Public assistance does not have to be an embarrassment for those that rely on its benefits, but it should be for those few who want to make it a “career”. It’s common knowledge that this social program helps with many areas of life that people need for sustainability like medical care, housing, food and cash. I’m going to show you the benefits behind the benefits.
What people may not have knowledge of is that lower income families who are on full public assistance have a monetary advantage over working people. How? I will lay it out for you. First let’s start in the job market. Many jobs/careers contemporarily charge an application fee before you can take any test. This is a major gripe with the unemployed because they don’t have the money to pay for the application to get the job. Seems like an opportunity lost, but it’s not. Users of the full public assistance program (meaning you have to have Medicaid) get any civil service exam fee waived. This basically ensures that you have no excuse as to why your not applying for every test that you are qualified to take because your application fee will be free. Www.NYC.gov/dcas
Maybe your focus is not on employment but on obtaining your college degree. Great! You’re worried that you can not even afford to purchase the very expensive text books let alone pay for tuition. Our government does very well with lending a helping hand in this area. Lower income people on full public assistance have the greatest advantage here because you are almost guaranteed to get federal aid in the form of federal and state grants and qualify for college work study programs. You start the application process with the filing of the FAFSA (free application for federal student aid). This application opens the door to all federal student aid. Let’s focus on the grants because this is aid that doesn’t have to be repaid. Federal Pell Grant is specifically tailored to undergraduates with a financial need. This money can come straight to the school or to you if you so choose. It helps with tuition and any other college related expense. Another program comes from New York State under the same premise. TAP grant (tuition assistance program) is allocated by the Higher Education Services Program (HESC). Each program has its unique qualifications but they commonly require that the students live in NYS and keep their grades in good standing while working towards their degree. Here’s a list of websites that can further benefit you: 1. http://www.fafsa.gov 2. https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/
3. http://www.CUNY.edu/financialaid.
Finally under CPLR1101, Poor Person’s Relief, you may inform the court of your financial situation and many document’s fees may be waived. For example, you may not have to pay the fees pertaining to filing a court case, filing a jury demand, appealing a court decision, getting a trial transcript and obtaining a disposition.
With all of these special benefits, there is no reason anyone should be down and remain there. Stand up and take charge of your life because no one can lead your life but YOU.
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