Are you struggling to make ends meet in this challenging economy?

As many people lose their jobs nationally and locally, help may be available from a number of different programs. Below are some resources that you and your family may receive to help you through these difficult times.

In addition to this information provided by Community Legal Services, you may also visit a similar site established by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania about state programs to help people get by in a difficult economy. Their site can be accessed by clicking here.

Jump to a particular resource by clicking on any of the links below:

Unemployment Compensation
Food Stamps
Help with Utilities and LIHEAP
Lower Electricity Bills
Budgeted Gas Bills
Lower Phone Bills Through Lifeline
Health Insurance Programs
Unpaid Hospital Bills
Other Healthcare Resources
SSDI and SSI
Cash Assistance
Child Care Subsidies
Job Training or Education
Tax Refunds and Rebates
Mortgage Foreclosures
Bankruptcy
 

Unemployment Compensation

You may be eligible for unemployment compensation (UC) if you have lost your job through no fault of your own and are available for work. UC benefits provide partial income replacement and can help an unemployed worker pay bills until he or she finds a new job. To apply for UC, go online by clicking here or call 1-888-313-7284. Click here for more information about UC.

It is very likely that President Obama’s Economic Recovery Program will make some changes that will extend benefits for a longer period of time and make other changes. Click here for updates on the campaign to extend benefits.

If you have applied for UC and been denied, you may be able to receive free legal advice or representation from Philadelphia Legal Assistance. Philadelphia Legal Assistance can be reached by calling 215-981-3800.

Food Stamps

The food stamp program provides a temporary financial safety net for families who have lost jobs or are experiencing a loss of income. Food stamps are deposited on an electronic Access card much like an ATM card and allow families to purchase food at most grocery stores.

As a result of a change in policy CLS advocated for, savings, retirement funds and most assets do not matter. You can get food stamps even if you have money in the bank or other property.

You may qualify for food stamps if your income is below the amount on the chart below. How much you get in food stamps depends on your income, household size, and expenses, including housing and child care.

Household Size      Monthly Gross Income Limit      Maximum Food Stamp Grant
1                                 $1,127                                           $176
2                                 $1,517                                           $323
3                                 $1,907                                           $463
4                                 $2,297                                           $588
5                                 $2,687                                           $698

To apply for food stamps, visit your local County Assistance Office or click here to apply online. You can learn the location of your local County Assistance Office by calling the Philadelphia County Assistance Office’s Customer Service Center at 215-560-7226.

Help with Utilities and LIHEAP

If you are having trouble paying your utilities, you may be eligible for a cash grant of at least $300 to help pay your heating bill and a crisis grant of up to $800 to help prevent a shut off, get reinstated or buy fuel such as oil if you are near to running out or have another emergency. To qualify, your monthly income must be lower than the amount shown in the chart below.

Household size      Maximum monthly income
1                                $1,926
2                                $2,518
3                                $3,111
4                                $3,703
5                                $4,296
6                                $4,888

For a cash grant to help pay your heating bill, apply at your local County Assistance Office or click here to apply online. You can learn the location of your local County Assistance Office by calling the Philadelphia County Assistance Office’s Customer Service Center at 215-560-7226. For a crisis grant, call (215) 587-0060 or check out the Energy Coordinating Agency’s website for a list of Neighborhood Energy Centers where you can apply. Remember, LIHEAP is scheduled to close March 31, 2009 so apply EARLY!

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has set up a website to provide Pennsylvanians with help saving money on heating costs. To access their website, click here.

All utility programs have established programs that help low-income customers pay their bills. The two most popular ones with PECO and PGW are below. For information on the other programs, click here.

Lower Electricity Bills

If you receive your electricity from PECO, you may be eligible to receive lower electricity bills and forgiveness of your back bills. PECO runs a program called the Customer Assistance Program (CAP) for customers who are low income. Your family’s monthly income must be lower than the amounts shown in the chart below.

Household size      Maximum monthly income
1                                $1,575
2                                $2,100
3                                $2,640
4                                $3,180
5                                $3,720
6                                $4,260

To apply for PECO’s CAP program, call (800) 774-7040.

Budgeted Gas Bills

If you receive your gas service from PGW, you may be eligible to receive budgeted gas bills or forgiveness of back bills. PGW runs a program called the Customer Responsibility Program (CRP) for customers who are low income. Your family’s income must be lower than the amount shown in the chart below.

Household size      Maximum Income
1                                $1,575
2                                $2,100
3                                $2,640
4                                $3,180
5                                $3,720
6                                $4,260

To apply for PGW’s CRP program, go to a PGW office or call PGW for an application at (215) 684-6100.

