Special Needs Grant Amendment (No. 4) Pursuant to section 124 (1) (d) of the Social Security Act 1964, I, Roger Morrison Sowry, Minister of Social Services, Work and Income, approve the following amendments to the Special Needs Grant welfare programme (as established and approved by me on 18 December 1998) which are to be read with and considered part of the programme on and from 1 October 1999. Dated this 22nd September 1999. R. M. SOWRY, Minister of Social Services, Work and Income. A m en d m e n t s 1. Definitions: 1.1. Clause 3.1 of the programme is amended by inserting, after the definition of the term ``Farmer'', the following definition: ``Food Grant'' means a Grant under clause 11.2.1; 2. Food Grants 2.1. The programme is amended by omitting clauses 11.2.1 and 11.2.2, and substituting the following clauses: 11.2.1 Eligibility for Food Grant: The chief executive may, after making an assessment as to whether clause 11.2.3 applies, make a Grant to purchase food if (a) the Applicant or his or her Immediate Family has an immediate need to purchase food; and (b) the Applicant and his or her spouse (if any) have no resources to meet that need, and would otherwise have to rely on a food bank to meet that need; and (c) that need, or the lack of resources to meet it, was caused by an essential expense that had to be met and which left insufficient money to buy food; and (d) except as provided in clause 11.2.5, neither the Applicant nor any member of his or her Immediate Family has been referred for budgeting advice under this programme within the 52 weeks before the date of the application. 11.2.2 Number and amounts of Food Grants: The chief executive may make more than 1 Food Grant in a 52 Week Period, but unless the chief executive considers there are exceptional circumstances, the chief executive must not make Grants under clause 11.2.1 during a 52 Week Period that exceed in total (a) $200 for an unmarried person with no dependent children: (b) $300 for a married couple with no dependent children: (c) $450 for a married couple or a sole parent with 1 or 2 dependent children: (d) $550 for a married couple or a sole parent with 3 or more dependent children. 11.2.3 Previous multiple Food Grants: This clause applies where (a) an application for a Food Grant is made; and (b) 2 or more Grants have, in the 52 weeks before the date of the application, been made under clause 11.2.1 to the Applicants Immediate Family; and (c) the chief executive determines that the application has not resulted from a sudden or unforeseen need. 11.2.4 Referral for budgeting advice: If clause 11.2.3 applies, the chief executive, in making a Food Grant, must (a) refer the Applicant for budgeting advice arranged by the chief executive at no cost to the Applicant; and (b) advise the Applicant to accept the budgeting advice; and (c) advise the Applicant that if the Applicant or any member of his or her Immediate Family makes a further application for a Food Grant within the 52 weeks following payment of the Grant, the application will generally be declined if the Applicant has not taken advantage of the referral for budgeting advice. 11.2.5 Limited eligibility for subsequent Food Grant: No person who is referred for budgeting advice under clause 11.2.4 (a), or any member of his or her Immediate Family, is eligible for a Food Grant within the period of 52 weeks referred to in clause 11.2.4 (c), unless (a) the chief executive is satisfied that the person to whom the referral applies has taken advantage of the referral for budgeting advice; or (b) the person to whom the referral applies has, in the opinion of the chief executive, a good and sufficient reason for not taking advantage of the referral for budgeting advice; or (c) the chief executive considers that the refusal to make a Food Grant would cause extreme hardship to the Applicant or to a member of the Applicants Immediate Family, and the Applicant agrees in writing to (i) accept an immediate referral for budgeting advice arranged by the chief executive; and (ii) take advantage of that referral. 11.2.6 Referral for budgeting advice where Food Grant made on ground of extreme hardship: Where the chief executive makes a Food Grant in the circumstances referred to in clause 11.2.5 (c), the chief executive (a) must, in relation to the Applicant, take the steps in paragraphs (a) to (c) of clause 11.2.4 if the Applicant was not the person to whom the previous referral for budgeting advice applies; or (b) otherwise may take those steps in relation to the Applicant. 11.2.7 Interpretation: For the purposes of clauses 11.2.2 to 11.2.6 (a) a reference to a Grant under clause 11.2.1 includes a Grant under clause 11.2.1 in the form that it was before 1 October 1999; and (b) a person takes advantage of a referral for budgeting advice if the person attends and receives budgeting advice as arranged by the chief executive.