Federal Benefits for Individuals with Serious Mental
Illnesses Who Have Been Incarcerated
Fact Sheets About:
Veterans Benefits
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
Food Stamps
This set of fact sheets supplements the Bazelon Center's booklet, Finding
the Key to successful transition from jail to community for people with
serious mental illness. Finding the Key focuses on access to federal
disability benefits and health care coverage through Medicaid and Medicare.
While disability benefits and health care are the primary benefit programs
for people with mental illnesses who have been incarcerated, many individuals
may also (or alternatively) be eligible for Veterans Benefits, TANF or
Food Stamps. Accordingly, these fact sheets provide information on those
programs, how they affect individuals who are incarcerated and what flexibility
is available to states and localities in setting policy or establishing
procedures that would ensure appropriate access to them upon an inmate's
release.
Introduction
Growing numbers of men and women with severe mental illnesses are in jail
or prison. Many cycle through corrections facilities repeatedly, costing criminal
justice systems and communities significant resources and causing great pain
to themselves and their families.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 284,000 men and women in jail
have a severe mental illness such as schizophrenia or manic depression-16%
of all inmates.1 These individuals may be entitled
to federal benefits which can give them access to mental health and addiction
treatment services and to income support that can pay for housing and other
basic needs. However, very few states or localities have policies that assist
individuals who qualify for these benefits to obtain them. Yet the resulting
poverty and lack of access to health can lead to incidents that greatly increase
the likelihood that these individuals will have further contact with law enforcement.
Without income support or health coverage, many people with severe mental illnesses
become caught in a cycle of recidivism.
To aid state and local policymakers in understanding federal rules on entitlement
programs with respect to individuals who have been convicted and serve time
in jail the Bazelon Center published a booklet, Finding the Key to successful
transition from jail to community for people with serious mental illness,
describing federal rules for Supplemental Security Income disability benefits,
Social Security Disability Insurance and Medicaid and Medicare. However, individuals
with severe mental illnesses may also be eligible for other important federal
entitlements for cash assistance and health care. These are the programs of
Veterans cash benefits and Veterans health care, Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families (TANF) and Food Stamps.
These fact sheets describe these benefits and the relevant provisions in federal
law and regulation that govern how the benefits may be lost or suspended upon
incarceration and, most importantly, how they can be restored promptly upon
release.
Veterans Benefits
Benefits Authorized by Law
Cash benefits are available for veterans who have a disability. However, benefits,
and benefit rules, vary depending on whether the veteran's disability is linked
to his or her service in the military:
Compensation is paid on a monthly basis to a veteran with a service-connected
disability or to a spouse, child and/or dependent parent where veteran's disability
evaluated as 30% or more disabling. Benefits are also available to a surviving
spouse, child or parent because of service-connected death.
A pension benefit is payable monthly for veterans with a nonservice-connected
disability (similar benefits available on basis of age). A basic disability
entitlement exists only if a veteran is found permanently and totally disabled
Veterans are also eligible to obtain health care, including mental health
care:
VA-facility and non-VA facility health benefits are available for outpatient
and mental health treatment.
Impact of Criminal Justice Contacts
on Receipt of Benefits
Rules regarding the loss of disability cash benefits vary, depending on
the category of benefits being paid.
Disability Compensation: Is not lost unless the individual is convicted
of a felony and has been incarcerated 60 days (benefit ceases on 61st day).2
A pension: is not lost unless the individual has been convicted of either
a felony or a misdemeanor and has been incarcerated 60 days (benefits ceases
on 61st day).3
The Veterans Administration's definition of "incarceration" is generally
limited to confinement in a correctional facility. It does not include:
- parole
- work release
- confinement to a half-way house
- participation in a community control program or
- confinement to a state hospital
If a veteran is judged incompetent (either in a criminal or a civil situation),
then the benefit continues. However, in these circumstances, payment is made
to a fiduciary and can be paid when the individual is in a hospital, but
the amount is reduced and may not be more than $90 a month.
