State Assistance Programs for SSI Recipients, January 2002

Oregon

State Supplementation

Mandatory Minimum Supplementation

Administration: Department of Human Services, Adult and Family Services Division, Senior and Disabled Services Division (state-administered in local offices).

Optional State Supplementation

Administration: Department of Human Services, Adult and Family Services Division, Senior and Disabled Services Division (state-administered in local offices).

Effective date: January 1, 1974.

Statutory basis for payment: Oregon Revised Statutes 411.120.

Funding

Administration: State funds.

Assistance: State funds.

Passalong method: Maintaining total expenditures.

Place of application: Local offices of the Adult and Family Services Division or the Senior and Disabled Services Division.

Scope of coverage: Optional state supplement provided to SSI recipients residing in the specified living arrangements (see Table 1). Blind children are eligible and disabled children are ineligible for state supplementation.

Resource limitations: Federal SSI limitations used, except that the transfer of a home may render a person ineligible for a state supplement for up to 30 months, based on the amount of uncompensated value.

Income exclusions: Federal SSI earned income exclusions used. No unearned income is excluded.

Recoveries, liens, and assignments: Assistance paid constitutes an unsecured prior claim against property or any interest therein belonging to the estate of a recipient except such portion as is being occupied as a home by the spouse, minor dependent child, or parent of deceased recipient. Senior and Disabled Services Division may compromise claim by accepting other security or may waive payment when enforcement would be inequitable and would tend to defeat the purpose of public assistance law.

Responsibility of relatives: None.

Interim assistance: State participates.

Payment levels: See Table 1.

Table 1. Optional state supplementation payment levels (in dollars)
Living arrangement	Combined federal and state		State supplementation
Living arrangement	Individual	Couple	Individual	Couple
Living independently
Aged and disabled	546.70	817.00	1.70	. . .
Blind	571.70	842.60	26.70	25.60
Living with an ineligible spouse
Aged and disabled	546.70	. . .	1.70	. . .
Blind	571.70	. . .	26.70	. . .
Living in the household of another
Aged and disabled	365.04	544.67	1.70	. . .
Blind	390.04	570.27	26.70	25.60
Living in an adult foster care or residential care facility ^a,b
Aged and disabled	546.70	1,013.40	1.70	196.40
Blind	571.70	1,063.40	26.70	246.40
Living in a room and board facility ^b
Aged and disabled	546.70	1,013.40	1.70	196.40
Blind	571.70	1,063.40	26.70	246.40
NOTE: . . . = not applicable.
a. Additional costs covered by special service funds.
b. Persons with other sources of income are allowed to keep $90 as a personal needs allowance.
DEFINITIONS: Living independently Includes recipients living alone in their own household. Living with an ineligible spouse Includes recipients living with their ineligible spouse. Living in the household of another Includes recipients who live in the household of another. Living in an adult foster care facility Includes recipients living in homes or other facilities that include board and room and 24-hour care and services for five or fewer elderly or disabled persons who are aged 18 or older. Living in a residential care facility Includes recipients living in facilities of one or more buildings on contiguous property that provide 24-hour care and services to six or more people aged 16 or older. Living in a room and board facility Includes persons living in facilities that provide meals and housing in exchange for financial or other compensation.

Number of recipients: See Table 2.

Table 2. Number of persons receiving optional state supplementation, January 2002
Living arrangement	Total	Aged	Blind	Disabled
All recipients	24,009	3,084	558	20,367
Living independently	20,059	1,738	381	17,940
Living with an ineligible spouse	0	0	0	0
Living in the household of another	1,341	573	68	700
Living in an adult foster care or residential care facility	2,609	773	109	1,727
Living in a room and board facility	0	0	0	0

State Assistance for Special Needs

Administration

Department of Human Resources, Adult and Family Services Division or Senior and Disabled Services Division.

Special Needs Circumstances

Clothing for employment: Essential clothing may be provided for a recipient to begin employment if the recipient has been accepted for a job.

Corrective shoes: Necessary corrective, orthopedic, or extra-sturdy shoes recommended by the recipient's physician.

Special diet: Payment for a special diet will be allowed if need has been established by a physician and the recipient maintains housekeeping quarters and is receiving a standard food allowance.

Restaurant meals: Restaurant meals are allowed in addition to the standard supplemental payments when recipient is unable to prepare meals because of physical or mental disability.

Laundry allowances: Laundry allowances are provided when the recipient has no available laundry facilities of any kind or is so disabled that he or she cannot do his or her own laundry and there is no other person living in the home who can do it.

Telephone allowances: Telephone allowances may be provided when the recipient lives alone and is housebound, lives in a situation so remote that a telephone is essential, or needs a telephone to maintain a job.

Maintenance for guide dogs: Payment for food will be made for guide dogs provided to the recipient by the Oregon Commission for the Blind.

Moving expenses: Moving costs will be provided if moving is essential to provide nonhazardous housing for the recipient or if the recipient has been evicted for reasons not attributable to his or her neglect or his or her failure to pay rent or house payments.

Household equipment costs: Certain items of household equipment may be purchased or repaired if the recipient is unable to obtain them without cost; a one-time payment of chattel mortgages or sales contracts may be made to prevent repossession if the cost of replacing an essential item exceeds the balance due on the contract.

Shelter exceptions: Additional payment is made for shelter expenses in situations in which the recipient has special needs that make it impractical or impossible to rent or continue to purchase adequate housing with current benefit payment.

Transportation expenses: Certain transportation expenses may be provided to meet specific needs of recipients.

Medicaid

Eligibility

Criteria: SSI program guidelines (Title XVI).

Determined by: State.

Medically Needy Program

Prescription drugs and mental health services only.

Unpaid Medical Expenses

The Social Security Administration does not obtain this information.