MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. — Montgomery County has set aside $5 million to make one-time relief payments to families affected by the coronavirus who aren’t receiving federal benefits.
The county announced Monday that residents with incomes below 50% of the federal poverty level who aren’t otherwise eligible for federal COVID-19 stimulus checks or state benefits would receive a one-time emergency assistance check through the county’s Emergency Assistance Relief Payment (EARP) program.
Benefits for a family with one child begin at $1,000, and increase by $150 for each additional child up to a maximum of $1,450 per family.
The county says approximately 1,300 families currently served by the Care for Kids program will be the first recipients of the payments.
“It is no surprise that this crisis is hitting our poorest residents the hardest, which is why we developed this program,” said County Executive Marc Elrich. “When I first announced that we were going to use $6 million out of reserves to assist people in need during this crisis, I knew it would not be enough based on the magnitude of this situation. However, this is an important step: EARP was designed to provide a hand up to people who might not otherwise qualify for other kinds of assistance."
The county said during the second phase of payments, residents will be able to apply directly to the Department of Health and Human Services for assistance. More information about that was scheduled to be released later in the week.
“The County’s Emergency Assistance Relief payments will provide immediate cash assistance to help reduce the devastating financial hardships being experienced by our low-income residents who are struggling to provide the essentials and keep food on their tables,” Montgomery County Council President Sidney Katz said. “These payments will help to meet some of the need in tandem with our increased assistance for nonprofit service providers. In addition, these payments are needed to fill the financial assistance gap for our community members who are not eligible for federal or state relief.”
More information about the Emergency Assistance Relief Payment program may be found here.