New York issuing COVID-19 payments to struggling families with children

ALBANY, N.Y. (WWTI) -- Additional funding has been made available for families in New York. On Friday, Governor Kathy Hochul announced the distribution of $28 million in Pandemic Emergency Assistance funding in May to help struggling families with children in the State.

Beginning May 14, the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance will issue on-time payments of $250 to eligible households with a child of 17 years of age or younger. These payments are aimed to help pay for housing expenses, bills and other critical needs.

New York is estimating that 112,000 households will receive these payments which will support over 216,000 children.

"The economic toll of the COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately impacted low-income families across our state - especially those with children," Governor Hochul said in a press release. "This one-time payment will provide tens of thousands of families with a critical lifeline to help pay past-due bills or other household expenses that accrued as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic."

To be eligible for these payments, households must already be receiving Public Assistance. Eligible households will receive written notification from OTDA.

Payments will be issued directly to the household's Electronic Benefit Transfer account.

The Pandemic Emergency Assistance Fund was created as part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 to assist families impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Per federal guidelines, funding must be used for issuing non-recurring benefits to impacted households with children to deal with a specific short-term situation or need.