DSHS has a program called additional requirements for
emergent needs (AREN). If your family has an emergency and you need assistance
to get or keep safe housing or utilities, you may be eligible. The special AREN
payment is in addition to the regular monthly cash grant your family may
already get.
(1) To get AREN, you
must:
(a) Be eligible for temporary
assistance for needy families (TANF), state family assistance (SFA), or refugee
cash assistance (RCA);
(b) Have an
emergency housing or utility need;
(c) Have a good reason that you do not have
enough money to pay your housing or utility costs; and
(d) Have not previously received the AREN
maximum limit of seven hundred fifty dollars in a 12-month period. We will
count all AREN payments received in a 12-month period by any adult in your TANF
assistance unit, for any assistance unit, when we calculate your AREN
limit.
(2) To get AREN,
you must be eligible for TANF, SFA, or RCA. This means you must:
(a) Get benefits through TANF, SFA, or RCA.
For RCA you must also be pregnant or have an eligible child; or
(b) Apply for TANF, SFA, and RCA, and meet
all eligibility criteria including:
(ii) The requirement that your unearned
income not exceed the grant payment standard;
(iii) The requirement that your countable
income as defined under WAC
388-450-0162 must be below the
payment standard in WAC
388-478-0020 when you have both
earned income and unearned income;
(iv) The resource limits under chapter
388-470 WAC;
(vi) The requirement that you must be
pregnant or have an eligible child.
(3) If you do not get or do not want to get
TANF, SFA or RCA, you cannot get AREN to help with housing or utility costs. We
will look to see if you are eligible for diversion cash assistance (DCA) under
WAC
388-432-0005.
(4) To get AREN, you must have an emergency
housing or utility need. You may get AREN to help pay to:
(a) Prevent eviction or
foreclosure;
(b) Get housing if you
are homeless or need to leave your home because of domestic violence;
(c) Hook up or prevent a shut off of
utilities related to your health and safety. We consider the following
utilities to be needed for health and safety:
(i) Electricity or fuel for heating,
lighting, or cooking;
(ii)
Water;
(iii) Sewer; and
(iv) Basic local telephone service if it is
necessary for your basic health and safety. If you receive TANF or SFA, the
Washington telephone assistance program (WTAP) may be used to help you pay for
basic local telephone service.
(d) Repair damage or defect to your home when
it causes a risk to your health or safety:
(i) If you own the home, we may approve AREN
for the least expensive method of ending the risk to your health or
safety;
(ii) If you do not own the
home, you must ask the landlord in writing to fix the damage according to the
Residential Landlord-Tenant Act at
chapter
59.18 RCW. If the landlord
refuses to fix the damage or defect, we may pay for the repair or pay to move
you to a different place whichever cost is lower.
(e) If you receive TANF or SFA, WorkFirst
support services under WAC
388-310-0800 may be used to help
you relocate to new housing to get a job, keep a job, or participate in
WorkFirst activities. Nonhousing expenses that are not covered under AREN may
be paid under WorkFirst support services. This includes expenses such as car
repair, diapers, or clothing.
(5) To get AREN, you must have a good reason
for not having enough money to pay for your housing or utility costs. You must
prove that you:
(a) Did not have money
available that you normally use to pay your rent and utilities due to an
emergency situation that reduced your income (such as a long-term illness or
injury);
(b) Had to use your money
to pay for necessary or emergency expenses. Examples of necessary or emergency
expenses include:
(i) Basic health and safety
needs for shelter, food and clothing;
(ii) Medical care;
(iii) Dental care needed to get a job or
because of pain;
(iv) Emergency
child care;
(v) Emergency expenses
due to a natural disaster, accident, or injury; and
(vi) Other reasonable and necessary
expenses.
(c) Are
currently homeless; or
(d) Had your
family's cash grant reduced or suspended when we budgeted your expected income
for the month, but the income will not be available to pay for the need when
the payment is due. You must make attempts to negotiate later payments with
your landlord or utility company before you can get AREN.
(6) In addition to having a good reason for
not having enough money to pay for your costs, you must also explain how you
will afford to pay for the on-going need in the future. We may deny AREN if
your expenses exceed your income (if you are living beyond your means). We may
approve AREN to help you get into housing you can afford.
(7) If you meet the above requirements, we
decide the amount we will pay based on the following criteria.
(a) AREN payments may be made up to a maximum
of seven hundred fifty dollars in a in a 12-month period.
(b) The number of AREN payments you can
receive is not limited, as long as the total amount received by all adults in
the assistance unit for any assistance unit, does not exceed the seven hundred
fifty dollar limit in a 12-month period. If you or another adult in your
assistance unit have already received the limit, you may not be eligible to
receive additional payments.
(c) We
will determine if any adult TANF/SFA recipient living in your household has
already received the AREN limit.
(d) We have the discretion to approve an AREN
payment above the seven hundred fifty dollar limit when your health and safety
are in imminent danger.
(e) The
amount of AREN is in addition to the amount of your monthly TANF, SFA, or RCA
cash grant.
(f) We will decide the
lowest amount we must pay to end your housing or utility emergency. We will
contact your landlord, utility company, or other vendor for information to make
this decision. We may take any of the following steps when deciding the lowest
amount to pay:
(i) We may ask you to arrange
a payment plan with your landlord or utility company. This could include us
making a partial payment, and you setting up a plan for you to repay the
remaining amount you owe over a period of time.
(ii) We may have you use some of the money
you have available in cash, checking, or savings to help pay for the expense.
We will look at the money you have available as well as your bills when we
decide how much we will pay.
(iii)
We may consider income that is excluded or disregarded for cash assistance
benefit calculations, such as SSI, as available to meet your emergency housing
need.
(iv) We may consider money
other individuals such as family or friends voluntarily give you. We will not
count loans of money that you must repay to friends or family
members.
(v) We may consider money
from a nonneedy caretaker relative that lives in the home.
(vi) We may look at what other community
resources you currently have to help you with your need.
(g) The seven hundred fifty dollar limit
applies to the following people even if they leave the assistance unit:
(i) Adults; and
(ii) Minor parents that get AREN when no
adults are in the assistance unit.
(8) We pay AREN directly to the landlord,
mortgage company, utility, or other vendor.
(9) We may assign you a protective payee for
your monthly grant under WAC
388-460-0020.