General Assistance applications steady, despite economy

WASHINGTON — The first quarter of fiscal year 2023 saw 10 people apply for General Assistance benefits in Washington County, the same number as last year’s first quarter despite growing economic concerns and shrinking aid from other sources.

The department uses tax revenue to help people in need with things like rent assistance, utility payments and some medical expenses, among other things. Recipients are limited to $2,000 of aid per fiscal year, and are disqualified by receiving most forms of state or federal aid.

“It’s not like the same people apply every year, it’s emergency assistance from the county,” Washington County General Assistance Director Sue Rich said. “The code requires that the county have this money for people that aren’t able to pay their bills.”

Rich said the low number of applicants was expected last year. The lack of growth since then, however, was not.

“Last year especially, when we had people receiving stimulus money and then unemployment for COVID, people were able to make ends meet,” she said. “I’m thinking now that that’s over, we’re probably going to see an uptick in the amount of people … we don’t know when people are going to get into crisis and need to reach out for assistance.”

A surge of new applicants in need remains possible. Rich said the timing of such a demand was unpredictable, however.

“It’s so hard to tell every year, there’s not a simple explanation,” she said. “If we have some sort of natural disaster, of course we’re going to have a lot more people probably coming in.”

Of the 10 applicants last quarter, Rich said nine were rejected. The money comes with a litany of conditions for recipients, such as falling within federal guidelines defining poverty.

“We’ve increased the amounts that we pay for rent, utility, groceries, that sort of thing,” she said. “But there’s stipulations. They have to have not quit a job, or have refused work, things like that, that may disqualify them … if you are over income, that’s another eligibility requirement.”

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