Browse Working Group Recommendations

Working Group: Human/Social Services
Key Issue: ELIGIBILITY
Recommendation: Since most sanctions are a result of non-compliance of requirements related to employment or substance abuse, we must assess the way Monroe Co determines compliance and relax any regulations that create particularly high rates of sanction (see analysis to follow).
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Working Group: Human/Social Services
Key Issue: ELIGIBILITY
Recommendation: Establishment of a Working Group for Continuous Improvement
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Working Group: Human/Social Services
Key Issue: ELIGIBILITY
Recommendation: Reimagine the process by which someone is sanctioned and then conciliated in order to create a system that uses sanctions as an absolute last resort (analysis to follow).
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Working Group: Human/Social Services
Key Issue: ELIGIBILITY
Recommendation: Begin to track sanctions and Fair Hearings by race and ethnicity.
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Working Group: Human/Social Services
Key Issue: ELIGIBILITY
Recommendation: Monroe County should review its Employment Plan in the context of the comparative information gathered and submit revisions that significantly relax the employment requirements for individuals receiving public assistance. This particularly important right now, as the COVID-19 epidemic has significantly impaired our local economy and created exceptionally high unemployment rates. Monroe County’s employment plan must match this economic reality and be “person-centered” to ensure that we are providing public assistance to as many vulnerable households as possible. Specifically, we recommend:
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Working Group: Human/Social Services
Key Issue: ELIGIBILITY
Recommendation: Monroe County should review the ARES system with a committee that consists of experts in addiction recovery, community-based CASACs, and individuals who previously received public assistance. The committee should set out to amend the reporting system to follow best practices of addiction recovery, and to ensure that a sanction is never used as anything other than a last resort.
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Working Group: Human/Social Services
Key Issue: ELIGIBILITY
Recommendation: Monroe County should permanently eliminate the 85% attendance threshold for individuals recovering from substance abuse. The County should work with the Committee established in Recommendation 1 to create new, person-centered requirements in line with NYS rules and regulations.
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Working Group: Human/Social Services
Key Issue: ELIGIBILITY
Recommendation: Monroe County should evaluate all substance abuse practices and policies with a goal of embracing harm reduction as an evidence-based strategy, while still encouraging abstinence as appropriate. (This echoes a recommendation of the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services Working Group.)
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Working Group: Human/Social Services
Key Issue: ELIGIBILITY
Recommendation: Move to a Pre-sanction Review Process
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Working Group: Human/Social Services
Key Issue: ELIGIBILITY
Recommendation: Post-Sanction Support System: If a sanction is imposed, MCDHS should engage the individual and family to discuss the parameters of the sanction, opportunities to lift the sanction or come into compliance, and additional supports available to ensure compliance is maintained. Post sanction engagement would also assist the agency in keeping in contact with sanctioned individuals and families giving them the best possible opportunity for success and reengagement. Postsanction support should be provided orally by a caseworker and in plain language notices, covering the following:
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