If a grantee wishes to use PEAF funds for a benefit that meets a different purpose, it must be able to demonstrate how the benefit is designed to address pandemic-related needs. here to find the Food Assistance office nearest you. State Cash Benefit Decisions Have Disparate Impacts, Especially for Black Children. Option 4: Fax an application to (207) 778-8429. (334) 242-1 950 Apply for Alabama Family Assistance U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 114 Corn Shop Lane. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely. This is especially true if grantees also make use of the unobligated TANF balances that many have accumulated for just such a crisis. Failure to comply with the work requirements, without a good cause, will have their benefits reduced or revoked. Updated 6/30/2021 Phone: (207) 626-7058 Fax: (207) 621-8148 www.maineequaljustice.org $300/week does not "count" as income for SNAP and Mainecare. Not affiliated with or endorsed by any government agency. To apply for food assistance benefits online, you can apply via MyDHR or MyAlabama. Augusta, Maine04333, Phone: (207) 287-3707 The Family Assistance Division administers programs funded by the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant designed to provide benefits and services to needy families so children may be cared for in their own homes or in the homes of relatives. Department of Once enrolled in TANF you may also be eligible for help receiving job training and education. Listen. Alabamas Family Assistance (FA) Program provides temporary financial assistance for needy families with children whose income must meet the eligibility thresholds. The NRST benefits a grantee funds with PEAF need not be the same as the ones funded by TANF. EEF1GYo IQm-tX Food stamp recipients in Alabama will receive extra benefits due to the coronavirus pandemic. hbbd``b` Sc `4A@i bi~"@ $TP; All grantees are eligible for reallotted funds, unless they have unexpended funds at the end of the expenditure period. Assistance for families who are behind in rent or experiencing other housing insecurity due to the pandemic. %PDF-1.6 % Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Indeed, as we noted above, all PEAF-funded benefits must be designed to address needs arising from the pandemic. 114 Corn Shop Lane Under the law, states must inform HHS of its expenditure commitment within 45 days of the enactment of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, and tribes and territories within 90 days of enactment. A beneficiary receiving less than their households size monthly maximum will now be bumped up to the higher level. This benefit clearly meets Purpose One and is pandemic-related. It could use the PEAF funds for diversion, as long as it adds to its program and does not replace existing funding with the PEAF dollars. The Food Assistance Division administers the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in Alabama. You must also be either pregnant or be responsible for a child under 19 years of age and be unemployed or under employed with very low wages. Office for Family Independence Grantees may use funds to provide certain non-recurrent, short term (NRST) benefits, described in more detail below. The Family Assistance Division administers programs funded by the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant designed to provide benefits and services to needy families so children may be cared for in their own homes or in the homes of relatives. For states (including the District of Columbia) and territories, the law provides a 15-percent cap on administrative expenditures. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Now Public Law 117-2, it establishes the Pandemic Emergency Assistance Fund (PEAF) in section 403(c) of the Social Security Act (the Act). A one-time payment to provide extra cash to weather the pandemic to current Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipient families with children affected by the pandemic. If a grantee does choose to offer a benefit without determining an individual episode of need, it would need to be clear that the NRST expenditure was related to the pandemic. This benefit clearly meets Purpose One and is pandemic-related. You may also fax, mail, or bring the signed application to your County DHR office for processing. We hope that making this determination now will enable grantees to act expeditiously in distributing PEAF benefits and be responsive to the current crisis. lTg-f(*Tth4kr For more than a year, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a national emergency affecting not only public health, but also the American economy. TANF provides cash assistance to families while they work towards becoming self-sufficient. Pandemic EBT Distribution Starts This Week for Families with Eligible School-Age Children, Pandemic Help Available to Foster Youths Transitioning into Adulthood, Application Period Starts Next Week for 6th Round of Child Care Bonuses, Declaracin de No Discriminacin Espaol. If a grantee does choose to offer a benefit without determining an individual episode of need, it would need to be clear that the NRST expenditure was related to the pandemic. A payment for hotel rooms and meal delivery for people who need to quarantine away from their families. EBT cards containing the benefits will be mailed to families with children in pre-K and K-12 who lost access to meals from the National School Lunch Program during the 2020-21 school year because their schools closed or switched to virtual and hybrid learning models in response to the pandemic. Alabama's Family Assistance(FA) Program provides temporary financial assistance for needy families with children whose income must meet the eligibility thresholds. Option 1: Apply online through My Maine Connection. A grantee will not need to amend its TANF plan to provide NRSTs with the PEAF. Please enter your username to reset your password. The ASPIRE program helps TANF recipients move towards financial independence through case management, job training, education, support and employment services. Alabama pays a maximum of $215 a month to a family of three one of the lowest TANF benefits in the nation. Before you can complete the application online, you must first register for an account. 109 Capitol Street Any such unallotted funds will be reallotted, as discussed below. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. This means that we will reallot: (1) funds not initially awarded to a grantee because it chose to receive less than its full allotment; and (2) funds from the initial award that are unexpended (including unliquidated obligations) at the end of the statutory expenditure period, i.e., September 30, 2022. