds are not withdrawn, they shall not be applied to reduce the need for the shelter component of the temporary housing assistance granted for the duration of his or her residence in temporary emergency shelter; provided, however, that the provisions of this section shall only apply to a person receiving temporary housing assistance in a shelter or other facility overseen by the New York city department of homeless services or the New York city department of housing preservation and development. Failure by a recipient of temporary housing assistance to contribute to such a savings plan shall result in the discontinuance of temporary housing assistance. Provided however, such discontinuance shall be immediately curable by compliance with this section.

3. In such social services district, any such funds collected from the earned income of a recipient of temporary housing assistance while he or she is residing in a temporary emergency shelter shall be deposited in a savings plan approved by the office of temporary and disability assistance and the division of budget; shall be payable to the recipient for the recipient's use to facilitate his or her transition to, or stabilize his or her residence in, permanent housing upon his or her discharge from shelter or upon verification of such recipient's date of discharge from shelter; and shall be considered exempt as income or a resource until the twelfth month following the month in which the recipient ceases receiving temporary housing assistance in temporary emergency shelter. Funds collected in such savings plans shall be pooled, tracked individually, and maintained in a savings or money-market account at interest rates set by the institution with which such funds are deposited. Any savings and interest accrued in such account or accounts shall be distributed to a temporary housing assistance recipient upon his or her discharge from temporary emergency shelter or upon verification of such recipient's date of discharge from shelter, in accordance with the provisions of this section.

4. Such social services district shall be deemed in compliance with section one hundred thirty-one-a of this chapter for reimbursement of expenditures made for temporary housing assistance, provided the district is conducting the project fully in accordance with the provisions of this section. Unearned income of a recipient of temporary housing assistance in such social services district shall not be applied to the savings plan, and shall not be required to be applied to that portion of the shelter costs not paid for with public assistance. Temporary housing assistance recipients shall not be required to contribute to the cost of such shelter, as provided for in this section. Such project shall not be implemented so as to compromise the federal benefits of a recipient or any of his or her household members.

* NB Repealed March 31, 2022