As of October 3, 1997, the NYC Emergency Assistance (EA) telephone line, (212) 417-3614, has been routed to the Albany Communication Intake Unit for request intake and processing. This shift in responsibility has produced several changes in procedures as outlined below:
The EA telephone lines are answered by designated Albany Intake Unit staff. The coordination of the EA calendars is the responsibility of the Multiple Task Unit (MTU); currently Ms. Joanne Gerber is assigned to coordinate this task with Ms. Sue Orr and Ms. Peggy Acevedo as backups. The EA book previously used for scheduling EA hearings has been replaced by an on-line calendar. Designated staff from New York City and Albany will have rights to either view or update the electronic calendar.
If the EA fair hearing request involves the New York City Department of Homeless Services (NDHS), the Inquiry (PFHINQ) printout is faxed by MTU staff to Ms. Guljit Baines at NDHS. If the case requires an EA telephone hearing, the Inquiry (PFHINQ) printout is placed in a labelled bin in the MTU to insure that Sebastian Addamo is notified via e-mail. When EA fair hearing requests from walk-ins are processed by New York City Intake staff, the date and time of the hearing should be obtained by calling any member of the Multiple Task Unit at (518) 486-6482. New York City staff must then notify the client of the date and time of the hearing. Albany staff will mark the calendar, complete the scheduling transaction and process any special notifications. In cases of date certain adjournments of EA hearings by the Administrative Law Judge (HADD), the NYC Calendar Management Unit will provide the MTU staff with the new date and time of the rescheduled hearing to be added to the calendar. If MTU staff are not available to coordinate the EA request, please consult with any Albany Intake supervisor or one of the following Albany Intake staff:
Pat Keays (518) 474-5414
Gloria McCasland (518) 473-0164
Jackie Edwards (518) 473-0164
Maggie Serrano (518) 473-4724
Mary Rose Coreno (518) 473-7054
All requests for adjournments and reopens of EA cases must be called in to Albany staff, who will update the calendar as appropriate and enter the information on the modification (MOD) screen.
Since most EA calendars, other than NDHS cases, are scheduled at least three days out to allow for file creation and courier time, and since files are created and mailed from Albany on a timely basis, there should be limited situations for which dummy files need to be created. However, since NYC staff print the electronic EA calendar at 3:00 p.m. each day, any cases added after 3:00 p.m., should be called in by Multiple Task Unit staff to Ms. Melida Thomas in the NYC Calendar Management Unit to add the name to the calendar and to have a dummy file created. Most files should arrive in New York City prior to the hearing via the "Miscellaneous" envelope, including NDHS files, which always arrive on the morning of the hearing date. However, if there is a delay in courier delivery, NDHS files, in particular, may not arrive in time; in which case, Calendar Management Unit staff should create the necessary dummy files.
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