Getting EID right: Tip #4
Tip #4: Understand the qualifying factors.
Once you've determined that the person has had an increase in their earned income (and, in the HCV program, that they are a person with disabilities), the EID family member must then meet one of the following three eligibility factors:
- The family member was previously unemployed. This can mean one of two things. First, the family member was not working at all for the last year or more. Or, second, it could mean that they were underemployed. To be considered previously unemployed under EID, the family member must have earned less than the prevailing minimum wage in your area multiplied by 10 hours per week, 50 weeks per year. So if your local minimum wage is $7.75, then anyone who made less than $3,875 over the past year is previously unemployed. This means that someone could have worked in the last year, and still qualify for EID.
- The increase occurred during the family member's participation in a job training or economic self-sufficiency program. The key word is during. For example, while the participant was taking a math class at the local community college, they also started working at the on-campus bookstore. The job does not need to be the result of the economic self-sufficiency or job training program. The participant simply must have the increase in earned income while participating in one of these types of programs.
- The family member has received TANF benefits or services at any time in the last six months. Note that if the payment is for TANF services rather than regular monthly TANF payments (such as a one-time payment to a participant to help them offset the cost of fixing their car), then the payment must have been for at least $500.
Next: Getting EID right: Tip #5
Trainer and consultant Samantha Sowards has been a part of the NMA team since 2008. For beginning and intermediate students, she recommends HCV and Public Housing Rent Calculation, available in both English and Spanish.
