Securing and Expanding Access To Legal Services (SEALS) Program & Immigrant Access to Benefits

By Ambika Panday, Greater Boston Legal Services, Equal Justice Fellow.

The SEALS Program, a collaboration between the Social Services Department at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Welfare Law Unit at Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS), is off to a great start.

The SEALS Program was designed to improve access to legal representation for indigent disabled parents and individuals in need of financial assistance and services due to or related to their disabilities. The project also aims to forge relationships with medical service providers who can assist in systemic advocacy campaigns focused on policies affecting people with disabilities.

Between the SEALS Program launch on September 18 and October 22, 2007, the program received a total of 12 referrals. Of those cases GBLS was able to accept 7. Unfortunately, some of the cases had to be referred elsewhere because the clients lived outside of the GBLS service area.

To refer a client to the SEALS program please:

1. Identify patients’ need for legal services related to maintaining or accessing welfare benefits (TAFDC, EAEDC, Food Stamps, or applying for SSI or SSDI).
2. Make sure that the client is under 60 and lives in one of GBLS’s listed service areas (Greater Boston- see our webpage for specific cities/towns).
3. Ask the client to sign a release for the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) to speak with GBLS (and perhaps a release for GBLS to speak with you).
4. Fill out the SEALS referral form.
5. Fax the form and release(s) to the Welfare Law Unit (fax number: 617-371-1222). A GBLS advocate will contact the client directly.

For more information, and future reference, please see the social service SEALS webpage: http://healthcare.partners.org/ss/ssframebottom/staffresources/New%20Site/Basic%20Needs/BN_PB-CA_SEALS.html.

Upcoming SEALS Trainings/Presentations
Ambika Panday, the legal fellow working with the SEALS Program, is collaborating with the Health and Disability Unit at GBLS to provide a series of trainings for the Social Services Department. The first covered the basics of the program. Future sessions will focus on a variety of topics including Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accommodations, access to interpreters and other advocacy tips for a variety of welfare programs. Watch for more details about these important trainings.

Current Issues
So far, a fair number of the client/patients referred through the SEALS project face immigration-related problems in securing public benefits. The rules regarding who is qualified to receive cash assistance (TAFDC and EAEDC ) and Food Stamps for non-citizens are extremely complicated. It is important for a trained legal advocate to review any case denied for immigration reasons in order to check for eligibility. Please refer a patient to GBLS even if it appears that client is not eligible for benefits because of immigration issues.

Please consult the information included below to learn more about the basic immigrant eligibility requirements for cash benefits (TAFDC and EAEDC) and Food Stamps in Massachusetts.

WHICH IMMIGRANTS ARE ELIGIBLE FOR FEDERALLY-FUNDED BENEFITS?
In general, categories of immigrants who may be eligible for benefits include:
  • Refugees, Asylees, persons granted Withholding of Deportation or Cancellation of Removal, Cuban/Haitian Entrants, and Amerasian Immigrants
  • Legal Permanent Residents (LPRs), including those who adjusted from one of the above named statuses
  • LPRs who have had held “qualified” status for 5 years
  • LPRs who are under age 18 (Food Stamps only)
  • LPRs who are veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces, their spouses, surviving spouses and children.

Additional immigrants may be eligible for benefits in certain circumstances, such as:

  • Certain victims of domestic abuse and their children (TAFDC and Food Stamps)
  • Current LPRs who have been physically present in the United States with or without immigrant status since before 8/22/96 (TAFDC)
  • LPRs who are disabled and receiving another benefit based on disability (Food Stamps)
  • LPRs who have, in combination with their spouses or parents, 10 years of work history in the U.S. (Food Stamps).

WHICH IMMIGRANTS ARE ELIGIBLE FOR STATE-FUNDED CASH BENEFITS(EAEDC)?
If otherwise eligible, categories of immigrants who may be able to get cash assistance through Massachusetts’ state-funded program (EAEDC) include:

  • LPRs
  • Refugees
  • Asylees
  • Amerasian immigrants
  • Cuban/Haitian Entrants
  • Non-citizens granted withholding of deportation
  • Parolees
  • Conditional Entrants
  • Non-citizens “lawfully residing” in the United States who have been battered by a spouse, parent, or member of their family with whom the non-citizens no longer live, and who have also filed a petition under the Violence Against Women Act
  • Non-citizens who “permanently reside under color of law,” (PRUCOL) meaning that the non-citizens have an immigration status granted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a formal application pending with ICE, or proof that ICE knows that they are here and is not planning to deport them.


10/07