General Assistance Law: Lump Sum Income

General Assistance (GA) is a program run by each Maine city and town that provides assistance to help people without adequate income meet their basic needs. Under the GA Program, the town usually estimates your income for the next 30 days to see if you are eligible. One exception to this rule is when you have received "lump sum" income. Lump sum income is a one-time payment like a back SSI check or a retroactive Worker's Compensation check or a lottery prize. 

If you have received lump sum income, whether or not it's the first time you've applied for GA, the town will discount (not count) some of your lump sum income, and count the rest in determining your eligibility. Here's how to determine how a lump sum payment affects your eligibility for GA:

1st Step: Determine how much of the Lump Sum should be discounted:

The following amounts spent since you got the lump sum will be subtracted from the full amount of the lump sum income you received

• Any amounts you spent on basic necessities, such as food, clothing or shelter;

• Any amounts spent to repair or purchase a vehicle that you need for work, education, training or other day-to-day necessities;

• Any amounts spent to repair or replace any essential items that you lost in a flood, fire, or other natural disaster;

• Reasonable funeral and burial expenses for a family member;

• Funds used to repay loans or credit that were spent on basic necessities; and 

• Bills related to the purpose for which you received the lump sum (for example, medical and legal costs associated with a personal injury award).

Once you have figured out how much you should subtract from your lump sum, add to what remains any other income received by household members between the date the lump sum was received and the date of your GA application. The result is the amount of lump sum income that will be used in determining your eligibility for GA.

2nd Step: Next, determine how long the Lump Sum will affect your eligibility for GA:

Take the number that you got in Step 1 and divide it by whichever of the following two choices is greater:

1. The actual monthly costs for all of the household's basic necessities since the lump sum was received; OR

2. 150% of the federal poverty level for your household size for each month since the lump sum was received. (See chart below for monthly poverty levels).

Your answer is the number of months, starting with the month that you got the lump sum, that the GA program will count that income as available to you. They cannot count this income for more than 12 months from the date of your GA application.

Legislative Action on GA

In 2002 the legislature passed a law to make it clear that if you are in an emergency situation, and it is the first time you have ever applied for GA, you cannot be denied help solely because of the way they count your lump sum income. 

The legislature also required the Department of Health and Human Services to bring together a group of people concerned about GA to investigate if the maximum levels of assistance in the general assistance program are enough and to report their findings back to the next legislature. MEJP has been appointed by DHHS to serve on this group. We will keep you posted about this group's progress in future issues of the MAIN Update.