The county's Juvenile Probation Department has a grant officer who examines eligibility for Title IV-E, SSI, and other grants. The specialist is needed because the MHMR community centers deal with hundreds of applicants. Many of the offenders have disabilities and need assistance not just to obtain food and shelter, but to obtain medical services. Mentally ill offenders, for example, may need medication to prevent them from being a danger to themselves or others. The lowest approval rate in Texas is in Austin at about 15 percent.
Approval rates vary due to the subjective nature of the review process.
In some areas, the eligibility specialists have a better rapport with the SSA reviewers and can talk with them about the applicant. In other areas, reviewers will not discuss cases. According to TEA, this information is not shared with DHS due to federal privacy regulations. Parents of a child with a disability often feel compelled to stay on welfare to qualify for Medicaid so their child can receive medical care. If the child qualified for SSI and as a result for Medicaid, the parents would not need to remain on welfare.