Human & Community Services Division

The mission of the Human and Community Services Division (HCSD) of the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services is to support the strengths of families and communities by promoting employment and providing the assistance necessary to help families and individuals meet basic needs and work their way out of poverty.

The division provides cash assistance, employment training, supplemental nutrition assistance (formerly food stamps), Medicaid, energy assistance, weatherization, and other services to help families move out of poverty and toward self-support.

Cash assistance is funded by a federal block grant called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). The program provides monthly payments to low-income families and children who meet income and resource eligibility standards. The Pathways Program provides employment and training services to individuals receiving cash assistance.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly the Food Stamp Program) provides benefits to eligible families to supplement their food budget and increase their ability to purchase healthy foods. A SNAP Nutrition Education (SNAP-Ed), operated jointly with Montana State University, teaches participants to use their food stamp benefits wisely.

The division determines eligibility for more than 38 Medicaid programs for children, pregnant women, the elderly, the disabled, and other eligible adults.

The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) provides heating assistance to low-income people, while The Weatherization Program supplies the labor and materials needed to make homes more energy efficient.

Through the Commodity Food Distribution Programs, HCSD delivers nutritional foods to Montana 's Indian reservations, food banks, emergency-feeding organizations, and senior centers. It also provides monthly food packages to low-income women, children, and seniors.

The division administers a federal Community Services Block Grant to fund local projects aimed at addressing the causes and conditions of poverty in under-resourced communities, as well as a Homelessness Prevention Grant to assist individuals and families experiencing homelessness, or who are at risk of homelessness, find safe, decent, and sanitary housing, as well as connect eligible individuals with the supportive services they need to improve their situation and maintain permanent housing.