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Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Financial Assistance and Social Services Benefits
Program Description
The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Financial Assistance and Social Services (FASS) program provides assistance to federally recognized American Indian and AlaskanNative (AI/AN) tribal members in the following ways:General Assistance: Cash assistance to meet essential needs of food, clothing, shelter, and utilities. Additionally, each General Assistance recipient must work with a social services worker to develop and sign an Individual Self Sufficiency Plan (ISP) to meet the goal of employment. The plan must outline specific steps the individual will take to increase independence. Eligibility will be reviewed every three months, six months, or whenever there is a change in status that can affect eligibility. Recipients must immediately inform the social services office of any such changes. If a client refuses employment or quits a job they will be sanctioned and cannot receive services for a period of at least 60 days but not more than 90 days.
General Program Requirements
Individuals must meet all of the following eligibility criteria:- Be an enrolled member of a federally recognized AI/AN tribe
- Not have sufficient resources to meet the essential needs of food, clothing, shelter, and utilities
- Reside in an approved service area or near designated service area; applicants can determine if they live in a service area by contacting the nearest BIA regional office or social service office
- Apply concurrently for all other Federal, state, tribal, county, local programs for which he/she may be eligible
- Not be receiving any comparable public assistance
- Develop and sign an employment strategy in the ISP with the assistance of the social services worker