Rules regarding the loss of health benefits are quite simple:
Health benefits are not payable to jails or prisons
As with disability cash benefits, health benefits are payable when the individual
is on:
- parole
- work release
- confinement to a half-way house
- participation in a community control program
- confinement to a state hospital
Reinstatement of Benefits
Veteran's benefits can be reinstated upon release. Cash benefits and health
care can be payable and available immediately on release, if appropriate
steps have been taken. To reinstate benefits the Veterans Administration
requires:
Written confirmation that the individual has been released from jail
That the veteran contact one of 58 VA Regional Offices around the country;
or the state or county can notify VA that an inmate has been released
The VA Regional Offices all have 1/800 numbers and will assist individuals
in understanding the rules that apply and what they must do to file a new
application or seek reinstatement of previous benefits.
However, the VA takes considerable time to make decisions. On average, it
takes 273 days to process a new application for benefits.
Temporary Assistance For Needy Families (TANF)
Benefits Authorized by Law
Following welfare reform in 1996, the purpose of the federal program, now
named the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, is to provide
assistance to needy families:
- so children are cared for in their own home or the home of a relative;
- to end dependence of needy parents on government benefits by promoting
work and marriage;
- to prevent and reduce out-of-wedlock pregnancies;
- to encourage the formation and maintenance of two-parent families
TANF authorizes:
- Cash assistance (funded with federal or state maintenance-of-effort
funds);
- Services to families receiving cash assistance and other eligible families
- Wide discretion for states in their use of federal TANF funds and state
maintenance of effort (MOE) funds.
Impact of Criminal Justice Contacts on Cash Assistance for TANF Families
TANF cash assistance is paid to a custodial parent with a child in the home.
Once removed from the role of custodial parent, no adult is eligible for
cash assistance.
Many individuals (particularly women) who are arrested qualified for TANF
when they were arrested, and can therefore be expected to be re-eligible
upon release. For example:
- More than half of women in prison are mothers of children under 18; thus
they are custodial parents.
- Over 40% of these women were unemployed before they were incarcerated
in prison, thus potentially financially eligible.
Since individuals in jail are no longer custodial parents, they are not
eligible to receive TANF cash assistance.
In addition to losing cash benefits while incarcerated, otherwise eligible
custodial parents may lose benefits for other reasons:
Individuals with drug felony convictions that occurred after August 22,
1996, are not eligible for TANF cash assistance for the rest of their lives,
although states can either opt out of this provision of federal law or modify
it.
Individuals in violation of probation or parole are prohibited by federal
law from receiving federally funded TANF assistance
However, there can be exceptions to these rules, because states have flexibility:
- For short incarceration, there may be circumstances that permit continued
benefits payable to individual.
- For individuals with drug felony convictions, the state may waive or
amend this rule.
- For those in violation of probation or parole, state rules are important
because states define, within federal guidelines, the meaning of these
terms.
Impact of Criminal Justice Contacts on Services to TANF Families
Rules regarding eligibility for TANF-funded services are different from
the rules on eligibility for TANF cash assistance. Generally speaking, services
are more available than cash benefits.
For those who are incarcerated, services may still be furnished, provided
the services meet the definition of federally funded TANF services in federal
law. To meet this definition, services:
must be consistent with the goals of TANF;
cannot include medical care;
can include:
- case management
- vocational rehabilitation
- mental health services (counseling, anger management, non-medical substance
abuse counseling, etc.)
- literacy skills training
- job training, retraining, job search, job placement
can be furnished to non-custodial parents, if related to TANF goals. Thus,
services can include:
- job preparation or job training for fathers as well as mothers
Reinstatement of Benefits
Individuals need to re-apply upon release, so they can be counted as a custodial
parent with a child in the home and thus become a TANF case.
Individuals can submit their application while in jail, and their benefits
will then by payable upon release and resumption of role as custodial parent
of child living in the home.
A recent income history is required when applying for TANF, but this should
be simpler for inmates than for others.
TANF is not automatically linked to Medicaid and often an individual must
file a separate application for Medicaid.
Some who are ineligible for TANF assistance may still be eligible for Medicaid
(such as those who are ineligible for TANF due to a drug felony conviction)
or they may be eligible for transitional Medicaid, but not for cash TANF assistance,
due to their earnings being considered too high.
