07/15/2024
Summary
- The Affording Survival Guaranteed Income Pilot was developed for survivors of gender-based violence in the Chicago metropolitan area and administered by The Network. The 60 individuals selected into the pilot program will receive guaranteed income, as well as domestic services, including housing and economic coaching.
- This manual release will provide guidance on how the guaranteed income through the pilot will affect eligibility for all programs.
- In accordance with Public Act 103-0492, monies received from the Affording Survival Guaranteed Income Pilot are exempt unearned income for Cash, Food Assistance, and MAGI Medical Programs.
- The guaranteed income is non-exempt as unearned income for AABD Medical and other non-MAGI Medical programs.
- Recruitment and enrollment for the pilot program will begin June 18, 2024 and issuance of monies will begin July 27, 2024.
- Eligible participants will receive $1,000 a month for one year.
- Individuals must meet all eligibility requirements of the pilot to participate.
Where allowed by federal law, Public Act 103-0492 allows any one-time or recurring cash transfers, or gifts provided to an individual or household enrolled in a publicly or privately funded program for a defined number of months or years to be excluded for the purposes of determining eligibility and benefit amount for public assistance. The purpose is to investigate the impacts of policies or programs designed to reduce poverty, promote economic mobility, or increase financial stability for Illinois residents.
Affording Survival Guaranteed Income Pilot
The Affording Survival Guaranteed Income Pilot was developed for survivors of gender-based violence in the Chicago metropolitan area. A select 60 survivors of domestic violence will receive a guaranteed income of $1,000 a month for one year. In addition to monthly payments, survivors will receive domestic violence services, including housing from a domestic violence service provider and economic coaching from advocates trained by LIFT-Chicago.
The pilot is being administered by The Network in partnership with LIFT-Chicago, WINGS Program, Inc., and Family Rescue. The Center for Guaranteed Income Research (CGIR) at the University of Pennsylvania is conducting a qualitative research study as part of the pilot.
Recruitment and enrollment for the pilot will begin June 18, 2024 and monies will be issued July 27, 2024.
Information about The Network can be found at https://the-network.org/.
Eligibility Requirements
The 60 participants served in the first cohort of this program must meet all the following criteria:
- survivor of domestic violence;
- over the age of 18;
- parents or caregivers of a minor child;
- reside in rapid rehousing program at WINGS or Family Rescue during the recruitment phase of the pilot; and
- live in the Chicago metropolitan area
Note: There is no citizenship requirement for the participants of the pilot.
Cash/Food Assistance/Medical
Verification of the exempt income is required, if questionable, when determining eligibility for Cash, Food Assistance and Medical programs. The $1,000 per month payment received from the pilot is considered exempt unearned income for the purposes of determining Cash, Food Assistance, and Medical eligibility for programs which utilize MAGI budgeting methodology and is non-exempt unearned income for AABD Medical and other non-MAGI Medical programs. The pilot is not considered a Work and Training program and cannot be used to meet work and training requirements.
IES
When entering income received from the pilot in IES, workers should enter the income based on the programs selected when processing an application or changes to an existing case. Workers should process as follows:
- Applications with Cash, Food Assistance and/or MAGI Medical, select Other Exempt as the unearned income type on the Unearned Income-Details page.
- Applications for AABD Medical only, select Other Unearned as the income type on the Unearned Income-Details page.
- Applications with Cash and/or Food Assistance containing Medical programs using AABD budgeting, workers should contact the Bureau of Medical Eligibility Policy and Special Programs (BMESP) for specific instructions, HFS.Eligibility.Policy@illinois.gov.
Document in Case Comments the type of unearned income received and if it was exempt or non-exempt for each program.
Manual Revisions
[signed copy on file]
Dulce Quintero
Secretary-Designate, Illinois Department of Human Services
Elizabeth Whitehorn
Director, Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services
