New Hampshire towns and cities may require residency proof for local aid

Towns and cities may require proof of residency before approving local aid. This applies to people seeking local aid from New Hampshire towns and cities. Officials must accept a listed record showing the stated address if it is dated within the last 60 days. They must also accept a signed and dated statement on agency letterhead from a listed official that gives the last contact date. A social service provider must already serve the applicant. A welfare official may reject either form only with specific, well-supported evidence that contradicts it. These rules took effect July 21, 2026.

Towns and cities cannot deny covered applicants local aid because they live elsewhere. This covers nonresidents who left their home town because of domestic violence, stalking, sexual assault, or human trafficking. This rule took effect July 21, 2026.

Local welfare officials must provide up to six days of needed temporary help for a basic needs emergency. This covers people temporarily in a town or city who face a basic needs emergency. The help must support getting residency proof, applying for aid from the home municipality, or coordinating with it. If the town or city starts a residency hearing, help must continue until a final decision while the person follows local aid rules. These rules took effect July 21, 2026.

Towns and cities must set amounts for basic costs when local leaders adopt aid guidelines. This applies when local leaders adopt guidelines for general assistance. The amounts must reflect local prices and household size, use objective cost information, and be reviewed each year and adjusted if needed. Temporary emergency housing must be evaluated using rates for available local or regional places at the time of the emergency. Officials may make a documented exception for an individual case to meet a basic needs emergency or prevent costlier future aid only when no cheaper available option is enough. An exception creates no automatic right to another one. These rules took effect July 21, 2026.

An assisting town or city must seek repayment, ask another community to take over aid, or request a residency hearing. This applies when a New Hampshire town or city helps someone it believes lives in another New Hampshire municipality or outside the state. If a hearing finds another municipality responsible, it must repay earlier aid at rates consistent with its own aid guidelines. That municipality must then provide aid under its guidelines or repay the assisting community while the person still needs help. This process took effect July 21, 2026.