BENEFITS
NHLA attorneys represent clients in a variety of benefits issues.
Disability Benefits Project advocates help disabled persons obtain the assistance they need to stabilize their income and move toward self-sufficiency as possible. Advocates help the disabled obtain Social Security, SSI, and APTD benefits and access to health care through Medicare and Medicaid. The Project also works for improvements in the APTD/Medicaid system.
Public Benefits attorneys assist clients with cases concerning:
- Food Stamps.
- Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) formerly AFDC, including problems with welfare to work, childcare, medical care, and sanctions.
- Unemployment Compensation.
- Medicaid, Medicare.
- Local Welfare.
A disabled single mother from Concord with a twelve year-old son came to NHLA when she found out that her food stamps were being terminated. The decision from the Department of Health and Human Services stated that she had income available to her that made her ineligible. However, the mother did not actually have the income DHHS was counting and she was struggling to pay her bills and to put food on the table. The money in question was related to a trust account for her son, which was set up when the boy's father died in work-related accident years ago. The trust monies will be turned over to him when he becomes 18. His mother was receiving food stamps and Medicaid in New Hampshire for a number of years and had always reported the trust account. When a new caseworker processed Ms. Bruno's regular recertification, the new caseworker decided that the trust distributions should be counted as income. This calculation made the family ineligible for the food stamp program. NHLA's advocacy with DHHS lead to a reversal of the agency's decision. The client began receiving her food stamps again and was granted retroactive benefits to make up for the time when her food stamps had been illegally cut off. As a result, she and her son were able to restore a measure of stability to their meager finances.
Funders:
Campaign for Legal Services
IOLTA program of New Hampshire Bar Foundation
State of New Hampshire
United Way
Pamphlets
NHLA Unemployment Compensation
