Eligibility

To determine whether you are eligible for Work First New Jersey benefits, contact your county welfare agency.

Family Cap
Under WFNJ, you are not entitled to an increase in your cash assistance benefits if you give birth to another child 10 months after applying for and receiving cash benefits. However, the child may be eligible for other benefits, such as Medicaid, food stamps, and child care.

Teen Parents
If you are a teen parent (under age 18), you must now live at home with your parents, or with another responsible adult relative. If this living arrangement is not appropriate, your caseworker will help you find another acceptable arrangement.

If you are under age 20 and have not finished high school, you must attend high school or a GED (General Equivalency Diploma) program. If you are 18 or 19, you may meet this requirement by participating in another education or training program approved by your caseworker.

Drug or Alcohol Abuse
If you are experiencing a problem with drug or alcohol abuse, and the problem interferes with your ability to work or participate in work activities, you can get help. WFNJ will pay for treatment at a licensed substance abuse treatment facility, as well as provide supports such as child care and transportation while you are receiving treatment.

If you have been sanctioned for not complying with WFNJ work requirements and you are suspected of having a substance abuse problem, you will be required to be assessed by a Substance Abuse Care Coordinator. If it is determined that you do have a problem with drugs or alcohol, you must enter a treatment program. This will be considered your work activity.

Under the law, any person convicted on or after August 22, 1996 of felony drug distribution will be permanently ineligible to receive cash assistance.

Any person convicted on or after August 22, 1996 of drug possession, or use only, of a controlled substance may be eligible for cash benefits if he or she enrolls in and completes a licensed residential drug treatement program, tests drug-free at the end of the program and remains drug-free for 60 days. Some exceptions may apply.

Emergency Assistance
WFNJ clients may receive Emergency Assistance (EA) in certain situations.

These benefits include, but are not limited to: essential food, clothing, shelter and household furnishings; temporary rental assistance or back rent or mortgage payments; utility payments (such as heat, water, electric); transportation to search for housing; and moving expenses.

Eligible persons include those who are homeless or at immediate risk of becoming homeless, and those who have experienced a substantial loss of housing, food, clothing or household furnishings due to fire, flood or similar disaster.

Emergency Assistance is limited to 12 months. However, extensions may be granted under certain hardship conditions, with specific limitations.

Victims of Family/Domestic Violence
WFNJ recognizes that family/domestic violence victims may have special needs. If you are a victim of family/dometic violence, rape or incest, some WFNJ requirements may not apply to you. They include:

• time limits on benefits
• work requirements
• the limitation on an increase in cash assistance benefits as a result of the birth of a child (if the child was conceived as a result of family/domestic violence, rape or incest)

Child support cooperation requirements may not apply when the welfare agency determines there is a good reason for not cooperating.

Family/domestic violence victims will also be referred to available support services, as appropriate.

For more information, call the Family/Domestic Violence Hotline toll-free:

1-800-572-7233