(a) General rule.
(1) Subject to the exceptions described in paragraphs (b), (c), and (d) of this section and § 416.212, you are not eligible for SSI benefits for any month throughout which you are a resident of a public institution as defined in § 416.201. In addition, if you are a resident of a public institution when you apply for SSI benefits and meet all other eligibility requirements, you cannot be eligible for payment of benefits until the first day of the month following the day of your release from the institution.
(2) By throughout a month we mean that you reside in an institution as of the beginning of a month and stay the entire month. If you have been a resident of a public institution, you remain a resident if you are transferred from one public institution to another or if you are temporarily absent for a period of not more than 14 consecutive days. A person also is a resident of an institution throughout a month if he or she is born in the institution during the month and resides in the institution the rest of the month or resides in the institution as of the beginning of a month and dies in the institution during the month.
(b) Exception - SSI benefits payable at a reduced rate. You may be eligible for SSI benefits at a reduced rate described in § 416.414, if -
(1)
(i) You reside throughout a month in a public institution that is a medical treatment facility where Medicaid (title XIX of the Social Security Act) pays a substantial part (more than 50 percent) of the cost of your care; you are a child under the age of 18 residing throughout a month in a public institution that is a medical treatment facility where a substantial part (more than 50 percent) of the cost of your care is paid under a health insurance policy issued by a private provider of such insurance; or, you are a child under the age of 18 residing throughout a month in a public institution that is a medical treatment facility where a substantial part (more than 50 percent) of the cost of your care is paid by a combination of Medicaid payments and payments made under a health insurance policy issued by a private provider of such insurance; or
(ii) You reside for part of a month in a public institution and the rest of the month in a public institution or private medical treatment facility where Medicaid pays a substantial part (more than 50 percent) of the cost of your care; you are a child under the age of 18 residing for part of a month in a public institution and the rest of the month in a public institution or private medical treatment facility where a substantial part (more than 50 percent) of the cost of your care is paid under a health insurance policy issued by a private provider of such insurance; or you are a child under the age of 18 residing for part of a month in a public institution and the rest of the month in a public institution or private medical treatment facility where a substantial part (more than 50 percent) of the cost of your care is paid by a combination of Medicaid payments and payments made under a health insurance policy issued by a private provider; and
(2) You are ineligible in that month for a benefit described in § 416.212 that is payable to a person temporarily confined in a medical treatment facility.
(c) Exception for publicly operated community residences which serve no more than 16 residents -
(1) General rule. If you are a resident of a publicly operated community residence which serves no more than 16 residents, you may be eligible for SSI benefits.
(2) Services that a facility must provide in order to be a community residence. To be a community residence, a facility must provide food and shelter. In addition, it must make available some other services. For example, the other services could be -
(i) Social services;
(ii) Help with personal living activities;
(iii) Training in socialization and life skills; or
(iv) Providing occasional or incidental medical or remedial care.
(3) Serving no more than 16 residents. A community residence serves no more than 16 residents if -
(i) It is designed and planned to serve no more than 16 residents, or the design and plan were changed to serve no more than 16 residents; and
(ii) It is in fact serving 16 or fewer residents.
(4) Publicly operated. A community residence is publicly operated if it is operated or controlled by the Federal government, a State, or a political subdivision of a State such as a city or county.
(5) Facilities which are not a publicly operated community residence. If you live in any of the following facilities, you are not a resident of a publicly operated community residence:
(i) A residential facility which is on the grounds of or next to a large institution or multipurpose complex;
(ii) An educational or vocational training institution whose main function is to provide an approved, accredited, or recognized program to some or all of those who live there;
(iii) A jail or other facility where the personal freedom of anyone who lives there is restricted because that person is a prisoner, is being held under court order, or is being held until charges against that person are disposed of; or
(iv) A medical treatment facility (defined in § 416.201).
(d) Exception for residents of public emergency shelters for the homeless. For months after December 1987, if you are a resident of a public emergency shelter for the homeless (defined in § 416.201) you may be eligible for SSI benefits for any 6 months throughout which you reside in a shelter in any 9-month period (defined in § 416.201). The 6 months do not need to be consecutive and we will not count as part of the 6 months any prior months throughout which you lived in the shelter but did not receive SSI benefits. We will also not count any months throughout which you lived in the shelter and received SSI benefits prior to January 1988.
You are receiving SSI benefits when you lose your home and enter a public emergency shelter for the homeless on March 10, 1988. You remain a resident of a shelter until October 10, 1988. Since you were not in the shelter throughout the month of March, you are eligible to receive your benefit for March without having this month count towards the 6-month period. The last full month throughout which you reside in the shelter is September 1988. Therefore, if you meet all eligibility requirements, you will also be paid benefits for April through September (6 months during the 9-month period September 1988 back through January 1988). If you are otherwise eligible, you will receive your SSI benefit for October when you left the shelter, since you were not a resident of the shelter throughout that month.
[47 FR 3103, Jan. 22, 1982, as amended at 50 FR 51518, Dec. 18, 1985; 51 FR 13492, Apr. 21, 1986; 51 FR 17332, May 12, 1986; 51 FR 34464, Sept. 29, 1986; 54 FR 19164, May 4, 1989; 61 FR 10277, Mar. 13, 1996; 62 FR 1055, Jan. 8, 1997; 64 FR 31972, June 15, 1999; 72 FR 50874, Sept. 5, 2007]