An Act To Include Homelessness in the Laws Governing Emergency General Assistance
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 22 MRSA §4301, sub-§5-A is enacted to read:
5-A. Homelessness. "Homelessness" means a situation in which a person or household has no permanent or safe housing including when a person or household is:
A. Living in a place that is not fit for human habitation;
B. Living in an emergency shelter;
C. Living in temporary housing, including but not limited to a hotel, motel, campground, unlicensed campsite or rehabilitation facility;
D. Exiting a hospital or institution licensed under chapter 405 or a correctional facility where the person or household resided for up to 90 days if the person or household was in an emergency shelter or a place not fit for human habitation before entering the hospital, institution or correctional facility;
E. Losing the person's or household's primary nighttime residence and lacking the resources or support networks to remain in that residence; or
F. Fleeing or attempting to flee violence and has no other residence.
Sec. 2. 22 MRSA §4308, sub-§2, as amended by PL 1999, c. 45, §1, is further amended to read:
2. Emergencies. A person , including a person experiencing or facing homelessness, who does not have sufficient resources to provide one or more basic necessities in an emergency is eligible for emergency general assistance, even when that applicant has been found ineligible for nonemergency general assistance, except as provided in this subsection.
A. A person who is currently disqualified from general assistance for a violation of section 4315, 4316-A or 4317 is ineligible for emergency assistance under this subsection.
B. Municipalities may by standards adopted in municipal ordinances restrict the disbursement of emergency assistance to alleviate emergency situations to the extent that those situations could not have been averted by the applicant's use of income and resources for basic necessities. The person requesting assistance shall provide evidence of income and resources for the applicable time period.
A municipality may provide emergency assistance when the municipality determines that an emergency is imminent and that failure to provide assistance may result in undue hardship and unnecessary costs.
SUMMARY
This bill defines "homelessness" for the purposes of the laws governing general assistance and specifies that a person experiencing or facing homelessness who meets the conditions for receiving emergency assistance in current law is eligible for emergency general assistance.