Government Benefits, Grants, and Financial Aid are available for single parents. If you need government help, plenty of official information on grants, loans, financial aid, and other benefits are available from the U.S. government.
Visit the usa.gov website for legitimate information, there are blogs and mock sites which claim to offer official information, the best way to be sure that you are working with credible research is to find it on the official government website.
During your search for government grants for single parents on the official website, which is very user friendly, you will be directed various online forms and options to fill out and understand what you need to be eligible for financial aid. Fundamentally, you ought to be a valid United States citizen, have a social security number, and have valid proof that you indeed a single parent.
For the official application process at your local city hall, there are forms to fill out as the basis for your government grant acceptance. Government grants for single parents and relevant financial assistance is primarily limited to candidates who have low primary income. If your state uses the federal categories, those standards require either that consumers have a total household income that does not exceed 135% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines or for them to participate in one of the following programs:
- Medicaid;
- Food Stamps;
- Supplemental Security Income (SSI);
- Federal Public Housing Assistance (Section 8);
- Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP);
- Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF); or
- The National School Lunch Programs Free Lunch Program.
Government grants for single parents are also available in the forms of assistance to cut your communications costs. Federal universal service programs such as Lifeline provide qualified consumers with a discount on monthly charges for their primary home phone line, even if it’s a cell phone.
Link-Up lowers the cost eligible consumers pay for setting up new phone service at their home, including cell phone service. If you qualify for this form of government grants for single parents program, Lifeline can save you at least $10 a month on your phone bills, depending on which state you live in and the phone company in your area provides this program. Certain states provide more discounts to make local telephone service even more affordable. To ascertain whether your state offers these additional discounts and if you are eligible, contact the local public utility commission, www.naruc.org/commissions.cfm.
Disabled single parents
Government grants for single parents who have disabilities are available, as you will note, when you are on their site. Disability.gov itself is an award-winning federal government website providing interactive, community-driven information network of disability-related programs, services, laws and benefits. The portal provides data to thousands of resources from federal, state and local government agencies, educational institutions and non-profit organizations. New resources are added on a daily basis across 10 main subject areas namely: benefits, civil rights, community life, education, emergency preparedness, employment, health, housing, technology and transportation.
Government grants for single parents with disabilities are available in alignment with the department’s mission of connecting people with the resources they need to ensure that people of all abilities can fully participate in the workplace and in their communities. Disability.gov is managed by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) and initiatives include Spread the Word to End the Word campaign, National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM), Disability Mentoring Day, National Bullying Prevention Month and the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Organizations that Provide Services to Consumers with Disabilities include The National Council on Disability (NCD). Government grants for single parents who are disabled and information related can be obtained from this council. It is an independent federal agency that makes recommendations to the President and Congress to improve the quality of life for Americans with disabilities and their families. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity offers resources and answers questions about the housing rights of people with disabilities, and the responsibilities of housing providers and building and design professionals according to the federal law.
IN addition to disability assistance, the us.gov website also provides information on Parenting Resources where you can browse health, education, safety, child care, and other resources for parents and grandparents.
Topics include:
- Child Care
- Child care finder, safety checklist, provider resources.
- Child Support
- Education Issues for Parents
- Student grants, homework help,
- Health Issues for Parents
- Nutrition, hospital comparison, vaccines.
- Youth Employment
- Explore career options, student jobs, volunteering.
- Pregnancy, newborn care, popular baby names.
- Adoptive Parents
- Adopt US Kids, Child Welfare Information Gateway, international adoption.
- Benefits government grants for single parents, assistance, health and safety, state resources.
Medicaid
If you can’t afford to pay for medical care government grants for single parents in the form of Medicaid make it possible to get the care and assistance needed. According to the the us.gov website, Medicaid is available only to certain low-income individuals and families who fit into an eligibility group that is recognized by federal and state law. Medicaid sends direct payments to your health care providers.
Many groups of people are covered by Medicaid. This form of government grants for snge parents and other eligible individuals requires certain criteria to be met. These include age, pregnancy status, disabled, blind, aged and whether you are a U.S. citizen or a lawfully admitted immigrant.
In general, you should apply for Medicaid if your income is low and you match one of the descriptions of the Eligibility Groups. (Even if you are not sure whether you qualify, if you or someone in your family needs health care, you should apply for Medicaid and have a qualified caseworker in your state evaluate your situation.)
Government grants for single parents, or more precisely, for fathers are available in the form of ‘Promoting Responsible Fatherhood Grants’. The purpose of these Responsible Fatherhood grants is to promote responsible fatherhood by funding programs that support healthy marriage activities, responsible parenting, and foster economic stability. These government grants for single parents exist to enable fathers to improve their relationships and reconnect with their children and will help them overcome obstacles and barriers preventing them from effective and nurturing parenting.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Family Assistance (OFA) take yearly applications, visit the website to find out whether you are eligible to apply.
In particular, government grants for single parents awarded under this Funding Opportunity Announcement will support projects with organizations that have the capacity and proven track record of helping low-income fathers. Projects must help fathers build mutually supportive and long-lasting relationships with their children, the mothers of their children, and help fathers overcome barriers to economic self-sufficiency.
Government grants for single parents: College
The Federal Grant Program houses many grants, among them the Federal Pell Grant, generally awarded to students with exceptional financial need who have not earned a bachelor’s or graduate degree. The grant awards up to $5,550. The Academic Competitiveness Grant requires eligibility for a Pell Grant and have completed a rigorous secondary school program of study and be enrolled at least half-time.
The Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) is awarded to students with exceptional ?nancial need who have not earned a bachelor’s or graduate degree. Government grants for single parents such as Federal Pell recipients receive priority however not all colleges participate in the FSEOG program. Funds depend on availability at the college; you should apply by the college deadline.
In addition, there is the National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent Grant (National SMART Grant) and Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant. Visit the government website to investigate eligibility and to receive more information on the various types of government grants for single parents.