NORWICH – The Chenango County Department of Social Services (DSS) is moving forward with a new policy that provides financial assistance for funeral services for county residents, helping those who are too impoverished to pay funeral costs for their deceased loved ones.

Chenango County DSS has a general policy that provides a burial assistance grant for indigent persons who die and leave no funds or insurance sufficient enough to pay funeral costs. While the policy has been in place for a number of years, eligibility – currently based on a persons’ income level – is proposed to be based instead on the available resources or asset level of an individual on the date of death, meaning DSS would determine eligibility primarily on what’s in savings and checking accounts, or cash on hand at the time of death.

Changes in the county’s indigent burial policy come subsequent to change in New York State law, which now says income can no longer be used as a factor in determining eligibility for burial assistance, explained DSS Commissioner Bette Osborne. For months, DSS has been in talks with local funeral home directors to draft a new policy – an important collaboration as state law also requires funeral home directors to provide services regardless of one’s ability to pay.

Osborne handed up a draft of the new policy to the county Health and Human Services Committee last week and it’s slated to be on the agenda for the county Board of Supervisors meeting later this month. Under the new policy, approval for burial assistance will not be granted if the decedent or legally responsible relative has combined available assets and resources (cash on hand, money in a savings and money in a checking) worth more than $1,500.

The proposed policy permits that DSS pay a flat rate to funeral directors; up to $4,200 for an adult burial, $2,700 for a cremation, or $1,300 for those who make an anatomical donation. However, Osborne noted, this policy would also drastically increase the number of eligible recipients for burial assistance threefold, proving much more costly for tax payers.

“We expect to pay out more,” Osborn admitted, but she added too many people who need assistance are being turned down under the current policy. “I dont’ think where we are now is best for the community.”