• Personalized Coaching: Work extensively with a Success Coach at least once per week (in person, virtually, phone, text). They will schedule around your work hours.
• Goal Setting and Success Planning: Set clear goals and create a plan to achieve self-sufficiency by 18 months.
• Specialist Support - Meet with:
  • A financial counselor for budgeting and more
  • An employment and career counselor to plan for long-term higher earnings
  • Other specialists for personalized guidance
• Personal Finance Education: Complete a 12 unit online personal finance course.
• Financial Incentives: Receive rewards for achieving specific goals.
• Short-Term Supports: Receive support services to help overcome unexpected challenges.

• Commit to remain in the program for the entire 18 months.
• Dedicate a minimum of about 1-3 hours per week to meet with various coaches and work toward success goals.
• Make decisions and life changes that lead to long-term success and self-reliance.

Applicants can come from any one of these four groups and must meet all criteria in the group.

1. Employed individuals:
   • Working at least 20 hours per week
   • Receiving SNAP or Child Care
   • SNAP or Child Care benefits have decreased at any point because of higher earned income
   • Wants to increase wage and/or hours with the desire to go off SNAP
2. Employed individuals:
   • Working at least 20 hours per week
   • SNAP or Child Care benefits were closed in the past 60 days because of higher earned income.
3. Individuals not employed:
   • Receiving SNAP or Child Care
   • In a short-term training program (4 months or less) through WIOA or SNAP E&T
   • Expected to begin employment within 60 days of the training program ending
4. Non-custodial parents:
   • Receiving SNAP, Medicaid, or Child Care
   • Employed or unemployed
   • Actively engaged with the Cuyahoga County Office of Child Support Services
   • Paying child support or have the goal of paying their child support
   • If unemployed, employment must begin within 60 days of entering Bridge Beyond Benefits

• Must be:
  • A U.S. citizen or non-citizen national or qualified alien
  • A resident of Ohio and live in the state of Ohio
• Must not be:
  • Serving a sanction period for SNAP or Ohio Works First (OWF)
  • Serving an Intentional Program Violation ineligibility period
  • Paying back a fraud overpayment for OWF or Prevention, Retention, and Contingency (PRC)
• Must be the primary caretaker of a child in the home or be at least 6 months pregnant (unless eligible under #4 above)
• Fall under 200% of the Federal Poverty Level
• Complete an assessment with a score range between 44-88 points, based on questions that evaluate key elements such as housing, education, and employment
• Meet with a Success Coach for a personalized interview to determine program fit, as Bridge Beyond Benefits is not an entitlement program.

Bridge Beyond Benefits is an 18-month program to help people transition off of government assistance for good. The program is particularly helpful for people whose benefits have recently decreased due to higher earnings, as it provides a bridge of support to help them safely navigate the transition from relying on benefits to being able to manage their budget without public assistance. The program includes support with goal setting, budgeting, financial education, career coaching, financial rewards, and other assistance. Participants will be encouraged to make life changes and decisions that lead to long term success and self-reliance.

The program lasts 18 months.

These are the primary services offered:

• Personalized Coaching: You will work closely with your Success Coach who will offer concrete help for you to reach your personal, career, education, and other goals in a supportive atmosphere of encouragement and positive reinforcement. You will connect usually once per week (in person, virtually, phone, text). They will schedule around your work hours.
• Goal Setting and Success Planning: With the support and encouragement of your Success Coach you will set clear goals and create a plan to achieve self-sufficiency by 18 months.
  • Define your short- and long-term success goals for life, finances, career and education
  • Put together a plan to meet those goals
  • List the steps to achieve the goals
  • Start working toward your goals
• Specialist Support: Work with other experts:
  • A financial counselor for budgeting and more
  • An employment and career counselor to plan for long-term higher earnings
  • Other specialists for personalized guidance
• Personal Finance Education: Complete a 12 unit online personal finance course.
• Financial Incentives: Receive rewards for achieving specific goals.
• Short-Term Supports: You may also receive support services to help overcome unexpected challenges.

There will be multiple expectations:

• Commit to remain active in the program for the entire 18 months
• Dedicate a minimum of about 1-3 hours per week to meet with various coaches and work toward success goals
• Make decisions and life changes that lead to long-term success and self-reliance

Since this is not an entitlement program, acceptance is not automatic. Individuals need to be selected and invited to participate.

Enrollees can come from any one of these four groups and must meet all criteria in the group:

1. Employed individuals:
   • Working at least 20 hours per week
   • SNAP or Child Care benefits have decreased at any point because of higher earned income
   • Wants to increase wage and/or hours with the desire to go off SNAP
2. Employed individuals:
   • Working at least 20 hours per week
   • SNAP or Child Care benefits were closed in the past 60 days because of higher earned income
3. Individuals not employed:
   • Receiving SNAP or Child Care
   • In a short-term training program (4 months or less) through WIOA or SNAP Employment & Training (SNAP E&T)
   • Expected to begin employment within 60 days of the training program ending
4. Non-custodial parents:
   • Receiving SNAP, Medicaid, or Child Care
   • Employed or unemployed
   • Actively engaged with the Cuyahoga County Office of Child Support Services
   • Paying child support or have the goal of paying their child support
   • If unemployed, employment must begin within 60 days of entering Bridge Beyond Benefits

Additional requirements for all four groups:

• Must be:
  • A U.S. citizen or non-citizen national or qualified alien
  • A resident of Ohio and live in the state of Ohio
• Must not be:
  • Serving a sanction period for SNAP or Ohio Works First (OWF)
  • Serving an Intentional Program Violation ineligibility period
  • Paying back a fraud overpayment for OWF or Prevention, Retention, and Contingency (PRC)
• Must be the primary caretaker of a child in the home or be at least 6 months pregnant (unless eligible under #4 above).
• Fall under 200% of the Federal Poverty Level.
• Complete an assessment with a score range between 44-88 points, based on questions that evaluate key elements such as housing, education, and employment.
• Meet with a Success Coach for a personalized interview to determine fit to be in program.

