N.Y. Social Services Law 482-C – Statewide settlement house program; awarding of grants
§ 482-c. Statewide settlement house program; awarding of grants. 1. The commissioner is hereby authorized to issue grants for the purpose of enhancing and coordinating activities and programs, expanding programs to serve more individuals and families, and/or promoting inter-agency coordination with other neighborhood organizations offering complementary services.
Terms Used In N.Y. Social Services Law 482-C
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
- Settlement house: means an independent, voluntary, not-for-profit organization demonstrating affiliation with the New York state association for settlement houses and neighborhood centers engaged in community work and social services delivery in a defined neighborhood in a municipality of the state of New York which provides comprehensive, coordinated, family-focused multi-generational human services such as child care, employment training, housing assistance counseling, youth development, educational services, senior services and arts and cultural activities, based on the needs of the neighborhood or neighborhoods served and which:
(a) has been incorporated for at least three years;
(b) is qualified as a tax-exempt organization pursuant to section 501(c)(3) of the internal revenue code;
(c) provides services to all those who live in the neighborhood or neighborhoods served without regard to race, creed, religious practice, color, sex, age, national origin, economic status, disability, or affectional preference;
(d) has an independent, autonomous board of directors which meets at regular intervals, has full authority over the policies and operations of the organization, and the membership of which includes community residents;
(e) employs appropriate staff including a position of chief executive officer;
(f) has a budget which is adopted on an annual basis by the board of directors, utilizes an accepted accounting system, and has prepared an annual fiscal audit by a certified public accountant not connected with the organization; and
(g) can demonstrate that one of its primary purposes is the improvement of the relationships among groups of different cultural, economic, religious, and social groups in the community through a variety of individual, group, and inter-group activities. See N.Y. Social Services Law 482-B
2. Funds awarded to settlement houses pursuant to the provisions of subdivision one of this section shall be used to supplement and not to supplant other federal, state or local funds.
3. The commissioner shall issue requests for applications to all settlement houses and shall specify that applications include a description of the nature of the services to be provided, a discussion of the relatedness of the services to the purposes of a settlement house as defined in section four hundred eighty-two-b of this article and an estimate of the number and composition of clients to be served. Such applications may include a discussion of plans to develop or enhance outreach services to individuals and families, institute or augment assessments of individual and family needs, coordinate services, develop links with neighborhood organizations, develop employment inititatives, mentoring programs and other cooperative programs with unions, neighborhood businesses and community corporations, and identify sources of private funding. Such applications shall also include at least the following:
(a) appropriate accounting and fiscal control procedures that assure that funds are expended in accordance with this article, including the filing of an annual financial statement by each provider; and
(b) appropriate written records regarding the number of individuals and families served and the type and extent of services rendered by the settlement house.
4. The commissioner shall solicit and select applications for the provision of programs and services funded pursuant to this article. It is necessary that settlement houses receiving funding pursuant to this article demonstrate a plan to raise one dollar for each two dollars of state grants received. Subsequent year funding may be adjusted to reflect prior years' experience.
5. The commissioner may issue a request for applications to the extent funds are available on a multi-year basis.
6. The commissioner shall make grants of up to fifty thousand dollars to settlement houses following approval of an acceptable plan submitted pursuant to the request for applications so long as there are funds available. The commissioner shall notify the local social services district of a grant award to a settlement house in that district.