Lower Phone Bills Through Lifeline

You may be eligible to receive up to $11.75 off your monthly Verizon phone bill or $13.51 off your Sprint/Nextel cell phone bill. Your family’s income must be lower than the amounts shown in the chart below. You are automatically eligible if you receive food stamps or Medical Assistance.

Household size      Maximum Income
1                                $1,170
2                                $1,575
3                                $1,980
4                                $2,385
5                                $2,790
6                                $3,195

For Verizon, call (800) 640-4155 to apply. For Sprint/Nextel, call your phone company or click here for an application form.

Health Insurance Programs

If you have limited income, Pennsylvania has several publicly-funded health insurance programs. The largest program is called medical assistance, or Medicaid. There are several different categories of medical assistance programs in Pennsylvania. Although each program has different income guidelines, the following people generally qualify for medical assistance:

• Children and young adults under the age of 21
• Parents of families with children
• Pregnant women
• People who stopped receiving TANF cash assistance within the past year
• People with temporary or permanent disabilities
• People in drug or alcohol treatment programs
• Survivors of domestic violence
• Refugees or asylees
• People who have applied for SSI and are waiting for a decision from Social Security
• People who are 59 years old or older
• People who have large unpaid medical bills or expect to have large medical bills
• Women who need family planning services
• Women who need treatment for breast or cervical cancer

Each medical assistance program has different income limits. Some programs – like the programs for children and pregnant women, or for people with permanent disabilities – have fairly high income limits.

If you think that you might qualify, apply at your local County Assistance Office or click here to apply online. You can check to see if you might be eligible by using this calculator developed by the Pennsylvania Health Law Project (PHLP). You can learn the location of your local County Assistance Office by calling the Philadelphia County Assistance Office’s Customer Service Center at 215-560-7226.

Families that make too much money to qualify for medical assistance can get health insurance for their children through the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). All children without health insurance may qualify for CHIP coverage. CHIP is a low-cost health insurance program for children administered by private insurance companies under contract with the Pennsylvania Department of Insurance. To apply for CHIP, call 1-800-986-KIDS.

Adults who do not qualify for medical assistance may qualify for adultBasic. The adultBasic program is a low-cost health insurance program for adults who have too much money for medical assistance or who otherwise do not qualify for medical assistance. Single adults may qualify if they earn $20,800 per year or less. There are higher income limits for adults with larger families. Like the CHIP program, adultBasic is administered by private insurance companies under contract with the Pennsylvania Department of Insurance. People with disabilities are not excluded from adultBasic. There is currently a waiting list to get coverage but you can buy coverage through the program while you are on the waiting list. Because of the waiting list, we advise you to apply as soon as possible. To apply for adultBasic, call 1-800-GO-BASIC.

Unpaid Hospital Bills

Many people are struggling with unpaid hospital bills or need health care but cannot afford to pay for a doctor. For help with paying hospital bills or getting access to hospital care, check out the information developed by our Hospital Accountability Project.

Other Healthcare Resources

Medical and dental care. All Philadelphia residents are eligible for care at the City’s District Health Centers. Call 311 or 215-685-6790 to find the center nearest you. Care is free or based on a sliding scale. Prescription drugs are also available.

Help with prescriptions. Many drug companies will work with you and your doctor to provide free or reduced price prescriptions. Coverage and costs vary. Check out this Web site for a general idea of benefits.

Drug coverage for seniors. In addition to the Medicare Part D program Pennsylvania provides generous help to seniors (65+) through the PACE and PACENet program.

Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI)

If you are disabled, blind, or elderly, you may be able to receive benefits from the Social Security Administration. Making an application as soon as possible will help protect your right to benefits so don’t delay in making an application.

Disabilities include physical and mental health problems but do not include alcoholism and drug addiction. If you have an alcohol or drug problem, you can still get benefits from Social Security if you have another disability that would continue even if you stopped drinking or using drugs. The disability must also be expected to last at least 12 months and prevent you from doing any type of work. The Social Security office will want to see your medical records and will ask your doctors for information about your condition.

Disabled children are also eligible to receive SSI.

If you have worked in the past, you may qualify for Social Security Disability Income (SSDI). If you do not have a sufficient work history, you may qualify for Supplemental Security Income (SSI). The Social Security office will tell you whether you have worked enough to qualify for SSDI. In 2009, the SSI program will pay $701.40 for an individual per month or $1054.70 for a married couple per month. Monthly SSDI amounts vary depending on someone’s work history. They average about $900 per month.

You can start an application by calling (800) 772-1213 or by going to a Social Security Office.

Click here for more information about SSI.

Cash Assistance

If you have very little or no income, you may qualify for cash assistance. The Department of Public Welfare (DPW) runs two different cash assistance programs in Pennsylvania: Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF) for families with children and General Assistance (GA) for single people without children.

