Health & Dental Services

Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) is designed for families who earn too much money to qualify for Medicaid, yet cannot afford to buy private insurance for their children. CHIP coverage provides eligible children with coverage for a full range of health services.

Access to Health Insurance for Adopted Children is guaranteed by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 which mandates that adopted children the same access to health insurance as birth children.  Knowing about the small section of this large Federal Law can save you many thousands of dollars.  When you check with your insurance carrier, please ask them how they comply with this Act and be aware that many insurance companies do not give adopting families information consistent with this Act.

You work hard to provide for your child and want to make sure he or she grows up strong, smart and healthy. But like many parents whose children do not have any or adequate insurance, you worry about finances and being able to provide appropriate medical care to your child.  You and your child may be eligible for free or low-cost health insurance and other medical services as described below.

In fact, your state, and every state in the nation, has a health insurance program for infants, children and teens. The insurance is available to children in working families, including families that include individuals with a variety of immigration status. For little or even no cost as all, the insurance can pay for visits to the doctor, medicine, hospitalizations and much more.  A child that does not have health insurance is very likely to be eligible, even if you are working. The states have different eligibility rules, but in most states, uninsured children 18 years old and younger, whose families earn up to $34,100 a year (for a family of four) are eligible.  For more information visit the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services website or contact your state and local Health Department. call 1-800-311-BABY. For information in Spanish, call 1-800-504-7081.

 

  HOUSING
Health Resources of Arkansas realizes that the path to he



althy living and good mental health begins with providing the most basic of human needs...shelter. HRA is a major provider of housing programs for the mentally ill, elderly, substance abusers and the homeless. In addition to these housing programs, a variety of other mental health and social service programs are provided. These include:
Services to persons with mental illness
Emergency shelter for adolescents
Vocational rehabilitation training and employment



Educational programs aimed at the prevention of illness and promotion of healthy lifestyles
Costs
All rates and other services are based on individual income or by regulations of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Contact for Housing
HRA
Attn: Housing
P.O. Box 2578
Batesville, AR 72503

Phone: (870)793-8976 

Find info for this section here, in case links here don't work: 
http://www.needhelppayingbills.com/html/arkansas_assistance_programs.html

Arkansas Assistance Programs

Find how to get assistance in all cities in Arkansas, including Little Rock and Fort Smith.

Assistance Programs

Arkansas Health Care Access Foundation, Inc.
This medical assistance program is for lower income, medically uninsured Arkansas residents who can’t pay medical bills. The products and services provided in the program are all donated or volunteered by Arkansas dentists, doctors, cooperating hospitals, pharmacies, and home health agencies. 800-950-8233

ARKids First
This is a healthcare program for families and children in need of health insurance to help with medical expenses. There are two levels of this program, one being ARKids A (which is Medicaid) and the second level is ARKids B. “B” is for families whose income is too high to be on government Medicaid but have no health insurance for their children. 1-888-474-8275

Emergency Food Assistance Program
The Emergency Food Assistance Program will makes surplus food and groceries available to lower income households. This assistance is intended to supplement other foods and is not intended to serve as a household's sole or main food source.  (501) 371-1400

The Arkansas Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
It helps families with limited income get the food and nutrition they need for good health. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits are used instead of cash to buy food and groceries. Most people usually must spend some cash along with their food stamp grant benefits in order to buy enough food for a month. (501) 682-1001

Transitional Employment Assistance (TEA)
This program assists financially needy Arkansas families with children under the age of 18 become more independent and responsible for the support of their families. It will provide grants, job training, and help finding employment, including work from home jobs. 1-800-482-8988

Foreclosure prevention and mortgage assistance
Find a listing of non profit, HUD approved agencies to call for foreclosure help in Arkansas. The federal government has certified numerous non-profits in the state of HUD housing agencies. Read more.

Assistance From Arkansas Cities and Counties

Baxter County (Mountain Home)

Benton County (Bentonville)

Craighead County (Jonesboro and Lake City)

Faulkner County (Conway)

Garland County

Greene County (Hot Springs)

Jefferson County (Pine Bluff)

Lonoke County

Miller County (Texarkana)

Pope County (Russellville)

Pulaski County (Little Rock)

Saline County (Benton)

Sebastian County (Greenwood and Fort Smith)

Washington County

White County (Searcy)

 

Arkansas Energy Bill Assistance

Energy and Low-Income Heating Assistance (LIHEAP) in Energy
This program will help lower income Arkansas households with home energy costs, including heating and cooling bills, by administering both the Regular Assistance and Crisis Intervention programs. Each of these components provides financial assistance to households in the form of a one-time per year cash grant payment to the household's energy supplier or, under certain circumstances, to the applicant themselves.

Arkansas Weatherization Overview
Weatherization provides funds and grants to Arkansas residents to help them save energy in their. It focuses on the homes of low-income people, with emphasis on handicapped, elderly, and families with children.



Arkansas HUD approved foreclosure counseling agencies
http://www.needhelppayingbills.com/html/arkansas_hud_foreclosure_couns.html

  FOOD BANKS
        Additional Resources

Arkansas Department of Human Services (AR DHS)

Mission Statement

Together we improve the quality of life of all Arkansans by protecting the vulnerable, fostering independence, and promoting better health.

Rural Delivery Program

Access to the Arkansas Food bank Network from isolated, rural locales, especially in the Delta, is sometimes challenging. Food pantries and other organizations located in some of Arkansas' most impoverished areas have a hard time getting to the warehouse to pick up food. Therefore, the Arkansas Foodbank Network truck delivers food on a monthly basis so that the agencies in these areas have food to distribute to hungry Arkansans. Deliveries are made each month to eleven sites including Pine Bluff, Warren, Marianna, Prairie County, Clarendon, Helena and Van Buren County.

For more information, contact Frank Hilliard at (501)565-8121 x 16 or fhilliard@arkansasfoodbank.org.

Senior Supplement

The Arkansas Food bank Network, in partnership with CareLink (Central Arkansas Area Agency on Aging), sponsors the Senior Supplement program to help seniors in central Arkansas who struggle to stretch their Social Security income to pay rent, utilities, medicine and food. This program provides 55 seniors with a monthly box of groceries to help with the burden of expenses. Volunteers pack the boxes at the Foodbank warehouse. The boxes are distributed by volunteers at CareLink and the Visiting Nurses Association on the third Saturday of each month. Recipients are selected by CareLink and the Visiting Nurses Association.

To find out more about the Senior Supplement Program, contact Fredrick Love at (501)565-8121 x 17 or flove@arkansasfoodbank.org.

Fresh Produce Initiative

Fresh produce is becoming harder for those in need to obtain. Purchasing fresh foods is not cost effective for food service organizations and prices in the grocery store are rising significantly. These factors cause impoverished people to eat less expensive and less healthy foods.

The Arkansas Foodbank Network has made it a priority to get donated truckloads of fresh produce including sweet potatoes, corn, apples, oranges, cantaloupe and more. These truckloads are available to the Foodbank's 33-county service area as a healthy alternative.

For more information about the Fresh Produce Initiative, contact Frank Hilliard at (501)565-8121 x 16 or fhilliard@arkansasfoodbank.org.