South Carolina Programs for Low-Income Families
Statistics website StateMaster notes that as of 2004, 15.7 percent of all people, including 22.5 percent of children, live below the poverty line in South Carolina. It can be hard for families to survive and thrive if they do not have access to the necessities of life. Low-income families in South Carolina can receive help obtaining basic needs, such as food, housing, and medical care though the various programs the state offers.
Food Assistance
South Carolina helps low-income families purchase food with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, also know as food stamps. This program gives participants a debit card that they can use to buy food, edible plants and seeds to grow edible plants. Beneficiaries cannot use the benefits to buy alcohol or prepared food.
Low-income pregnant women and children under age five may participate in the Women, Infants and Children program, or WIC, which provides vouchers to purchase nutritious food staples, such as milk, eggs, cheese, bread, cereal and baby formula.
Low-income students in South Carolina benefit from the National School Lunch Program, or NSLP, which provides low-cost or free lunches to public school children. Similarly, the Summer Food Service Program offer free meals to student during summer break.
Energy Assistance
The South Carolina Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, helps families pay heating and cooling costs. The Weatherization Assistance Program, or WAP, provides funding for low-income homeowners to repair and replace things, such as doors, windows and insulation to improve energy efficiency and lower energy costs.
Medical Assistance
The Partners for Healthy Children program is for children without health insurance in low-income families. Pregnant women may also qualify and coverage will extend to the child once it is born. The program provides health and dental insurance for free or with a small monthly premium depending on household income. Low-income disabled and elderly adults may qualify for the state Medicaid and Medicare insurance plans. These cover health-related expenses, such as doctor's visits, hospital expenses, skilled nursing and nursing home costs, medical supplies and prescription drugs.
Income Assistance
The state offers cash assistance to low-income families with children through the South Carolina Family Independence Program. Adult participants must work or attend job training and preparation programs in an effort to become self-sufficient and stop receiving assistance. South Carolina also offers unemployment insurance benefits to unemployed workers while they search for a new job.
Housing Assistance
The public housing program has apartments, single family homes and senior housing spread out across the state which rent for much less than market rates. A family must have a child under age 18 to qualify. Exceptions to this rule include single disabled and elderly people.
The Housing Choice Voucher Program, also known as Section 8, allows families to rent in the private housing market. The renters only pay 30 percent of their income in rent. The state pays the remainder directly to the landlord each month.
Tags: South Carolina, Assistance Program, low-income families, Assistance South, Carolina Programs
