Bell County public aid and Human Services.
Resources are provided across Bell County from the Department of Human Services. Programs are available from HELP Centers in Killeen as well as Temple Texas. The support services are wide ranging, and include everything from emergency financial aid for paying bills to holiday assistance as well as education and job training.
The county can provide Emergency Financial Assistance or grants to qualified low income families. The main purpose of the aid is to pay short term bills while lowering the clients dependency on long term public assistance.
Funds from Bell County can be used for paying rent, utilities, work clothing or prescriptions. Transportation needs can also be met, including free gasoline money, identification card fee payment assistance, automotive repairs, drivers license fees, birth certificate and other approved expenses. There is also the City of Killeen Seniors Count Water Assistance Program available.
Child Care Referrals will assist working families or those in job training. Any vouchers are to be used for day-care type services in coordination with the Texas Workforce Commission as well as CCS.
Human Services of Bell County coordinates continuing education classes free of charge in multiple areas. They include Energy Conservation, Job Preparation/Employment, Money Management or Budgeting, Health and Nutrition, or coordinating budgeting or general financial Literacy. The HELP centers also offers classes on money management to person living in Section 8 facilities.
The HELP Centers offer a working partnership between a case manager and applicant. Social services are used to help people their goals of self-sufficiency. Together the client will implement a family success plan which helps with development of marketable job skills, breaks goals into manageable steps, help people acquire health insurance, offers reliable transportation, or low income housing in Bell County Texas.
Free holiday assistance is available in the form of Christmas Baskets, free toys, games, clothing and presents. This is public service offered for disabled, children from low income families, the homebound and the Elderly. Case managers and volunteers are heavily involved in the coordination and / or provision of annual holiday assistance programs.
Life Skills and case management services are extensive. There are several components to it, as noted below. The main resources from Bell County Human Services are as follows.
- Job training or educational programs at helping households become self-sufficient.
- The Killen and other HELP Centers provide public access to computers, information sites, and printers.
- Referrals to connect families and senior citizens with the appropriate resources in Bell County Texas to meet immediate needs.
- Free notary services and assistance in completion of various public and government forms.
- In limited cases, short term, crisis specific financial assistance or cash grants as circumstances warrant and funds are available.
- Medical assistance is available from the County Indigent Public Health Care Program (CIHCP) for the Counties of Hamilton, Bell and Mills Texas.
Human Services works with Hill Country Community Action Association on weatherization. Bell County and the non-profit provides weatherization and energy conservation assistance to low-income individuals and families. The goal of this public aid resource is to increase energy efficiency for homes and decrease annual utility bills for individuals, most of whom live on fixed incomes.
The first step of the process is an EASY Audit. The results are used to determine what measures need to be done to the home, such as weather stripping, insulation, new doors and windows. There is also help in replacing inefficient heating and cooling appliances.
Contractors also provide the homeowner with health and safety instruction. This is also provided as well as checking homes for the presence of carbon monoxide. Both free smoke detectors and carbon monoxide will be installed in the weatherized homes.
Heritage House is for the homeless and evicted in Bell County. Human Services and its partners are heavily involved in offering the homeless referral services, ongoing counseling, comprehensive case management, life skill training, and other case management. It is all done as they move from dependent, sometimes abusive relationships into self-sufficient lifestyles.
The resource center at the House is also designed to assess needs of qualified individuals. The location may provide them with information on how and where to access services, such as government grants. They can also get information on where to turn to in order to get their basic needs met, as well as provide people with safe place to stay while they locate affordable, permanent housing in Bell County.
Temple Help Center is one location to contact. The address is 102 E. Central Avenue, Temple, Texas 76501, dial (254) 770-6842. Or stop by the Killeen H.E.L.P. Center - 718 North 2nd Street, Killeen, TX 76541-4709, telephone 254-519-3360.
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