Legal Aid still providing assistance during shutdown
NORRISTOWN » Can I stay in my home if I can’t pay my rent or mortgage?
If I lost my job am I eligible for food stamps?
These are questions that Legal Aid of Southeastern PA is available to help with, noted Shawn Boehringer, executive director of the organization that provides free civil legal aid in Montgomery, Bucks, Chester and Delaware counties.
“If anyone is out of work because of the coronavirus they would be eligible for benefits which include food stamps, Medicaid, cash assistance and help with utilities,” provide free civil legal aid in Montgomery, Bucks, Chester and Delaware counties.
“We assist individuals in trying to access the benefits. We’re not a state agency; we’re a private nonprofit and we have lawyers and paralegals that take on these cases. If someone is denied the benefit we review the case and if we believe the denial was improper we can help people with the appeals process. We’re a nonprofit law firm and we do all civil cases involving basic human needs that would include housing, basic income support.”
On Wednesday, Legal Aid posted a notice on its Facebook page: “If you lost a job or your hours were cut because of coronavirus (COVID-19), you may be eligible for SNAP (food stamps), Medicaid, cash assistance (TANF) or heating bill assistance (LIHEAP). If you need to apply for benefits, please apply online using Compass (www.compass.state.pa.us): 800-692-7462. All of Pennsylvania’s County Assistance Offices are closed to the public, but they’re processing applications. If you already receive these benefits, but you’ve lost income, you may be eligible for an increase in SNAP (food stamps) or TANF. All Pennsylvania County Assistance Offices are closed to the public. Don’t go to the County Assistance Office! You should submit information about a change in income in one of the following ways: Online through Compass (www.compass. state.pa.us); Through the free mobile app, MyCompassPA; Call the Statewide
Customer Service Center toll free at 877-395-8930. If you don’t have paperwork from your job (such as pay stubs or a letter about your hours), you should explain your loss of income in your own words. You can do that in the comments section of Compass.
If any of your benefits are cut (Social Security, SNAP, Medicaid, TANF and/or LIHEAP), or if your application is denied, call Legal Aid of Southeastern PA (LASP)’s
Helpline at 877-429-5994 and leave a message. We will call you back. Or apply online at www.lasp.org/apply-here. If you have questions about Medical Assistance or other health insurance, please call the Pennsylvania Health Access Network helpline: 877570-3642.”
“Reading over the stimulus package that was passed yesterday the bill does provide some additional relief in terms of increased food stamps and LIHEAP utility assistance for individuals,” Boehringer said.
Although the offices are currently closed, the staff is still available to assist individuals with cases related to all manner of issues, ranging from domestic violence and housing to bankruptcy, employment and elder law.
“We’re still open in terms of processing domestic violence petitions,” Boehringer noted.
“If somebody needs protection from abuse order, we’ve been handling those cases through the crisis. We’ve had calls about evictions during the crisis even though there’s a moratorium on evictions, we find landlords sometimes engage (self-help) measures to effectuate an eviction, which is illegal. And we’re seeing cases about unemployment benefits and the effects of folks being out of work because of the crisis. We had a call from someone from a healthcare facility who was terminated for reporting that the facility was not complying with guidelines that were issued regarding contact with patients from the outside. Another person was threatened with eviction because their business had slowed because they’re essentially a sales rep and business was slowing down even before the crisis but now it’s really come to a halt. We tell them where they can turn to help them through this situation, where they would be able to apply for unemployment benefit, or assistance with utility bills.”
Although things have been relatively quiet lately on the Legal Aid front, Boehringer expects that to change soon.
“We’re not getting the call volume now that we had last week when we were fully operational,” he said. “We expect that the floodgates are going to open for us when the business closure orders are eventually lifted and the moratoriums on evictions are lifted … you’re going to have a lot of landlords who are going to be pursuing evictions for nonpayment of rent and there’s going to be a lot of people who will need our help for guidance in how to handle those situations.”
The Legal Aid toll free helpline is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m: 877-429-5994