The EA program has certain financial eligibility requirements.
First, your household is not eligible for EA if, within one year before filing your EA application, anyone in your family who is going into shelter with you transferred real estate or personal property to become eligible for EA.4
Second, your household cannot have certain types of assets over $2,500, such as savings, and cars that are worth more than certain amounts.5
Third, the monthly income (before taxes) of the EA assistance unit must be below the following amounts:6
Endnotes
4. 106 C.M.R. §309.020(H).
5. 106 C.M.R. §309.020(F). With regard to countable and noncountable assets, see 106 C.M.R. §§204.120 and 204.140, including car value rules at §204.120(G) and §204.140(C). Note that EA families composed solely of TAFDC recipients are automatically asset-eligible for EA. See 106 C.M.R. §§204.120 through 204.140 for asset rules.
6. 106 C.M.R. §309.020(E), which has not yet been updated to reflect the decrease from 130% to 115% of the federal poverty limit that resulted from the state budget for fiscal year 2010. Countable income includes all gross earned income and any unearned income, including TAFDC, EAEDC, and SSI benefits. Weekly income is multiplied by 4.333 to determine monthly income. See 106 C.M.R. §§204.210 through 204.250 for income counting rules. Although DHCD's practice is to determine financial eligibility based on the family’s income during the four weeks prior to the application, financial eligibility is supposed to be determined prospectively, based on the family’s expected income during the next two months. A family that has had relatively high income and has lost its income for good cause is therefore eligible immediately and does not have to wait until its income has been low for 4 weeks. See 106 C.M.R. §§702.900 through 702.920 for income eligibility determination rules.