Iowa Department of Human Services

The Iowa Department of Human Services (DHS) provides services for:

  • Low income individuals and families
  • Children
  • Senior citizens
  • People with mental illness
  • People with addictions
  • People with physical and developmental disabilities

Go to the website: www.dhs.iowa.gov to search for the wide range of services provided, including: programs dealing with cash assistance, child care assistance, food assistance, and healthcare coverage for children, elderly and people with disabilities.

There are many, many programs and we encourage you to

  1. access them and
  2. see if you can find a friend/fellow worker to help guide you through the system.

It can be frustrating to deal with a bureaucracy that operates so many different government programs. There will be a lot of new words, and a lot of acronyms, (an abbreviation for something, such as TANF, which stands for temporary assistance for needy families), and it can be confusing. (See advice later in “Surviving Bureaucracies.”)

Iowa Department of Human Services

The Iowa Department of Human Services (DHS) provides services for:

  • Low income individuals and families
  • Children
  • Senior citizens
  • People with mental illness
  • People with addictions
  • People with physical and developmental disabilities

Go to the website: www.dhs.iowa.gov to search for the wide range of services provided, including: programs dealing with cash assistance, child care assistance, food assistance, and healthcare coverage for children, elderly and people with disabilities.

There are many, many programs and we encourage you to

  1. access them and
  2. see if you can find a friend/fellow worker to help guide you through the system.

It can be frustrating to deal with a bureaucracy that operates so many different government programs. There will be a lot of new words, and a lot of acronyms, (an abbreviation for something, such as TANF, which stands for temporary assistance for needy families), and it can be confusing. (See advice later in “Surviving Bureaucracies.”)