N.Y. Laws » CHAPTER Social Services / ARTICLE Assistance and Care / TITLE Aid to Dependent Children
New York Consolidated Laws

N.Y. Social Services Law § 350 (2026)

Character and adequacy

✓ current as of May 2026
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§ 350. Character and adequacy. 1. (a) Allowances shall be adequate to
enable the father, mother or other relative to bring up the child
properly, having regard for the physical, mental and moral well-being of
such child, in accordance with the provisions of section one hundred
thirty-one-a of this chapter and other applicable provisions of law.
Allowances shall provide for the support, maintenance and needs of one
or both parents if in need, and in the home and for the support,
maintenance and needs of the other relative if he or she is without
sufficient means of support, provided such parent, parents and relative
are not receiving federal supplemental security income payments and/or
additional state payments for which they are eligible. The social
services official may, in his discretion, make the incapacitated parent
the grantee of the allowance and when allowances are granted for the aid
of a child or children due to the unemployment of a parent, such
official may make the unemployed parent the grantee of the allowance.
  (b) When permitted in accordance with regulations of the department,
provision may be made under this title for any item of maintenance of
eligible individuals who are receiving medical assistance for needy
persons in a hospital, nursing home, infirmary or other eligible medical
institutions. However, aid under this title shall not include provisions
for care or services in any hospital, nursing home, infirmary or other
eligible medical institutions when such care and services may be
provided as medical assistance for needy persons pursuant to title
eleven of article five.
  (e) Any inconsistent provisions of this title notwithstanding, so long
as federal law and regulations require, family planning services and
supplies shall be offered and promptly furnished to eligible persons of
childbearing age, including children who can be considered sexually
active, who desire such services and supplies, in accordance with the
regulations of the department. In order to maximize federal financial
participation, the department may require that such services shall be
furnished under title eleven of article five. No person shall be
compelled or coerced to accept such services or supplies.
  (f) When, in the judgment of the social services official, care cannot
be provided in the mother's own home, care may be provided in a licensed
maternity home, a family home or boarding home for a child or his mother
in need of public assistance and care during pregnancy and during and
after delivery and for eligible persons assistance may be provided in a
family home or boarding home, provided that no assistance will be
provided under this title when such assistance can be provided under
title eleven. Payments to such homes and institutions for care and
maintenance provided by them shall be at rates established pursuant to
law, and regulations of the department. The department, however, shall
not establish rates of payment to homes and institutions without
approval of the director of the budget.
  (g) The social services official of a social services district shall
advise persons who are eligible for aid under this title of the
availability for their benefit of child health screening services and of
care and treatment of disabilities and conditions discovered by such
screening under the provisions of title eleven of article five of this
chapter; and upon request such official shall promptly furnish such
services or care and treatment under the provisions of such title.
  2. Assistance funded in whole or in part under the temporary
assistance to needy families block grant program temporary assistance to
needy families (a) shall not be granted to any family which includes an
adult who has received any form of assistance funded in whole or in part
under the temporary assistance to needy families block grant program
under title IV-A of the federal social security act in this state or in
any other state for a cumulative period of longer than sixty months,
provided that, (i) in determining the number of months for which an
individual who is a parent or pregnant has received assistance, there
shall not be included any period in which the individual was a minor
child who was not the head of household or married to the head of
household, and (ii) the social services district shall, in accordance
with regulations of the department, subject to any federal limitations,
exempt a family from the application of this subdivision on the basis of
hardship when the adult family member is unable to work because of an
independently verified physical or mental impairment including those
resulting from domestic violence, or when the adult family member is in
receipt of supplemental security income payments under title XVI of the
federal social security act or additional state payments under title six
of this article, and (iii) provided that periods in which an adult
receives cash assistance in the safety net assistance program shall be
included in the cumulative period referred to in this paragraph
regardless of whether such assistance was funded in whole or in part by
the temporary assistance to needy families block grant program;
