4522. Income Maintenance

Service Definition

Services are to provide financial assistance to meet the basic needs of a family for housing, utilities, food, clothing, etc.

Eligibility

  1. DCFS refers individuals and families to Economic and Medical Field Services' (EMFS) CSOs for determination of eligibility for specific income maintenance programs such as Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) or GA-U.

  2. Eligibility for some federally funded financial maintenance programs, such as Social Security disability and SSI, are determined by the federal Social Security Administration.

Procedures for Access

  1. As part of initial and on-going family assessment, the social worker assesses the family's ability to maintain financially to meet basic needs. When it appears that the family may have little or no income, the social worker assesses the reasons contributing to the situation (e.g. injury, lay-off, divorce, lack of needed job skills) and refers the family to the CSO or other appropriate agencies for determination of eligibility for benefits.
  2. When a child who may be eligible for federal disability payments is in the home of their parent or guardian, the social worker refers the parent to their local Social Security office for information on applying for benefits. SSI facilitators in each region can provide technical assistant to a family/child needing to make application for SSI or survivor's benefits.
  3. When a child is in out-of-home care and it appears that the child may be eligible for federal disability benefits, the social worker makes a referral to the Social Security disability specialist in the DCFS regional office to begin the process of determining benefits.
  4. The social worker completes the federal funding forms and provides them to the federal funding specialist, who determines fund source for children in out-of-home care.

Other Sources

  1. Clients whose jobs have ended may be eligible for unemployment benefits.
  2. The Division of Child Support (DCS), formerly the Office of Support Enforcement, will assist in the collection of child support with parents who are due court-ordered child support and have been unable to collect it.
  3. Some clients injured in the course of employment may be eligible for financial assistance through the Department of Labor and Industries (L&I).
  4. Many communities and non-profit charitable organizations maintain private, non-profit sources for food and clothing for families and individuals in emergency need. Schools and churches may also maintain food and clothing banks. The Community Public Health and Safety Networks may contribute to this resource.
  5. While not providing income maintenance, private non-profit credit counseling services are available in many communities to assist individuals in managing debt.
  6. Food and formula supplements are available for some low-income women with infants through the WIC program to help promote healthy infant development.
  7. Families and children of U.S. military service veterans may be eligible for veteran's benefits provided through the Veteran's Administration.