Eligibility

MFIP gives money to families who don't have enough to pay for basic needs like food, clothing, and rent. MFIP defines a family as one or two parents living with their child or children under 18. The age limit is 19 for children who are in school full time. A family could include biological kids, step kids, adopted kids, and children of relatives.

To figure out whether or not you're eligible for MFIP, the state looks at your income and assets.

Assets

Assets are things you own. Common examples of assets are:

• Checking accounts
• Savings accounts
• Stocks
• Bonds

To qualify for MFIP, your assets have to be worth less than the program's $10,000 asset limit.

Asset Exclusions

There are some things that the state realizes you can’t use to pay for basic needs. The state doesn't include these things when they count your assets. Some of the assets that don't count are:

• The home your family lives in and any other real property;
• Personal goods like furniture, clothing, jewelry, appliances, and tools;
• The value of one car per family member who is 16 or older. (If you have more cars than that, they will be counted as assets.)
• Assets in a tax-free ABLE account. Learn more about ABLE accounts.

Income

The state also looks at how much money you get from work, benefits, or other sources. This money is called income. Income affects MFIP in two ways:

• There’s a limit to how much income you can have and still qualify for MFIP, and
• If you qualify for MFIP, your income may affect the amount you get in benefits.

Not All of Your Income Counts

However, MFIP doesn't count all of your income:

• MFIP will count less than half of your earned income
  • First, they subtract $65 from your total earned income.
  • Then, they divide the rest of your earned income by two. What's left is what they count.
    • Example: If you make $1,000 each month at a job, only $468 are counted by the MFIP program.
• MFIP won't count:
  • Money that you spend on the needs of people in your household who can’t get MFIP
  • Money that you spend to take care of a child or a household member with a disability while you’re working,
  • Money that you spend on child or spousal support, and

  • Tribal per capita income.

How MFIP Determines Your Benefit Amount

The rules for how MFIP figures out your benefit are complicated. Your benefit amount depends on:

• Your household size
• Whether or not you have income
• Whether your income is earned, unearned, or both
• Whether or not the household members are related

The more income you have, the lower your MFIP benefit will be. But when you add up your earnings and MFIP benefit, you’ll always have more money overall when you work.

For example, for a family of four:

Your county worker can show you examples for your family size.

Application

Apply for MFIP online with MNbenefits. You may also fill out a Combined Application Form and turn it in to your county or tribal human services office. After you turn it in, you’ll be interviewed. You should get a decision within 30 days after you apply.

Starting on MFIP

When you are approved for MFIP, you’ll get a notice telling you when your benefits will begin and the amount you’ll get. There will be an orientation that you have to attend.

Diversionary Work Program

Most people have to go through four months of a Diversionary Work Program before they start to get MFIP benefits. The goal of the program is to help low-income Minnesotans find a job.

MFIP Payments

If you qualify for the program, you will get monthly payments from MFIP. Part of the money is for things like rent and clothing. This is called the cash benefit. The other part of the money is for food.

Finding a Job

In addition to giving you cash benefits, MFIP will also help you with finding a job. Once you're enrolled in MFIP, you''ll meet with an employment counselor and come up with an Employment Plan. The Employment Plan includes:

• Your employment goals
• The things you need to do to reach those goals
• Timelines
• Job search ideas
• A statement saying that you will be able to take an appropriate job when it’s offered
• Information about the help you'll get from the employment counselor

Time Limits

In most cases, you can be on MFIP for a total of 60 months. In some situations, that time limit may be extended. After MFIP ends, you can get help paying for food from SNAP if you need it.

The Work Benefit Program provides a monthly cash grant incentive of $50 to employed families for up to 24 consecutive months after exiting the MFIP cash and food portions, or the Diversionary Work Program.

For more details, see the DHS brochure on MFIP and Time Limits.

Rules for Families with People with Disabilities

There are a few MFIP rules specific to families with people with disabilities:

• People with disabilities don’t have to participate in the Diversionary Work Program.
• If you have a disability and apply for MFIP, you also have to apply for SSI (the Department of Human Services has people who can help you apply for SSI).
• You can’t be on both SSI and MFIP at the same time.
• When counting your assets, MFIP does not include the car used to transport a person with a physical disability.
• If you have a disability or are taking care of someone with a disability, MFIP's 60-month time limit might be extended.
• Your Employment Plan might have different requirements if you or someone you’re caring for has a disability.

Jason's Story

Jason’s family was having a difficult time making ends meet. Up until a month ago, he could financially support his wife and two children through his job as a cashier at a local grocery store. But his wrists and arms began hurting to the point where he could no longer do his job. The grocery store was letting some people go at the time, and Jason was one of the people they laid off.

Jason and his wife didn’t have much money in savings. They realized that they were going to have trouble paying for rent, food, and utilities. They decided to apply for help from Minnesota until they could get back on their feet. Jason used MNbenefits to apply online for the Minnesota Family Investment Program, or "MFIP" for short. Because he had a disability, he also applied for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) at his local Social Security office.

The next week, he went back to the agency for an interview. He brought all of his bank statements and proof of the things he owned. A few weeks later, the county approved Jason and his family for MFIP. They would get a total of $1,675 a month from MFIP. $861 was for things like rent, and $814 was for food.

As part of the MFIP program, both Jason and his wife met with an employment counselor to come up with a plan to get them jobs. His wife needed just a few more classes to complete her training as an x-ray technician, but had put those plans on hold when they had their kids. Her employment plan included finishing those credits and then an organized job search. Jason’s plan was a little different because of his disability. He thought that maybe he could work from home doing customer service over the phone. His employment plan included a one week customer service training program and a job search as well.

Jason and his wife had two concerns about working. The first was that they wouldn’t be able to pay for child care while they were in classes, looking for work, or working. As part of MFIP though, families get help paying for child care. Their other concern was that working would make them ineligible for further MFIP benefits. But when they both began working, they realized that even though their MFIP benefits went down, their overall income went up because they had more money from their jobs.

When Jason was approved for his SSI benefits a year later, he received assistance from SSI while his children continued to get help from MFIP.