Lifeline cell phones now accessible for homeless people

This message is about changes to the free cell phone programs for low-income people known as Lifeline. I want to let you know that the eligibility requirements for these programs have changed to allow people who are homeless or live in shared housing to access free cell phone programs. Up until now to be eligible for a lifeline cell phone you needed a unique residential mailing address, but that has changed. The new eligibility rules state that one Lifeline phone is available per household, and a household is defined as any individual or group of individuals who live together at the same address and share income and expenses. If you are homeless, you may provide a temporary home address. The home address cannot be a PO box (although you may provide a separate mailing address). The phone company will attempt to verify every 90 days that you continue to reside at the temporary address, and you must notify them within 30 days of any change of address.

There are currently 5 companies participating in the Lifeline program in Washington state. There are three pay-as-you go options from Assurance, Safelink and YourTel and two plans, from AT&T, and T-Mobile. We recommend the prepaid phones, also called ‘pay-as-you-go’ because they are less expensive and they do not require a long-term contract, monthly bills, or a credit check and there are no roaming or overage fees. All 3 of the prepaid lifeline programs offer a free phone, 250 free minutes a month, plus free voice mail, caller ID and call waiting. The phone comes with one year of service, one month’s free minutes, and new free minutes are added each month. There are two major differences between these 3 providers: The first difference is text messaging, Assurance Wireless is now offering 250 free text messages a month in addition to the 250 free minutes, while the other companies do not offer any free text messages, text messages through Safelink or YourTel count as one minute each. The other difference between the three prepaid Lifeline programs is the cost of additional minutes: Extra minute packs through SafeLink equal about 10¢ per minute, while YourTel extra minute packs equal about 5¢ per minute and Assurance extra minute packs equal about 2¢ per minute. Most people do need to buy additional minutes, as the average cell phone customer in the US uses 638 minutes a month. Additional minute packs can be purchased online, by phone and as cards at stores. Assurance extra minutes are available as either $5 for 250 extra minutes and 250 extra texts or $20 for 750 minutes and 750 extra texts, or $30 for unlimited minutes, texts and internet—only one extra minute pack may be added each month.

To be eligible for either Lifeline program you must either receive DSHS benefits or your income must be below 135% of federal poverty level. The eligible benefits are Food Stamps, Medical Assistance, Supplemental Security Income, Disability Lifeline, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, State Family Assistance, DSHS Chore Services, Refugee Assistance or Community Options Program Entry System. All the Lifeline programs require a Social Security number to apply. To qualify based on program participation you must provide your DSHS client ID number, which can be found in the top right corner of any letter addressed to you from DSHS, from your case worker or by calling the statewide Customer Service Center at 1-877-501-2233. You may also be required to mail documentation of your DSHS program participation, such as a copy of your benefit ID card, a copy of an eligibility letter from an authorized agency or current or prior year’s statement of benefits. To apply based on income your monthly household income must be below 1,256 dollars a month for a single person, 1,702 dollars a month for a family of 2, 2,147 dollars a month for a family of 3, 2,593 dollars a month for a family of 4, or 3,038 dollars a month for a family of 5, add 445 dollars a month for each additional family member. To qualify based on income, you will need to mail them documentation of your income: such as Federal or state tax return, current income statement or W2 from an employer, 3 consecutive months of current pay stubs, Social Security statement of benefits, Retirement or Pension benefits statement, Unemployment or Workers Comp statement of benefits, or other legal document that shows income.

You should also be aware that if you already receive Lifeline telephone assistance for another cell phone, or landline phone service through Washington Telephone Assistance Program, you can't receive a Lifeline cell phone without cancelling the other phone. A household is not permitted to receive a Lifeline cell phone from multiple providers. Violation of the one-per-household rule will result in de-enrollment from the Lifeline program and potential prosecution, the FCC recently kicked off 130,000 people from Lifeline programs for violating the eligibility rules. Complaints regarding Lifeline service may be directed to the Washington state Office of Attorney General, Consumer Protection Division at 1-800-551-4636.

Based on our analysis, Assurance Wireless is still the best deal overall for Lifeline cell phones, right now, because they offer free text messages and they have the lowest rates for additional minutes. To apply for Assurance just print, fill out and mail in the Assurance Wireless application or call 1-800-395-2108.

While it is great news that the Lifeline cell phone programs are now accessible to more people, we recommend that you still keep your Community Voice Mail number, so you have a stable number where you can always be reached, even if you run out of minutes and can’t afford to buy more, or you loose or break your phone. Our research has found that many people effectively use Community Voice Mail and cell phones together to save cell phone minutes, have a separate number for personal and professional contacts, maintain confidentiality, to have a backup phone number, and because they want to continue to receive our resource broadcast messages about community resources like this. Thanks for using Community Voice Mail.