Food Stamps
Benefits Authorized by Law
Food Stamps are available to low-income individuals, based on national standards
regarding income and resources. To be eligible:
- gross income must not exceed 130% of the federal poverty guidelines;
- net income may not exceed 100% of the federal poverty guidelines;
- resources must not exceed $2,000 per household (unless a household member
is 60 years old or more, in which case resources can be up to $3,000).
Food Stamp recipients must meet TANF work requirements. This means:
- individuals without a disability must register for work in order to
receive food stamps (using a definition of disability which is not as stringent
as the federal SSI definition);
- work requirements do not apply to custodial parents of a child under
age 6;
- individuals who refuse suitable work are not eligible for Food Stamps
for 2 months.
Food Stamps cannot be denied due to the fact that an individual has no permanent
address, and states must assist those without a permanent dwelling or fixed
address in obtaining their regular monthly benefits.
To apply, an individual files an application and is interviewed by a Food
Stamp caseworker, who must verify certain information.
Applications are obtained at the Food Stamp office or over the phone and
application can be mailed. The completed form can also be submitted in person
through an appropriate representative.
Applicants must appear for a face-to-face interview. The state agency conducts
this interview at the Food Stamp office. If the applicant cannot go to the
office, the agency has the option to conduct the interview by phone on at the
applicant's home.
The state agency is required to process and deliver Food Stamps to eligible
households as quickly as possible after the application is filed, and processing
time may not exceed 30 days.
Homeless individuals may use Food Stamps to purchase prepared food from
authorized shelters, soup kitchens and restaurants serving low or reduced price
meals.
Impact of Criminal Justice Contacts on Receipt of Benefits
Under federal law:
No one can receive food stamps while in jail.
Unless states modify this provision, federal law bans access to Food Stamps
for life for persons convicted of a drug felony (the same rules apply to TANF
assistance).
Reinstatement of Benefits
Individuals may file an application for Food Stamps while in jail or prison
in anticipation of release.
Benefits for those who apply while incarcerated are effective with the release
date, but are not necessarily available. It may take up to 30 days to obtain
the stamps.
Federal funds are available (with 50-50 match) for provision of outreach
services. These funds could by used to provide information on Food Stamp program
to inmates so they can apply while in jail or prison.
Federal law requires that any individual who applies for SSI through the
Social Security Administration's (SSA) pre-release program must be allowed
to apply for Food Stamps jointly with their SSI application. Individuals applying
through the pre-release program do not have to register for work until SSA
has decided upon their SSI application (and need not register at all if found
eligible for SSI).
Rules on Drug Felonies
States have the flexibility to opt out or modify the federal law's ban on
provision of TANF assistance and food stamps to persons with drug felony
convictions:
Eight states and the District of Columbia opt out of this provision completely:
Connecticut, District of Columbia, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio,
Oklahoma, Oregon and Vermont.
Another 18 states have narrowed the scope of the ban with the most common
modification being to exempt individuals who have completed treatment, are
in treatment or on a waiting list for treatment. States that have modified
the ban are: Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana,
Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South
Carolina, Texas, Utah Washington and Wisconsin.
24 states have left the federal law in place, banning access to cash assistance
and to service programs for those with drug felony convictions regardless of
their current behavior or need. These states are: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona,
California, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts,
Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Pennsylvania,
South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Wyoming.
States can also adopt other policies that assist those with drug felony
convictions:
Short-term, non-recurrent benefits (up to four months) do not count as TANF
assistance under federal regulations and can be paid to those with drug felonies
to help with re-entry.
Benefits can be provided to those with drug felonies through a separate
state program and the state can count these expenditures towards its TANF maintenance
of effort requirement (provided individual a member of an eligible family).
State & Local Options: Veterans Benefits
Reinstatement Policies
Steps that states and localities can take to facilitate reinstatement of
TANF benefits for those leaving jail or prison include:
Requiring jails and prisons to screen inmates to determine whether they
are veterans and to encourage them to apply for reinstatement of their benefits.
