Butler County public assistance.
When facing a crisis, the Butler County Department of Job and Family Services can provide low income qualified families with short term public assistance. The programs are combined with case management from social workers, with emphasis given to households with a child, senior, or disabled member.
While public assistance may be able to help with short term needs, the county of Butler will limit the amount of time in which they will provide any type of financial help. As an example, cash assistance, or TANF, in Ohio is restricted to a couple years at most, and clients will also need to be participating in job training and other workforce services.
Butler County based job training programs will both help people find employment, or gain new skills for a better and/or higher paying position. Partnering with a specialist from the county office, assistance offered can provide tools to search job listings, career counseling, and workshops. There will be classes held on resume preparation or how to conduct an interview, and there will also be sessions on computer usage.
Social workers from the county will work with the applicant in an effort to help them gain financial stability or employment. This counseling and support from a dedicated representative will be very helpful in ending the cycle of poverty.
Financial assistance and public aid is available in some cases for an emergency. While more details are below, there is help for utility bills, rent, child care, and medical needs, among other services.
- TANF or Ohio Works First will provide cash assistance to those facing poverty for up to 3 years.
- Child care vouchers – Federal funds can be used to pay for a portion of day care expenses if the parent is employed or in job training.
- Healthy Start/Healthy Families provides medical and dental care as well as medications for people under the age of 19, or there may be exceptions made for the disabled.
- Veterans can receive help from Job and Family Services of Butler County. Advice is offered on applying for VA benefits, and the county will also offer assistance for basic needs ranging from rent to food and more.
- Ohio Medicaid is a form of government sponsored health insurance for children and low income families. The public program will pay a portion of medical bills, provide prescriptions, and other support.
PRC, or the Prevention, Retention and Contingency Program, is for families facing a crisis. This is a wide ranging public aid program available in Butler County, and grants from the government can be used for a number of expenses.
Most of the aid is for those residents seeking self-sufficiency. So the county may help pay for bills related to finding employment, such as clothing or transportation to an interview. There is also support for job training costs.
Other expenses can be paid by Prevention, Retention and Contingency grants as well. The county can help pay for a portion of rent when a qualified applicant is facing an eviction, or funds may be issued for a security deposit on a new, low income home. The public assistance from PRC is wide ranging, and those are only a few examples of what individuals can be assisted with.
Food assistance, or SNAP, is used by thousands of local families. The government support can pay for groceries, boxes of food, and more for very low income families, and the goal is to help families buy even more food for their household then they would be able to afford on their own.
Most retailers in Butler County as well as cities such as Hamilton accept the EBT card that is issued as part of food assistance. While there are some restrictions in place, such as public aid can't be used to buy household items or hot meals, the effect of SNAP is thousands of children, seniors, and less fortunate families are able to avoid hunger.
Department of Job and Family Services partners with non-profit community action agencies to offer heating and energy bill help from HEAP. Federal government grants can be used to pay a portion of winter gas, electricity, or oil bills. Also, when facing a disconnection, an emergency program will issue the money for utility bills in a shorter timeframe.
Programs in Butler County are also for refugees and immigrants as well as the elderly. While there are many options, examples of public assistance includes Refugee Resettlement, which can give cash and pay for health care. Seniors can benefit from Title XX services and get referrals to Medicare and more.
There are few couple main places to call in Butler County for help. They include the center in Hamilton (phone (513) 887-5600) as well as Workforce One, which can be reached at (513) 785-6500.
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