When other provisions of this chapter providing for reserving an amount for the burial of a recipient of public assistance or care, from assets transferred or assigned to a social services official, do not apply to a recipient because of the category of public assistance or care received by him or her, as in the case of a recipient of safety net assistance, a similar burial reserve from assigned assets may or shall, as the regulations of the department may permit or require, be set aside for such recipient; and any such burial reserve heretofore set aside with the approval of the department, or in accordance with its requirements, shall be deemed to have been authorized.
N.Y. Soc. Serv. Law § 152-A