Federal Benefits Chart
Overview
When eligible individuals access federal benefits promptly upon release from jail or prison, it can greatly increase the likeilhood of their safe and successful reentry. Use this chart to compare key features of several benefit programs, grouped by focus area, and click “more detail” under each benefit for additional information and to write and save notes.
Click here to learn more about this chart and related Justice Center publications. To recommend additional material for this chart or provide other comments, e-mail editors@reentrypolicy.org.
The following benefit programs provide assistance to beneficiaries through direct or indirect cash payments. This chart provides information on the federal agencies that fund these benefit programs, eligibility criteria, and examples of initiatives or programs designed to connect individuals returning from jail or prison to these benefits.
| Benefit Type | Federal Funding Agency (Offsite Link) |
Eligibility Requirements |
Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)
|
|
||
|
Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)
|
Office of Family Assistance, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services |
|
|
|
Veterans Compensation and Pensions
|
|
||
|
Food Stamps
|
Food and Nutrition Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture |
|