Social services in KY...anyone familiar?

[egoldber]

I am looking for information about programs that some family members may be eligible for. I know in general how these programs work, but I am not sure how they work specifically in KY.

In particular I am looking for info on....

aid available to children aged 5 (health care, food assistance)

aid available to women with young children (job training, job placement, food assistance, health care, mental health assistance)

aid available to elderly (over 65) who have Medicare but do not qualify for Medicaid (food assistance, transportation assistance, medication assistance)

As you can tell, I have some family members who are in a world of hurt, but I am finding it extremely difficult to find out any information from where we live. Google is not being my friend and I find the KY social services website confusing and not at all helpful.

[mommylamb]

You may have already looked here, but most of those services would be run out of Kentucky's Cabinet for Health and Family Services: http://chfs.ky.gov/.

ETA: for job placement services: http://workforce.ky.gov/

[egoldber]

Yes, the first website is the one I am looking at.

Specifically, my mother tells me she does not qualify for any assistance because her income is too high. I find this simply mindboggling, but she is technically correct. Her Social Security income is too high (~ $600 a month) to qualify for Medicaid or food stamps. But I think she can qualify based on spenddown, because her monthly medical expenses are simply astronomical, well above her actual income. But that info is really difficult to figure out.

I am hoping that someone will know who I can call directly to find out what she may be eligible for. And my family is simply not capable of navigating the system. They have been trying to do so unsuccessfully for the 5 years since my father died and my mother lost his pension.

Also, my neice is unable to find work (she is 26, high school diploma but no college), and she claims that the state "took away" her and her daughter's medical card and food assistance because she could not provide them info about the child's father. (He is out of the picture and she does not have contact with him. He refuses to pay child support and simply moves every time he is "found". He is an itinerant construction worker.) So I am trying to figure out how to at least get my neice's daughter's benefits reinstated.

It's a real mess.

[KHF]

Beth, let me contact my dad and see if he may know of someone to call. My father and brother both work for the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. They're both in IT, but they might be able to give you a place to start.

ETA:
From what I gather, the best place to find out what assistance they have available is to talk with someone at the Department for Community Based Services in their county. You can access that list from here: http://chfs.ky.gov/dcbs/dfs/