  (b) may be increased, decreased or revoked at any time; and
  (c) except in the case of a child reaching the age of eighteen years,
may be continued for a period of not more than one month after a child
becomes ineligible to be granted allowance under this title.
  4. Adequate supervision of all families receiving such aid shall be
provided and supervisory visits shall be made to each family as
frequently as the regulations of the department and the circumstances of
the case may require.
  5. The social services official of the social services district shall
in cooperation with other public officers, private relief societies and
individuals seek to secure for persons to whom allowances are granted as
provided in this title or who apply for such allowances additional
assistance whenever the social services official is unable adequately to
provide for their needs and the needs of their families. It shall be the
duty of such official and the family court to cooperate with each other
in the effective enforcement of the obligation of the parents of
children for whose benefit such allowances are granted to support such
children to the extent of the parents' ability to do so.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 13 cases, 1977–2009 · leading case: Jiggetts v. Grinker, 553 N.E.2d 570 (N.Y. 1990).
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Jiggetts v. Grinker, 553 N.E.2d 570 (N.Y. 1990). · cites it 3× “It held that the provisions of Social Services Law § 350 (1) (a), which require the State Commissioner to establish "adequate” shelter allowances for ADC recipients, are directory or precatory, not mandatory, and that the amount of such allowances is a matter which rests within…”
Jiggetts v. Grinker, 148 A.D.2d 1 (N.Y. App. Div. 1989). · cites it 7× “Plaintiffs seek a declaration that Social Services Law § 350 (1) (a), inter alia, prohibits defendant from maintaining such low shelter allowance maxima levels.”
Jiggetts v. Dowling, 21 A.D.3d 178 (N.Y. App. Div. 2005). · cites it 5× “*181 The liability issue already resolved by this litigation (whether the state defendant violated Social Services Law § 350 [1] [a] by failing to establish for AFDC recipients shelter allowances that bear a reasonable relation to the cost of housing in New York City) is quite…”
Brownley v. Doar, 903 N.E.2d 1155 (N.Y. 2009). · cites it 8× “Social Services Law § 350 specifies that aid provided under the FA program must be “adequate” to provide the family with a home (see Jiggetts v Grinker, 75 NY2d 411, 421 [1990]).”
Davis v. Smith, 431 F. Supp. 1206 (S.D.N.Y. 1977). · cites it 2× “New York participates in the emergency assistance program as codified in N.Y. Social Services Law § 350 -j and therefore, as has been clearly established in this circuit, the State may not define the eligibility for emergency assistance in a manner more restrictive than the…”
Jiggets v. Grinker, 139 Misc. 2d 476 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1988). · cites it 7× “None of the cases defendants rely on challenge Social Services Law § 350 which provides that "[allowances shall be adequate * * * to bring up the child properly, having regard for the physical, mental and moral well-being of such child”.”
Jiggetts v. Dowling, 196 Misc. 2d 678 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 2003). · cites it 3× “In 1990, the New York Court of Appeals determined that New York’s Social Services Law § 350 (1) (a) imposes a duty on the State Commissioner of Social Services to establish shelter allowances for ADC recipients bearing a reasonable relationship to the cost of housing in New York…”
Alfonso v. Fernandez, 195 A.D.2d 46 (N.Y. App. Div. 1993). “The State laws governing these programs also require that contraception be made available to "eligible persons of childbearing age, including children who can be considered sexually active” (Social Services Law § 350 [1] [e]; see, Social Services Law § 365-a [3] [c]; see also,…”
Jiggetts v. Dowling, 261 A.D.2d 144 (N.Y. App. Div. 1999). “As such, defendant State Commissioner failed to discharge his statutory duty under Social Services Law § 350 (1) (a) to provide for “adequate” shelter allowances so as to prevent large numbers of AFDC families from becoming homeless (see, Jiggetts v Grinker, 75 NY2d 411, 417 ).”
Brownley v. Doar, 11 Misc. 3d 615 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 2006). · cites it 7× “In 1990, the New York Court of Appeals determined that New York’s Social Services Law § 350 (1) (a) imposed a duty on the State Commissioner of Social Services to establish shelter allowances for ADC recipients bearing a reasonable relationship to the cost of housing in New York…”
Brownley v. Doar, 44 A.D.3d 313 (N.Y. App. Div. 2007). “Plaintiffs and the proposed intervenors, who are aid recipients under the state Safety Net Assistance (SNA) program, lack standing to challenge the adequacy of shelter allowances pursuant to Social Services Law § 350 (1) (a). Canons of statutory construction and a review of the…”
Hedgepeth v. Wing, 29 A.D.3d 632 (N.Y. App. Div. 2006). · cites it 2× “e named plaintiffs to revisit our prior decisions in McVay v Wing ( 303 AD2d 727 [2003]) and Shubrick v Wing ( 303 AD2d 744 [2003]), in which we held that only recipients of family assistance benefits (hereinafter FA) pursuant to the state Temporary Assistance for Needy Families…”
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