Arkansas, faith conference join up to find benefits for families in need
Posted on Tuesday, October 9, 2007
State government and the Arkansas Interfaith Conference will work together in a pilot program to help Arkansans obtain their share of an estimated $ 280 million in federal and state benefits that are unclaimed each year, state and conference officials said Monday.
Dubbed the Benefit Bank of Arkansas, the program will make it easier for people to obtain benefits, they said. Volunteers and computer software will assist them. It starts next year.
It’s estimated that about 94 percent of the $ 280 million is from federal programs, Gov. Mike Beebe said at a news conference announcing the program. “If Arkansans don’t take advantage of it and it ends up going somewhere else to another state, then that’s not fair to the people of Arkansas, particularly the working poor.”
The $ 280 million includes $ 136. 2 million in food stamps, $ 66. 8 million in Earned Income Tax Credits, $ 38. 5 million in Medicaid benefits, and $ 38. 5 million in Children’s Health Insurance Program benefits, Beebe spokesman Matt DeCample said later.
The interfaith conference will train volunteers to help potential recipients in the initial application process.
The program will be set up in seven counties in community centers, public libraries, churches and elsewhere with Internet access after hours. It covers Pulaski County as well as Hempstead, Izard, Mississippi, Montgomery, Phillips and Washington counties.
Setting up the program and its first year of operation will be financed with $ 1. 4 million in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funds.
After a year, the program will be reviewed for possible expansion statewide.
The Rev. Stephen Copley, representing the conference, said the group will work with the state Department of Workforce Services and the Department of Human Services. The program is expected to be online by Jan. 1.
Similar programs operate in the District of Columbia, Florida, Kansas, Maryland, Mississippi, Ohio and Pennsylvania, he said.
He asked Beebe to start one in Arkansas, and the governor has kept the promise, Copley said.
John Briscoe, director of development of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA in New York City, said in an interview that the idea is about four years old. The most successful programs are in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida, he said.
The average benefit obtained through the Ohio program is about $ 4, 800 per family, he said.
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