Requiring jails and prisons to assist veterans who are reapplying by posting
information from the VA on how this can be done (including a listing of the
appropriate VA Regional Offices with their toll-free numbers).
Requiring jails and prisons to assist veterans who are reapplying by furnishing
written confirmation when the individual is released from jail.
Assist the veteran by directly notifying the relevant VA Regional Offices
that an inmate has been released.
State & Local Options: TANF
Reinstatement Policies
Steps that states and localities can take to facilitate reinstatement of
TANF benefits for those leaving jail or prison include:
Setting up screening programs in jail or prison for potential TANF-eligible
individuals.
Ensuring that individuals file a separate application for Medicaid where
TANF is not automatically linked to Medicaid.
Ensuring that those who are ineligible for TANF assistance (for example,
those with drug felonies or whose earnings are too high) still apply for Medicaid
or for transitional Medicaid for which they may be entitled.
Suspend, instead of terminating, someone's TANF status during incarceration
lasting up to one year. This would ensure that the individual remains in the
computer system and will make it easier to re-establish benefits upon release.
Provide funds or make loans for stable housing, provide rental assistance
(security deposits, application fees and payment of back rent to prevent eviction).
Use TANF funds to support or expand community-based services for ex-offenders
using maintenance of effort funds.
Provide assistance to non-custodial parents (who are members of an eligible
family) released from jail whose child support payments are now too large to
manage or which are in arrears due to incarceration.
States can simplify the application process if they keep forms to reasonable
length and avoid complexity.
Facilitating Re-entry
States can adopt policies that do not unnecessarily penalize individuals
on TANF:
States can use TANF resources to fund services specifically focused on successful
transition upon release to low-income eligible individuals in jail.
States can limit the length of ineligibility for violation of parole/probation
so that it clearly ends when the violator is once again in compliance, rather
than being open-ended.
States can define (within federal guidelines) what is a violation of parole
or probation and can ensure that this does not include technical violations.
States need policies that link parole/probation requirements and TANF work
requirements so the individual is not put in the situation where compliance
with one means being out-of-compliance with the other (e.g. requirement to
attend substance abuse treatment session may conflict with requirement for
being at work).
State & Local Options: Food Stamps
Reinstatement Policies
Steps that states and localities can take to facilitate reinstatement of
TANF benefits for those leaving jail or prison include:
Ensuring that jails and prisons facilitate the filing of Food Stamp applications
by phone or mail while an individual is incarcerated. Benefits would then be
effective on release and the Food Stamps available no later than 30 days following
release.
Assure that individuals whose household income will be extremely low are
helped to file for expedited service from the Food Stamp office. This results
in access to stamps within seven days after release for households with less
than $150 a month in income and $100 or less in resources.
Linking Benefits In Pre-Release Programs
Jail and prison policies to assist inmates in applying or seeking reinstatement
of federal benefits have similarities, whether the federal program under
which the individual may be eligible is the Veterans Administration's benefits,
TANF, Food Stamps, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security
Disability Insurance (SSDI), Medicaid or Medicare.
The rationale for jails and prisons to act in a supportive role for inmates
who are soon to be released and who may be eligible for these federal supports
is also the same: to increase the likelihood of a successful transition to
the community and prevent recidivism.
While these materials have been developed with a view to assisting individuals
with serious mental illness who have been incarcerated, many other people
with disabilities, low-income individuals or veterans are in a similar situation.
It would be more efficient for jails and prisons to have a single policy
for collecting and distributing up-to-date and relevant information on all
of these programs, to share that information with inmates in a forum which
encourages them to assess whether they may be eligible, and to then provide
support for inmates, who will have to collect necessary information and correctly
complete and file their applications.
State and local policies should encourage jails and prisons to:
Create a single pre-release jail or prison-based program for:
SSI/SSDI
Medicaid
Medicare
Veteran's Benefits
TANF
Food Stamps
This can be facilitated if states have a single, joint application for Medicaid,
TANF and Food Stamps (which most do). Such a form can readily be used to
help inmates apply for all of these programs at one time and through a single
application.
