Staff Reports

The Selma Times-Journal

The Alabama Department of Human Resources (DHR) has developed a plan to give a one-time cash payment to families with children who are current evacuees due to Hurricane Katrina.

This program is part of Gov. Bob Riley’s “Operation Golden Rule,” a state-wide effort to assist Alabama hurricane victims and evacuees from Mississippi and New Orleans.

“Qualified applicants and family members must have evacuated from one of the designated federal disaster areas in Alabama, Louisiana, or Mississippi,” said state DHR Commissioner Page Walley.

Evacuees should apply at the local DHR office in the Alabama county where they currently reside.

October 31 is the application deadline. These one-time payments will rages from $760 to $1,100, depending on family size.

A one or two-person family will receive $760. Three or four-person families will receive $980. A family of five or more will receive $1,100.

“This program, Stay Together and Renew (STAR), is separate from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families

(TANF) program,” Walley said. “Current TANF recipients are not eligible to apply for these payments,”

Although program requirements have been streamlined, applicants must provide a valid social security number for each adult included in the application, and they are encouraged to bring any identifying documents they may have with them. In order to qualify, applicants must have a gross monthly income that is less than two hundred percent of the federal poverty guidelines according to family size.