• First, fill out the cash assistance application either online or by using the mobile Access HRA app
• Second, upload your supporting documents showing: your identity, who is in your household, your address, proof of citizenship or immigration status, your monthly rent amount, how much you owe in back rent with a breakdown or court papers (if any) using the Access HRA mobile app or the separate Document Upload app. Documents cannot be uploaded to HRA using the online portal.

TIPS:

• For a list of documents needed for cash assistance applications click here.
• For a list of documents needed for SNAP applications click here.
• For a list of documents needed for “special grant” applications click here.
• If you need help to use Access HRA or if you have other questions, HRA should help you. You should call 311 and/or the HRA Infoline at 718-557-1399 for assistance.
• If you are
  • homebound or
  • need a home visit or
  • need a need a Reasonable Accommodation or
  • need a phone application,  you should call the HRA Office of Constituent Services at 212-331-4640.

• Request a hardcopy application from HRA by calling the HRA Infoline at 718-557-1399 or 311, or download and print out? the common application form from the State’s website at  AND
• Complete the application and gather supporting documents (described above), AND
• Mail in the application and supporting documents, OR fax them to one of the open Job Centers listed with contact information here.  OR drop off at one of the open Job Centers with supporting documents.

If for any reason you cannot apply using the ways described above, you can ask that HRA take an application over the telephone or that HRA make a home visit. Telephone applications and home visits can be requested by telephone or email and also by fax and mail. For an explanation of how to request these and troubleshoot problems, see below.

TIP:

• If you are talking to someone at HRA about a Telephone Application it is often easier to refer to it as an “HVN/HB” case because HRA often calls these cases “Home Visit Needed or Homebound” cases.

You do NOT have to go to a Job Center in person during the COVID 19 pandemic. HRA is discouraging in-person applications because the agency is trying to reduce risk to HRA clients and staff. If you do not want to go to a Job Center, you can try using one of the ways listed above to file an application. If you want to go to a Job Center:

• Confirm that the Center you want to go to is open. The list is can be found here.
• Be aware that at the Job Center, you will apply online at an HRA computer. Applications taken at the Job Centers will still be done by you at a self-service computer bank, but HRA staff is supposed to be available to help you if you need it.
• The application interviews will still be by telephone. After you apply at a Job Center computer bank, you will be sent home to wait for a telephone interview just as if you had applied online. If you ask for a same-day interview, you will be sent to a cubicle in the Job Center to wait for a telephone call from an HRA staff member.

After your application is submitted, you should receive:

• A call from an HRA worker for an interview within 2 business days and
• Notices (by mail unless you choose electronic only) telling you whether you need to submit any documents.
• If you filed your application on Access HRA, you should be given a confirmation number. If you do not get a confirmation number, the application is not in the system and something is wrong. You need to start over.

If you do not get a call back from an HRA Application Worker within 2 business days:

• Call HRA’s Rescheduling Unit at 212-835-7304.
• Tell the agent that you have not received an interview call.
• The agent should give you a date and time on which an Application Worker will call you.
• The agent should also give you a confirmation number.

If you do not get a call at the rescheduled time:

• Call the Rescheduling Unit again at 212-835-7304.

If you still don’t get a call back from HRA at the 2nd Rescheduled time:

• Please call The Legal Aid Society’s Access to Benefits Helpline at 888-663-6880 Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Interpreters are available for all languages.

Effective October 1, 2021, and for the first time in more than 45 years, the amount of SNAP benefits that New York City families can receive is increasing permanently!

While the SNAP increases during COVID have helped, they were temporary. The new amounts are permanent and are 25% more than the pre-COVID SNAP levels. If you already receive SNAP, you don’t need to do anything to receive this increase.

Your increased SNAP benefits should just appear on your EBT card when the change happens. Please see below for a comparison of the SNAP levels.

Maximum SNAP Benefit Amounts By Household Size

The information in this document has been prepared by The Legal Aid Society for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. This information is not intended to create, and receipt of it does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship. You should not act upon any information without retaining professional legal counsel.

This material was made possible in part by a grant from the New York Bar Foundation.