The federal government has also provided a vehicle upon which such a unified
pre-release program can be built: Anyone applying through the SSI Pre-Release
Program (see page 17) must be allowed to apply for food stamps "jointly with
SSI application and prior to release from jail or prison."4
Social Security Administration's Pre-Release Agreements
Jails and prisons can enter into agreements with the local Social Security
Office (known as pre-release agreements) through which staff of the institution
can learn more about the rules for pre-release processing of SSI applications
and reapplications. When such an agreement exists, SSA processes claims more
quickly, inmates have assistance in gathering the information they need to
support their application and benefits are often able immediately upon release
or shortly thereafter.
Under these agreements, which are formal written agreements between the
jail or prison and the local Social Security office, jails or prisons agree
to:
notify SSA of inmates likely to meet SSI criteria who will be released within
the next 30 days;
provide to SSA current medical evidence and nonmedical information that
may support the inmate's claim;
provide to SSA the anticipated release data and notify SSA if that changes;
and
notify SSA when the inmate is actually released.
In return, the Social Security Administration will:
> train jail or prison staff about SSI rules and work with them to ensure
that the application procedures work smoothly;
provide a contact person at the Social Security to assist jail staff with
the pre-release procedure;
process reapplications and new applications as quickly as possible, and
promptly notify the jail of the decision on the released inmate's eligibility.?
State Examples
New York TANF
In the fall of 1999, the New York state TANF program began to use funds
for criminal justice clients to facilitate the integration of individuals
involved in the criminal justice system and their families into the community
at large. $5 million is designated:
to facilitate integration into community;
to achieve the TANF law's purpose of ending dependency of needy parents
on government benefits;
allowing services to be provided to non-custodial parents;
funding the following services:
- substance abuse
- employment training
- job development
- family reunification
By providing assistance to these offenders, a substantial head start can
be achieved in helping these individuals attain self-sufficiency and become
re-involved with their families.
Other Re-Entry Programs
In several parts of the country, comprehensive re-entry programs exist which
ensure that inmates have access to case management services prior to discharge.
Case managers can then assist the individual in applying for appropriate
benefits:
Bridgeport Program of Columbia River Correctional Institution, Portland
Oregon: This program uses a modified therapeutic community model of treatment
for offenders with severe mental illness and co-occurring substance use disorders
who have 6-12 months remaining until release. The program includes assessment
and treatment planning, and 3 months prior to release focuses on the implementation
of a transition plan.
Hampden County, MA: The jail re-entry program in Hampden County provides
services for inmates while incarcerated and after their release. Each inmate
is assigned to a treatment team that addresses treatment, housing and other
concerns. The same caseworker works with the individual both inside the facility
and after release.
Lucas County, OH: The Lucas County Sheriff's office partners with community
mental health providers to provide treatment, case management and reentry planning
for inmates with serious mental illness.
Duval County, FL: A Continuity of Care Agreement has been developed between
mental health providers and the jail. This ensures continuity of care for incarcerated
individuals and prior to release inmates apply for benefits so they will be
linked to community-based treatment upon release.
Renesselaer County, NY: Planning for release is conducted as jail staff
work with offenders to assist them with applications for entitlements, to issue
identification cards, and take offenders to the local Social Security office
to ensure benefits within a day of release.
Community Support Program, Wisconsin Correctional Service, Milwaukee, WI:
Participation in a community-based program is offered as an alternative to
incarceration for offenders with mental illness. Participants receive case
management and other services, including assistance from a full-time financial
services advocate who manages clients' entitlement claims.
New York Collaboration Between Mental Health and Parole: A memorandum of
understanding between New York Office of Mental Health and the Division of
Parole has enhanced coordination and improved discharge planning.
Notes
1. Bureau of Justice Statistics (1999). Mental Health
and Treatment of Inmates and Probationers. NCJ-174463. Washington, D.C.:
US Department of Justice.
2. 28 USC 5313.
3. 38 CFR 3.666.
4. 7 CFR Sec. 273/11(i).
These fact sheets were developed by the Bazelon Center for Mental Health
Law through a partnership between the Targeted Technical Assistance project
of the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD)
and the Division of State and Community Systems Development (Mental Health
Block Grant) of the Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse and
Mental Health Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services.
   
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