Public Benefits & Assistance Watch

Why this is recommended

LIHEAP pays $300 to $1,000 toward a winter bill and opens for weeks; summer EBT is $120 per child; a rental assistance fund runs out in days. Getting the notice on time is worth far more than the membership, and this Tab exists to be shared.

What the Tab covers

Who it is for

The tens of millions of households eligible for at least one program and the family members, teachers and caseworkers helping them apply.

When it runs

State agencies post program openings early in the week and many close within two weeks or when funds run out

Scope

SNAP, WIC, TANF, Medicaid and CHIP by state; LIHEAP, weatherization and utility assistance; broadband and phone subsidies; rental, mortgage and eviction assistance; free tax preparation and refund advances; school meal, summer EBT and backpack programs; emergency grants for students and families; benefit card and portal outages; named by program and state; sourced to state and federal agencies, 211, USDA and HHS

Suggested task

The objective your Tab starts with. You can edit every line of it once the Tab is yours.

SNAP, WIC, Medicaid, LIHEAP energy assistance, broadband and phone subsidies, rental and utility assistance, free tax preparation, school meal and summer EBT programs, student aid and emergency grants, with eligibility, amounts, application windows and the official link, by state, in plain language, with the program and state first.

Track US public assistance programs. Report only confirmed, source-backed items from the last 7 days: SNAP, WIC, TANF, Medicaid and CHIP eligibility, benefit amount, work requirement and renewal changes by state; LIHEAP, weatherization and utility assistance application openings, deadlines and fund status; broadband and phone subsidy programs; rental, mortgage and eviction assistance funds opening or closing; free tax preparation and refund advance programs; school meal, summer EBT and backpack programs; emergency grants for students and families; and outages or errors in benefit cards and portals. Prefer state and federal agency sites, 211, USDA, HHS and established policy reporting; ignore scams, unofficial application sites and political commentary. Put the program and state first in the title with the amount and the deadline. Use high severity for a program opening with limited funds, a deadline within 14 days, or a benefit change affecting a whole state caseload. Return no more than 10 findings. Push each as a finding with a title, a two-sentence summary, sections for eligibility, the amount, how to apply, the deadline, and the source link. If nothing qualifies, push nothing and submit the run receipt.