If you live in Philadelphia and have not received TANF or GA in the past four months, you and your family must have income of less than the amounts shown in the table below.

Household size      Maximum monthly income
1                                $205
2                                $316
3                                $403
4                                $497
5                                $589
6                                $670

For TANF, you must have less than $1000 in resources. For GA, individuals must have less than $250 in resources. Resources include savings that you have in the bank and other money. A car and a house you live in do not count as resources.

To apply, go to your local County Assistance Office or click here to apply online. You can learn the location of your local County Assistance Office, by calling the Philadelphia County Assistance Office’s Customer Service Center at 215-560-7226.

Child Care Subsidies

Working families may be eligible for assistance for child care expenses if they meet the income guidelines below. Currently, there is a waiting list for people who are applying for child care subsidies and are not receiving TANF cash assistance, so it is important to apply early.
In Philadelphia, child care subsidies are administered by one of five Child Care Information Service (CCIS) offices. Click here to find the office that serves your neighborhood.

Family Size      Maximum Yearly Family Income
2                        $28,000
3                        $35,200
4                        $42,400
5                        $49,600
6                        $56,800
7                        $64,000
8                        $71,200

Families may choose the provider of their choice. Generally the child care provider, however, cannot live in the home and be paid to provide care. If the parent chooses a relative or neighbor to provide care, the child care provider must complete an agreement, comply with participation requirements, and comply with a background check to ensure child safety.

The parent is also responsible to help pay for child care with a co-payment, which may be as little as $5 per week and varies according to income and household size.

For more information on child care subsidies, click here for the CCIS Philadelphia website. Click here to apply for child care subsidies online.

Help with Job Training or Education

There are several places to turn if you need help finding a job or getting free training or education.

CareerLink. There are six CareerLink offices in Philadelphia that connect job seekers with jobs and training. Click here for more information about CareerLink in Philadelphia or call CareerLink at (215) 557-2625.

EARN Centers. If you are receiving cash assistance or food stamps, you can receive free help finding a job or getting education or training at your local EARN centers. Talk to your Career Development Unit (CDU) caseworker at the welfare office for more information about the EARN center. If you do not know who your CDU caseworker is, you can find out by calling the Philadelphia County Assistance Office’s Customer Service Center at 215-560-7226.

GED, Adult Basic Education (ABE), Literacy, and English as a Second Language (ESL) Classes. The Center for Literacy in Philadelphia offers free classes to Philadelphia residents. Click here for more information or call the Center at 215-474-1235.

Community College of Philadelphia (CCP). CCP has a number of programs that help low-income students attend class. Unemployed or underemployed Philadelphia residents may be able to receive assistance through the New Choices/New Options Program. Call 215-751-8933 or e-mail newchoices@ccp.edu for more information. If you receive cash assistance or food stamps, you may be able to receive assistance through the KEYS program. Call 215-751-8025 or e-mail keys@ccp.edu for more information.

Taxes and Earned Income Tax Credit Refunds

Don’t spend money on expensive tax preparers when you can get your taxes done for free. Click here to find a Philadelphia location that will do your taxes for free. You can also find out more information about the Earned Income Tax Credit and other tax benefits that could be worth thousands of dollars.

Property Tax and Rent Rebate Program

If you or a household member is disabled or “elderly” you may be able to receive up to $650 as a refund for any rent or property tax you paid in 2008. This is a yearly program.

To qualify, you need to meet one of the following criteria:
• 65 years of age or older; OR
• 50 years of age or older and widowed; OR
• 17 years of age or older and receiving SSI or SSDI.

You must also have household income less than the amounts listed below.

Household size      Monthly income for homeowners      Monthly income for renters
Any size                    $2,916                                                     $1,250

For more information, click here for the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue’s website or call 1-888-222-2190. You can get an application from the website or by calling and asking for one to be sent to you.

Mortgage Foreclosure

The key here is to get help early in the process. At the first sign of trouble look for help! You can check out the City’s new program by clicking here or download this handy guide. If you are behind on your mortgage payments, you can seek legal advice by calling the Save Your Home Philly Hotline at (215) 334-4663. We also run a Don’t Borrow Trouble Hotline in conjunction with Philadelphia Legal Assistance you can call at 215-523-9520.

Click here for more information on mortgage foreclosure. Click here for information on mortgage assistance programs.

Filing for Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy is a legal process that may help you with debt problems and getting a fresh financial start. Bankruptcy gets rid of most or all of your bills, stops creditors from taking action against you, and gives you time to catch up on your payments if you have a regular income. It is not for everyone and you should seek legal advice to decide whether filing for bankruptcy will actually help you. Click here for more information.