WORLD : N.Y. Welfare Ruled Inadequate

ALBANY, N.Y. — The state must give welfare recipients enough money to afford housing, New York’s highest court ruled in a decision hailed as a victory for the homeless.

“A schedule establishing assistance levels so low that it forces large numbers of families with dependent children into homelessness does not meet the statutory standard,” the Court of Appeals declared Tuesday.

The court ordered a trial to determine whether New York state’s welfare shelter allowance is inadequate. Welfare advocates had argued the shelter allowance was set far below market rates for even the cheapest housing.

The case was brought by Barbara Jiggetts, a New York City woman who complained her shelter allowance forced her to choose between housing and food for her children.