Domestic Violence Survivors: Help With Food, Cash, Housing and Health Coverage

1Where can I get help right now?

If you are in immediate danger, call 911. For everything else, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is free, confidential and open around the clock: call 1-800-799-7233, text START to 88788, or chat online at thehotline.org. Advocates there can help you make a safety plan, find a shelter or local program, and think through the next steps, including the benefits below.

Local domestic violence programs, many funded through the federal Family Violence Prevention and Services Act, offer emergency shelter, counseling and legal help. They often know the benefits office staff and can help you apply. If someone monitors your phone or computer, use a device they cannot reach, such as a friend's phone or a library computer, and clear your browsing history afterward.

2Can I get SNAP on my own if I leave?

Yes. SNAP is based on the people who live together and buy and prepare food together, so once you live apart you can apply as your own household, counting only your own income. If you stay in a shelter for survivors of domestic violence, you can be approved for SNAP even if the household you left is still receiving benefits that include you; the rules allow this so that leaving does not mean going without food.

If you have little or no money, ask for expedited service, which can get benefits to you within seven days; our guide to expedited SNAP explains who qualifies. Tell the office if contact from the program could put you at risk, so it can reach you safely. Our SNAP guide covers the income limits and the amounts.

3What about cash assistance and child support?

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, gives cash help to families with children, and most states have adopted the Family Violence Option. Under it, a state screens applicants for domestic violence, refers them to services, and can grant a good cause waiver from program rules that would make it harder to escape the abuse or would unfairly penalize them: work requirements, time limits and the requirement to cooperate with child support enforcement.

The child support waiver matters because applying for TANF normally means helping the state pursue support from the other parent, which can reveal where you are. If that would put you or your children at risk, tell the caseworker and ask for a good cause exemption. Waivers are reviewed periodically, usually every six months. Our guides to TANF and child support services explain the programs themselves.

4Can I be evicted because of the abuse?

Not from most federally assisted housing. The Violence Against Women Act, or VAWA, covers public housing, Housing Choice Vouchers and many other HUD programs. Under it, a housing provider cannot deny you housing, end your assistance or evict you because you are a survivor of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault or stalking, or because of criminal activity related to the abuse that was directed at you.

• Emergency transfers. You can ask to move to another safe unit if you reasonably believe you are in danger by staying, or if a sexual assault happened on the property in the past 90 days. Housing agencies must have an emergency transfer plan, though a unit cannot always be guaranteed.
• Removing the abuser from the lease. The provider can divide the lease to evict only the person who committed the abuse, so you and your children can stay.
• Confidentiality. Information you give about the abuse must be kept confidential, and in many cases a signed self-certification form is enough documentation.

VAWA does not protect against eviction for unrelated lease violations, but you cannot be held to a stricter standard than other tenants. Our guides to public housing and Section 8 explain how assistance works, and our guide to fair housing rights covers discrimination complaints.

5What happens to my health coverage?

Medicaid and CHIP can be applied for at any time of year, and eligibility is based on your own household once you live apart. If you need private coverage, survivors of domestic abuse or spousal abandonment can enroll in a Marketplace plan outside open enrollment through a special enrollment period.

There is also a tax rule written for survivors. Married people normally must file a joint return to receive the premium tax credit, but a survivor of domestic abuse or spousal abandonment who lives apart can file separately and still claim it. Our guide to special enrollment periods explains how to ask for one, and our guide to Marketplace subsidies explains the credit.

6Can I get a new Social Security number?

Social Security can assign a new number if you show that you are being harassed, abused or endangered, but it does not do so routinely, because a new number can cause problems of its own: your credit history, school and medical records stay under the old one. You apply in person, with evidence of the abuse, such as police or medical reports, a protective order or a letter from a shelter or counselor, along with proof of your identity, age and citizenship or immigration status.

A step short of a new number is often enough. You can ask Social Security to block electronic access to your record, so no one can open an account or change your payments online, and you can open your own account first. Our guide to the my Social Security account explains how.

7What if I have to leave my job?

Quitting a job usually rules out unemployment benefits, but many states treat leaving work because of domestic violence as good cause, so a survivor who has to move or stop working for safety can still qualify. The rules are set by each state, and some also give workers time off to go to court, see a doctor or move. Ask your state's unemployment agency, or an advocate, what applies; our guide to unemployment benefits explains how claims work.

8How do I protect my information when I apply?

• Use a safe address. Many states run address confidentiality programs that give survivors a substitute mailing address for agencies and courts. A shelter or advocate can tell you whether yours does.
• Change passwords and security questions on email, bank and benefits accounts, and turn off location sharing on your phone.
• Tell each caseworker about safety concerns so they do not contact you at the old address or by phone.
• Keep copies of documents in a safe place, or with someone you trust: IDs, birth certificates, benefit letters and any protective order.