Programs That Help Single Parents
- Temporary Assistance to Needy Families and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps, are the major federal programs that provide financial support to single parents. Through Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, the federal government provides grants to states that, in turn, distribute monthly cash benefits to families who qualify. The food program provides electronic benefits cards that can be used like cash at most supermarkets.
Disabled single parents also may qualify for support from the Social Security Administration. In addition, single parents can get government help in collecting child support payments from their children's nonresident parents through the Office of Child Support Enforcement. - Federal and state governments provide housing and energy assistance to single parents who live on low incomes. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, known as HUD, runs the Housing Choice Voucher Program, which pays a subsidy to landlords on behalf of recipients. HUD also helps build, buy and renovate houses for rent or purchase by single parents through the HOME Investment Partnership Program. Thousands of homeless facilities and transitional homes provide shelter to single parent families through HUD's Emergency Shelter Grants. The Low Income Energy Assistance Program helps people pay their energy utility bills and weatherize their homes to make them more energy efficient.
- Two of the biggest challenges single parents face are the expenses related to paying for childcare while they work and health care insurance. States, with federal help, give priority assistance to working single parents with low incomes. The Child Care and Development Fund subsidizes the cost of childcare at a facility of a single parent's choosing. Through Medicaid, states provide health insurance to low-income families. Some states also offer child-only insurance programs.
- The U.S. Department of Education runs the Pell Grant program, which provides needy students, including single parents, help with paying for higher education. In addition, private organizations, like Project Working Mom and the Jeanette Rankin Foundation, offer scholarship programs specifically for single parents. The Employment and Training Administration, a program of the U.S. Department of Labor, offers locally administered job training and job placement services for single parents.
- Several nonprofits exist to support single parent families with information, training and other resources to help them thrive. National programs include the National Fatherhood Initiative, Parents without Partners, Single Mothers by Choice, the Y (YMCA and YWCA), Parenting with Dignity and Parenting Online.