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Many states, tribes, and territories have had to implement emergency measures to assist low income families in this difficult time. Low TANF cash benefits, which disproportionately affect the benefits available to Black children, are rooted in a long history of racist ideas and policies. Regardless of when it receives its PEAF funds, a grantee may use the funds for allowable expenditures on or after April 1, 2021. An official website of the United States government. The .gov means its official. Farmington, ME 04938, Option 3: E-mail an application to Farmington.DHHS@Maine.gov. There is no application for P-EBT; ALSDE has provided DHR with the names of children who participate in the National School Lunch Program, which makes them eligible for P-EBT. You may also fax, mail, or bring the signed application to your County DHR office for . To provide initial guidance regarding the newly established Pandemic Emergency Assistance Fund. Indeed, as we noted above, all PEAF-funded benefits must be designed to address needs arising from the pandemic. Some food stamp recipients in Alabama received extra funds this week amid the growing coronavirus crisis. Office for Family Independence We will issue supplemental information specific to tribes that integrate TANF under Public Law 102-477 into a single plan. Option 5: Visit one of our district offices and apply in person. The American Rescue Plan Act, Public Law 117-2; section 403(c) of the Social Security Act. 2387 0 obj <>stream 2023 SMG. There are several ways to apply for food assistance. As noted above, if a grantee has not expended all of its funds by that date, HHS will reallot any unused funds to other eligible states, territories, and tribes, which must expend the reallotted funds within 12 months of receipt, as specified in the legislation. We are revising financial reporting forms, the ACF-196R, ACF-196T, and ACF-196TR, to include a column for reporting PEAF expenditures so that grantees will not have to submit a separate form to report for this fund. Food stamp benefits are determined by the number of people and income in a household. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. Cash assistance for short-term basic needs to help families with mixed immigration status (e.g., citizen children with parents who are not eligible due to their immigration status) who are affected by the pandemic. Programs & Services %PDF-1.6 % Voucher payments, equal to up to three months of TANF benefits, are made available to families to help them with employment related expenses and avoid the need for TANF benefits. A supplement will also be received at the end of April as part of the response to the COVID-19 virus. SNAP has continued to approve flexibilities under this authority. %%EOF 11 State House Station DHR distributed over $144 million in benefits to more than 460,000 children in Alabama during the first round of P-EBT this past year. After your application is filed, an interview will be arranged to determine your familys eligibility, either by phone or in person. A monthly benefit through TANF that helps parents working through a two- or four-year degree-granting education program. The Continuing Appropriations Act, 2021 ( PL 116-159 ), extended a number of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) flexibilities approved under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. This is a significant cash infusion for such a family, representing about six months of TANF benefits in a typical state and up to a year's worth in the lowest-benefit state. Will the extra $300/week in unemployment benefits stop when the Maine State of Emergency ends on June 30 th? The Continuing Appropriations Act, 2021 (PL 116-159), extended a number of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) flexibilities approved under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. Alabama Benefits - SNAP, SSI, TANF, Healthcare, Housing & More 464 0 obj <>stream The funds would go to extremely low-income families whose TANF benefits aren't adequate to meet basic needs in normal times and who face extra needs due to the pandemic. Here are some other examples of NRST benefits that grantees might want to provide with PEAF funds. Given that the fund was created specifically to help address needs arising out of the pandemic, we have determined that NRST benefits that meet Purpose One (provide assistance to needy families so that children may be cared for in their own homes or in the homes of relatives) are in line with the PEAF and we do not think benefits meeting the other purposes are. Option 5: Visit one of our district offices and apply in person. On March 11, 2021, the President signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 into law. Families will receive separate EBT cards for each eligible child in their households. A community group for residents of Alabama to ask questions and share information about receiving benefits that are administered locally. Health and Human Services If the grantee elected to accept $2,000,000 of that allotment, the remaining $876,380 would no longer be set aside for that grantee and would be reallotted to all grantees eligible for reallotment. MONTGOMERY, Ala. Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) benefits will start rolling out this week to families with eligible school-age children who missed out on free or reduced-price school meals because of the pandemic. The Alabama Department of Human Resources (DHR) oversees the distribution of P-EBT with assistance from the Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE). Those benefits covered meals missed during the 2019-20 school year due to school closures. be designed to deal with a specific crisis situation or episode of need; not be intended to meet on-going needs; and, must only include expenditures such as emergency assistance and diversion payments, emergency housing and short-term homelessness assistance, emergency food aid, short-term utilities payments, burial assistance, clothing allowances, and back-to-school payments; and, In most cases under TANF, a NRST benefit addresses a specific episode of need, which means that the state or tribe has determined the specific need of that family; however, the regulation allows for NRSTs to address a specific crisis situation. 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