The New Jersey Department
of Human Services aims to help people get off of welfare and into
a job, if possible. That is the central focus of the State’s Work
First New Jersey program. Efforts include helping people acquire
the skills they need in order to get a job, like job training, educational
and work activities programs. However, when it is not possible for
people to go to work, due to a disability or other reason, DHS will
help to provide services to New Jersey’s residents who need public
assistance in order to acquire and sustain the basic necessities
of life, such as food and shelter.
The Division of Family
Development is the Department’s primary source of information
and referral to services for these individuals. Services include
the following:
Child care services
are coordinated by the Department, in cooperation with Unified Child
Care Agencies in every county. Services include information and
referral to help parents locate child care resources and to answer
typical questions regarding types of child care, how to pay for
care, and even how to become a family day care provider.
Child Support
and Paternity services are coordinated by the Department
to help custodial parents receive child support payments that, for
one reason or another, they are not obtaining from the children’s
non-custodial parent and to help fathers establish paternity and
stay involved in their children’s lives.
Food Stamps help
eligible New Jerseyans receive benefits to assist them in the purchase
of a nutritionally balanced diet. Local County
Welfare Agencies determine eligibility.
Supplemental Security
Income (SSI) helps eligible people who are over age 65,
blind and disabled, receive Federal Social Security Administration
dollars to help them pay for special living arrangements (e.g.,
nursing home care), burial costs, legal fees, and other emergency
costs.
WorkFirst New Jersey(WFNJ)
is the state’s public assistance program, designed to help families
move to self-sufficiency by offering them a full array of supports,
from child care, health insurance and transportation, to substance
abuse treatment and emergency funds. Recipients face a five-year
lifetime limit on cash assistance, and must become employed or take
part in work activities.
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