Maryland Alliance for the Poor

The Maryland Alliance for the Poor pursues public policies and funding that protect the well-being and dignity of Maryland children, families, seniors, and single adults living in or near poverty.  MAP believes that State policy should assist Maryland residents with limited financial resources to move beyond their current circumstances, with the help of progressive policies on the inter-related issues of homelessness, affordable housing, energy, health, hunger, employment, taxes, child care, and welfare reform. 

 

Glossary of Poverty-Related Terms

Block Grant: In the mid-1990s, Maryland chose to take federal welfare reform funds based on its FY ‘95 caseload for certain former welfare programs. The funds are called TANF funds, referring to the name of the federal welfare reform program: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.  Funding levels remain constant, regardless of caseloads, until the legislation is re-authorized. Maryland accepted the block grant in October 1996 and receives $229.1 million annually from the federal government.  Reauthorization legislation is currently under consideration in the U.S. Congress, while the program operates under temporary extensions. 

 

Child Care Administration (CCA): Legislation that became effective July 1, 2005, created the Division of Early Childhood Development within the Maryland State Department of Education.  The new division assumed the responsibilities of the former Child Care Administration at the Department of Human Resources, except responsibility for administering the State’s child care subsidy program.  The Purchase of Care (POC) subsidy program remains within the Family Investment Administration of the Department of Human Resources.  The new Division of Early Childhood Development licenses and monitors child care centers and family child care providers; issues contracts and grants to child care providers to improve the quality of early care; administers the State's Child Care Credentialing System; and is responsible for Judith P. Hoyer early learning centers, the Maryland Model for School Readiness, curriculum development for pre-K and kindergarten, Head Start collaboration, early childhood accreditation, and policy and programmatic issues related to pre-K and full-day kindergarten .

 

Consumer Price Index (CPI): Measure of the average changes in the prices of a fixed basket of goods and services usually purchased by households for their consumption.

 

Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED): The State agency that attracts new business, encourages expansion and retention of existing facilities, and provides financial assistance and trining. For persons seeking employment/ job match services, training, and unemployment insurance are provided.

 

Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD): The State agency that funds affordable home ownership, rental housing production, and neighborhood revitalization programs.

 

Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH): The State agency concerned with the physical, mental, and social health of Marylanders. Contains the Developmental Disabilities Administration, Mental Hygiene Administration, Local and Family Health, Medical Care Policy, and Medicare Compliance agencies.

 

Maryland Department of Human Resources (DHR): The State agency serving Maryland's citizens in economic and social matters. Includes the Social Services Administration, Family Investment Administration, Community Services Administration, and Child Support Enforcement Administration.

 

Emergency Food Assistance Program (EFAP): Maryland Department of Human Resources program that uses a network of local organizations to distribute federal surplus foods to emergency food pantries and soup kitchens to feed needy persons.

 

Early Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment (EPSDT): Federally funded program, which provides periodic well-child physical and developmental examinations for children with incomes below 200% of the FPL from birth up to age five.

Emergency and Transitional Housing and Services (ETHS) Programs:  DHR program that provides State funding for emergency shelters and transitional housing programs in all 24 Maryland jurisdictions. ETHS funds shelter beds and support services such as food, transportation, and case management. It may also provide seed money for new shelters and transitional housing programs and offers limited rent and mortgage assistance.

 

Electric Universal Service Program (EUSP – see also MEAP): An energy assistance program, funded at $34 million a year through a surcharge on electricity customers. There is one application for both EUSP and MEAP.

 

Employment Rate: Proportion in percent of the total number of employed persons to the total number of persons in the labor force.

 

Family Investment Program (FIP): The State of Maryland’s Family Investment Program within the Department of Human Resources provides temporary assistance to needy families with children while preparing program participants for independence. The FIP assistance consists of services and/or cash assistance to eligible individuals. The assistance program components under FIP include Welfare Avoidance Grants, Child Care and Medical Assistance, Temporary Cash Assistance (TCA), Food Stamps, and other programs targeted at special problems and populations. Job search, child support activities, and substance abuse screening may be required before any cash benefits will be paid. Most families are required to participate in work activities.

 

Household: An aggregate of persons, generally but not necessarily bound by ties of kinship, who live together under the same roof and eat together, or share in common the household food. Members comprise the head of the household, relatives living with the head of household, and other persons who share the community life for reasons of work or other consideration. A person who lives alone is considered a separate household. HUD — US Department of Housing and Urban Development: The federal agency responsible for programs concerned with housing and community development, fair housing opportunities and improving programs to help families become homeowners, rental subsidies for lower income families, and programs that aid neighborhood revitalization and preservation of urban centers.

 

Income Disregard: When applying for cash benefits, there is a gross income test that disregards 20% of earnings in order to be eligible for Temporary Cash Assistance (TCA). Once eligible for TCA, a 40% disregard of earnings applies to those leaving welfare for work, thereby helping some families to increase overall household income. Families under this provision are not subject to time limits.