The first step is to apply! That can be done a few ways:

• Apply online through the Bridge Beyond Benefits Online Application.
• Download and complete a fillable pdf application from our website at Bridge Beyond Benefits Application and
  • email to Cuy-BenefitBridge@jfs.ohio.gov, or
  • print and fax to 216-987-8655.
• Complete a paper application found in the lobby of any Cuyahoga Job and Family Services location and
  • drop off in the secure drop box, or
  • email a scan or picture to Cuy-BenefitBridge@jfs.ohio.gov,
  • or fax to 216-987-8655

Your application will be processed as soon as it is received, and you will be notified if you are eligible to move forward or not.

NOTE: Incomplete applications cannot be processed. They cause delays by requiring us to contact you to obtain the missing information before moving forward. So please complete every question on the application thoroughly. Thank you!

If you are eligible to move forward, then the Success Coach will invite you to a meeting so you can get to know each other and they can explain the program. They will also do an assessment, asking you questions to determine if Bridge Beyond Benefits is the right program for you at this time. Enrollment is not guaranteed, and participants are selected and invited to participate based on their readiness and fit for the program.

Your goals are personal to you, and setting them is a collaborative effort between you and your Success Coach.

Your program will be personalized to you. Your Success Coach will work with you on your specific priorities, goals, and needs. However, the three constant parts that are the same for everyone in the program are:

• Required regular communications with your Success Coach
• Required completion of financial literacy classes
• Earned cash rewards for meeting goals

All participants are required to successfully complete online classes in financial literacy. Beyond that, additional education and training will be determined by you and your Success Coach based on the goals you define.

You can earn $250 for achieving each of the following 12 pre-determined goals:

• Stay employed 30 days after enrollment in the Bridge Beyond Benefits program
• Stay employed 90 days after enrollment in the Bridge Beyond Benefits program
• Get a new/better job
• Get a pay raise
• Increase your regularly worked number of work hours from part time to full time
• Get a promotion with a pay raise
• Get a GED or High School diploma if you don’t already have one
• Increase education at any level
• Open a savings account if you don’t already have one
• Pay down debt
• Complete the financial literacy classes
• Meet/communicate weekly with your Success Coach throughout the 18-month program

Generally not. Payments made under social benefit programs for promotion of general welfare are excludable from gross income under a concept known as the general welfare doctrine. However, this statement should not be taken as tax advice. For all tax questions please consult with a tax professional.

Incentives will count as unearned income when your benefits are being calculated by your JFS worker and, therefore, might affect your benefit eligibility and amount. However, remember these two points:

• The reason this program was created was to help people transition off of government assistance. The ultimate goal is to help you earn more money and budget better to be in a position to support your family and not need benefits.
• If you experience short-term financial hardships because benefits have dropped because of your increased income, speak with your Success Coach who may be able to offer help.

Staying in touch with your Success Coach is a required part of the Bridge Beyond Benefits program. Therefore, if you do not stay in touch with your Success Coach, you will be disenrolled from the Bridge Beyond Benefits program.

Completing the financial literacy classes is a required part of the Bridge Beyond Benefits program. Therefore, if you do not complete the financial literacy classes, you will be disenrolled from the Bridge Beyond Benefits program.

Taking steps to achieve your goals is a required part of the Bridge Beyond Benefits program. Therefore, if you do not take steps to achieve your goals, you will be disenrolled from the Bridge Beyond Benefits program.

One of the expectations of participants is that they will remain in the program for the full 18 months. We know that life gets busy and sometimes it all feels like too much. We ask that you talk with your Success Coach. They can help you find a way to make it work so you can gain all of the advantages of staying in the program. Having said this, the Bridge Beyond Benefits Program is a voluntary program and there are no penalties or risks for withdrawing from the program.

If you leave the Bridge Beyond Benefits program before completion and wish to return, it may be difficult. There are a number of things to know about potential re-enrollment:

• You would need to re-apply and meet one of the eligibility requirements again at the time of re-application
• Your Bridge assessment score must be higher at re-application than when you initially entered the program
• You will not be eligible to receive duplicate incentive payments during the re-enrollment period
• Re-enroll is allowable only once
• Your Success Coach, care team, and program administrators will decide if you will be offered the opportunity to re-enroll, as it is not guaranteed.

Withdrawing from the Bridge Beyond Benefits program will not negatively affect your eligibility for public assistance programs or your benefit amounts.

The Bridge Beyond Benefits program is not an entitlement program and is completely voluntary. It does not provide traditional ODJFS Hearing Rights if you disagree with a decision made by the care team.

There are two ways to get in touch with someone from Bridge Beyond Benefits:

• Email us at Cuy-BenefitBridge@jfs.ohio.gov
• Call us at (216) 987-6578. If you call, please leave a message, and a representative will call you back as soon as possible.

f you have questions about how we share your information or your privacy rights, please see the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services Privacy Statement.