Washington County Department of Social Services

Family Investment Programs

Temporary Cash Assistance (TCA) - (Replaced the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program in state law.) Temporarily provides for children in need and their caretaker relatives. Parents included on the grant must find employment within two years of receipt of benefits. Most adult participants can only receive benefits for five years.

Work Opportunities Program - Maryland's welfare-to-work program. Helps TCA customers move from welfare dependency to self-sufficiency through employment. The program focuses on all non-exempt customers with children. Customers are assessed and a personal work plan is developed for each adult customer to identify needs and establish a course of action to obtain employment and self-sufficiency. Customers receive short-term vocational classes to prepare for job placement.

Welfare Avoidance Grant (WAG) - Cash assistance to avoid the need for TCA and/or other benefits. Payment is made on behalf of a family with children for immediate and limited work-related needs. This is not an entitlement program. Funding is limited and can only be used for needs directly related to obtaining or maintaining employment such as vehicle repairs and job-related equipment. Persons who receive a WAG cannot receive TCA benefits for a specified time period.

Public Assistance to Adults (PAA) - Provides help for adults in need of protective and supportive living arrangements in order to reside in the community. PAA provides a monthly payment of state funds to aged, blind or disabled individuals who have been certified for assisted living, a care home or a Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH) rehabilitative residence and have allowable needs in excess of their total income.

Food Supplement Program - Supplements a household's food budget by providing benefits to Washington County residents with income too low to provide their families with basic nutrition. Monthly allotments are used to purchase food items only. Applications for the food supplement program may be mailed in, faxed, or dropped off daily during normal business hours or applicants may apply online at www.marylandsail.org. All food supplement program applications are screened for expedited food supplement services.

Medical Assistance (Medicaid) - Addresses immediate and long-term health care needs by providing a broad range of health care services to the community. In Maryland, the Department of Human Resources staff determines clients' Medicaid eligibility, and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is responsible for policy development and fiscal management. Medicaid programs assist eligible residents of all ages. Groups automatically eligible for coverage include SSI recipients and certain TCA, PAA and institutionalized individuals. Low-income single adults and childless couples, between the ages of 21 and 64 remain the most vulnerable because no government-subsidized health insurance exists for this group. Maryland continues to use the managed care approach to providing health care to most of the Medicaid population. Recent initiatives have expanded the Maryland Children's Health Program (MCHP) that provides medical coverage to individuals under the age of 19 and pregnant women with family income below 200 percent of the federal poverty level. The medical needs of individuals in nursing homes and rehabilitation facilities continue to be addressed by Medicaid. Special outreach programs have been implemented to encourage eligible individuals to participate in the Qualified Medicare Beneficiary (QMB) and Special Low-income Medicare Beneficiaries (SLMB) programs. These programs help Medicare recipients with premiums, co-payments and deductibles.

Electronic Benefit Transfer System (EBTS) - Used to issue cash and food stamp benefits through automated teller machines and point-of-sale machines. Individuals are able to access benefits using an Independence Card encoded with information on a magnetic strip.

Temporary Disability Assistance Program (TDAP) - A state-funded entitlement program for needy, disabled adults without children who are ineligible for other forms of public assistance. A temporary benefit is paid to eligible individuals until their condition improves or they become eligible for long-term federal disability benefits. Limited medical and supportive services are also provided. A recipient whose disability is based on substance abuse is required to have a representative payee.

Purchase of Care (POC) - An income-based subsidy program to assist eligible low-income families with the payment of childcare expenses. Families are assessed a co-payment based on factors such as income, type of care and age of child. A major eligibility factor requires that any adult in the household participate in an approved activity such as employment, training or education. Participation in the POC program continues to increase due to the success of welfare reform. Many TCA customers have found employment and have used childcare vouchers to assist with the cost of childcare. Additional funding has enabled more of the "working poor" to receive help with child care expenses.

Emergency Assistance to Families with Children (EAFC) - Provides cash assistance payments to help families with children resolve a specific emergency such as an eviction, foreclosure or utility cut-off. Burial assistance payments are limited to recipients of public assistance, SSI, foster care children or certain medical assistance recipients in nursing homes. Local policy defines eligible types of emergencies and determines the amount available for assistance. Funding is limited.

Voter Registration (NVRA) -All local departments of Social Services are authorized voter registration stations. Voter registration applications may be obtained from customer service representatives in the Potomac Street and Child Support reception rooms. Our customer service representatives can assist in completing the form. We will gladly mail the form to the State Board of Elections for you.