Douglas County’s “Best in the Nation” General Assitance Under Review
During a meeting of the Health and Human Services Committee, director Melissa Sewick gave an overview of the proposed general assistance guidelines that will go into effect for 2022–2023, once approved by the board of commissioners. The committee is chaired by Commissioner James Cavanaugh.
>View the committee presentation with slides here.
>Read the 2022–2023 proposed guidelines here.
Key items/provisions submitted to the committee:
- Court-ordered child support that has been paid during the current month will be an allowable deduction from the gross earnings of a client’s earned income.
- Standard housing deduction will allow for an exemption of up to $150 earned/unearned income per month, an increase of $50 from the current guidelines.
- One licensed or unlicensed motor vehicle that is being used to meet the client’s transportation needs will be excluded if the motor vehicle’s fair market value is less than $12,000 (an increase of $5,000 from the previous rule).
- A new provision will allow the Director to “suspend the strict application of these general provisions during the period a local emergency or disaster has been declared by the Board of County Commissioners of Douglas County, Nebraska, if strict compliance with these general provisions would in any way prevent, hinder, or delay necessary action in coping with the declared local emergency or disaster.”
According to the Department of General Assistance website, Chapter 68 of the Nebraska Statutes requires counties to provide for the poor of the county who are not eligible for any other government assistance and do not have a parent, stepparent, or spouse responsible for their support. These statutory requirements are the basis for the programs administered by the department, which are considered to be “programs of last resort.”
The proposed 2022–2023 guidelines will be available for review by the public through the Department website (https://generalassist.douglascounty-ne.gov/) and also on display during business hours at the following locations through November 23, 2021:
- Douglas County Department of General Assistance, 1111 S. 41st, STE 220
- Douglas County Board of Commissioners, LC2 Civic Center, 1819 Farnam Street
- Douglas County Sheriff, 3601 N. 156th Street
- City Clerk of Bennington, 15514 Warehouse St. Bennington, NE
- City Clerk of the Village of Waterloo, 509 S. Front St., Waterloo, NE
- City Clerk of Valley, 203 N. Spruce St., Valley, NE
- All Omaha Public Library locations
Public comment on the proposed guidelines will be Tuesday, November 23, during Douglas County Commissioners meeting at 9:00 AM, at the Civic Center, 1819 Farnam Street.
(A special thanks goes to Doulas County Clerk/Comptroller, Daniel A. Esch for technical assistance preparing this post.)
