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Chapter 7: Income <br />Currently, the income support system for homeless people is inadequate and many kinds of <br />support are difficult to obtain. In today's budget climate, however, it is unlikely that income <br />supports will be increased or expanded. Therefore, these recommendation are limited to - <br />maintaining existing support levels and improving access for homeless people. <br />• Maintain a minimum level of income supports for those who need it. - <br />Action Stens <br />- Maintain GA monthly grants whenever possible and ensure people unable to <br />work are not cut off; <br />- Ensure that GA recipients who are found to be employable but with significant <br />barriers to work, including homelessness, language difficulties, addiction <br />issues, etc. are given adequate time and support to stabilize their living situation <br />and to train in areas of deficiency before being expected to work or being cut <br />off assistance. <br />- Consider establishing a pool of funding to provide in-kind aid, such as hotel and __ <br />food vouchers, for unemployed residents not qualified for any other benefits <br />- Advocate at the state level to maintain current TANF benefit levels and <br />eligibility criteria. _ <br />• Strengthen efforts to increase homeless people's access to income from public <br />benefits and ability to manage them effectively. <br />Action Stens <br />- Fund legal services to help more homeless people apply for SSI. Evaluate all <br />GA cases for potential SSI eligibility, and help those deemed eligible to apply. <br />Expand efforts to help those terminated from SSI due to a substance abuse <br />disability, to reapply under a different category. Conduct benefits clinics on a <br />regular basis at homeless service sites in each subgeographic part of the county. <br />- Expand existing volunteer pools of students and pro bono lawyers providing <br />public benefits application help to homeless people. Link these volunteers to <br />the regular benefits clinics in each sub part of the county. <br />- Provide training and technical assistance materials available to all homeless <br />service case managers on how to assist clients to apply for SSI. Include <br />materials on how to evaluate a client's potential for VA benefits and help the _ <br />client apply for those benefits. <br />- Provide more representative payees in homeless service agencies to receive <br />client's public benefits checks and to help the client save and spend wisely. _ <br />Alameda County-Wide Homeless Continuum of Care Plan: April 1997 <br />94 <br />