Opinion
April 4, 1988
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Kings County (Held, J.).
Ordered that the judgment is affirmed, without costs or disbursements.
The petitioner applied for a grant of Emergency Assistance for Aged, Blind and Disabled Persons on behalf of her disabled daughter to pay for arrears in telephone bills and avert a threatened termination of telephone service.
To establish eligibility for a grant of Emergency Assistance for Aged, Blind and Disabled Persons a recipient of Supplementary Security Income must show first that he has a need that is specified in Social Services Law § 303 and second, that if not met, the need would endanger the health, welfare or safety of the applicant (Social Services Law § 302).
The petitioner has not established that telephone arrears are a need within the purview of Social Services Law § 303 (1) (m). Under this statute and the operative regulation found at 18 NYCRR 397.5 (l) (3), a household expense must be "necessary to prevent eviction". Neither telephone arrears nor a private household telephone fits within this definition. Kunzeman, J.P., Eiber, Spatt and Sullivan, JJ., concur.