 

Maryland Energy Assistance Program (MEAP – see also EUSP): Under federal Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program Block Grant (LIHEAP), this program of the Maryland Department of Human Resources provides financial assistance for home energy costs for low-income citizens, crisis assistance services, furnace repair/replacements, and refrigerator replacements.

 

Maryland Legal Services Program (MLSP): Maryland DHR program that contracts with legal business firms to provide quality, cost-effective representation for children in Child in Need of Assistance (CINA) cases and Termination of Parental Rights (TPR) cases. MLSP also contracts with business firms for legal representation for indigent adults in Adult Guardianship proceedings. In cases of conflict of interest, the courts may assign a court appointed attorney.

 

 

Medicaid: A medical assistance program of federal matching grants to the states to provide health insurance for categories of poor persons and the medically indigent. Known in Maryland as the Maryland Medical Assistance Program, the program is administered by the State under Title XIX of the Social Security Act.

 

 

Office of Home Energy Programs (OHEP): Administers home energy assistance programs using local agencies in each jurisdiction in the state. These programs provide services for low-income families vulnerable to the costs of high energy consumption, relative to their income, and associated health and safety risks. These services include: direct cash payments (benefits); indirect assistance (budget counseling, vendor arrangements, referrals, etc); and non-cash assistance (energy heating/cooling equipment, repair/replacement).

 

Poverty Threshold: Annual per capita income required or the amount to be spent to satisfy nutritional requirements (2,000 Kcal) and other basic needs.

 

Purchase of Care (POC) Program: The POC Program within the Family Investment Administration of the Maryland Department of Human Resources helps eligible low-income families pay for child care so that family members can work, attend school, or participate in activities that lead to employment. A family’s eligibility and subsidy level are based on a sliding fee schedule.

 

Senior Care Program: A program of the Department of Aging to provide a single point-of-entry to a coordinated system of in-home services for seniors with disabilities who are at risk of entering a nursing home. The Senior Care Program provides case-managed access to existing publicly funded services. When needed services are not available, arrangements are made to purchase additional service from private vendors with gap-filling funds. These may include personal care, chore, adult day care, medications, medical supplies, respite care, meals, nursing care, assistive devices for living, and other services for which no other form of public assistance exists.

 

Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI): The portion of Social Security that pays federally funded monthly benefits to disabled workers under age 65 and their dependents. SSDI recipients (but not their dependents) automatically become eligible for Medicare after a two-year waiting period.

 

Supplemental Security Income (SSI): Program administered by the Social Security Administration that provides federally funded monthly benefits to people who are age 65 or older, disabled, or blind who have very limited income and personal property. Many states supplement SSI benefits with additional payments ranging from $15 to more than $150 per month.

 

 

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF): A federal program that provides the State with $229.1 million each year for activities related to welfare reform.  The State has considerable flexibility in how it spends TANF funds.  The State has chosen to spend them for a variety of purposes, including, for example, cash grants, child care subsidies, employment services, some foster care payments and child welfare services, after-school programs, and programs to reduce out-of-wedlock births.  Legislation to reauthorize TANF is currently under consideration by the U.S. Congress while the program continues under temporary extensions. 

 

Temporary Cash Assistance (TCA): The term used in Maryland for the monthly cash benefit portion of the Family Investment Program (FIP). The maximum monthly benefit for a family of three is $490.

 

Transitional Disability Assistance Program (TDAP): A program under DHR that provides monthly cash assistance to eligible disabled adults without custody of minor children. TDAP clients receive $185 per month in cash assistance.

 

Underemployed: Includes all employed persons who express the desire to have additional hours of work in their present job or an additional job, or to have a new job with longer working hours.

 

Unemployed: Includes all those who, during the reference period, are 15 years old and over as of their last birthday, have no job/business, and are actively looking for work. Also considered as unemployed are persons without a job or business who are reported not looking for work because of their belief that no work is available or because of temporary illness/disability, bad weather, pending job application, or waiting for job interview.

 

Unemployment Rate: Proportion in percent of the total number of unemployed persons to the total number of persons in the labor force.

 

Welfare Avoidance Grant (WAG): Local jurisdictions in Maryland may offer some families an amount of money (typically equal to three months worth of cash assistance benefits – but no more than 12 months worth) to help the household avoid coming onto FIP/TCA.

 

Women, Infants, and Children (WIC): Federally-funded, State-administered program provides checks with which participants can purchase specific healthy foods according to their unique nutritional needs; the program also provides nutritional counseling to determine those needs. (1-800-242-4WIC)

 

Work Activities: Non-disabled adults receiving cash assistance are expected to engage in “work activities” for 40 hours per week. The following can be counted as work activities: job search, subsidized employment, work experience, on-the-job training, community service, and unsubsidized employment. Education must be the work activity for teen mothers. Otherwise, education may only be counted for 12 months.

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