12553. (Amended by Stats. 1990, Ch. 871, Sec. 1.)

(a) Notwithstanding Section 12552, special circumstances shall also include the administration and payment by the department pursuant to this section of a recurring special need allowance to every eligible recipient who has a guide dog, signal dog, or other service dog, to pay for dog food and other costs associated with the dog’s care and maintenance.

(b) Beginning January 1, 1991, the special need allowance shall be forty dollars ($40) per month. Beginning July 1, 1991, this amount shall be increased to fifty dollars ($50) per month.

(c) The department shall mail an application for the allowance to each eligible recipient. The application shall be upon a standard form prescribed by regulations of the department and containing a written declaration that the affirmation is made under penalty of perjury subject to prosecution as the crime of perjury under the Penal Code. The recipient or, if the recipient is incapable, another person as described in Section 11054 may make the affirmation. The department shall grant the special need allowance upon the basis of the affirmation by mailing a monthly warrant in the amount indicated in subdivision (b) to the recipient.