Allegheny County Dept. of Human Services Announcement: General Assistance Benefit is Ending Aug. 1

As you may know, General Assistance was eliminated from the recently enacted state budget and is ending in Pa. on Aug. 1. This will affect very low income Pennsylvanians who currently receive $205 monthly assistance allowance. While a very limited benefit, recipients of this program are very low income households (25 percent of poverty) who do not meet the requirements for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and other programs.

WHO IS AFFECTED BY THIS CHANGE:

Beneficiaries who may be affected include many individuals with physical or mental disabilities which prevent them from working, victims of domestic violence, those undergoing active treatment for substance abuse in an approved drug or alcohol program if the treatment program precludes any form of employment, and pregnant women not eligible for TANF. Some beneficiaries may be adults other than a relative caring for a child or for a household member who is disabled or ill.

This small amount of money, typically used to help people take the bus, do laundry, afford co-pays for medicine, rent a room and maintain basic hygiene, will no longer be available.

INFORMATION FOR CONSUMERS:

Community Legal Services (CLS) of Philadelphia has prepared two community education pieces for its clients facing the possible imminent elimination of General Assistance, their sole source of income. Please feel free to share this information with them and with your colleagues:

One-page hand-out describing what will happen

Accompanying hand-out with more detailed Frequently Asked Questions

Community Legal Services website: http://www.clsphila.org/