Welfare Links and Contacts

http://www.humanservices.net/: HumanServices.net is a website with information about a wide array of community organizations, programs and resources available in Allegheny County.
http://www.dpw.state.pa.us/: the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare's Homepage. Look here for DPW's listing of its assistance programs.
COMPASS: Use COMPASS to apply for or renew benefits online.
Paper Forms: The DPW's page that links to all of their printable paper forms
CAO Contact Information: The contact information for all of the County Assistance Offices in Pennsylvania.
Manuals and Policies: Front page to access and search all of the Office of Income Maintenance's Policies and Manuals.

Research and Advocacy Organizations:

http://www.chn.org/: The Coalition on Human Needs offers advocacy materials, information about legislation, and other useful data for advocating for change.
http://www.cbpp.org/: The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities provides a lot of data and information about how policies affect low-income families. They also have advocacy kits.
http://nationalpriorities.org: The National Priorities Project (NPP) is a research organization that analyzes and clarifies federal data so that people can understand and influence how their tax dollars are spent.
http://www.frac.org/: The Food Research and Action Center is the leading national nonprofit organization working to eliminate hunger and undernutrition in the United States. FRAC harnesses the nation's resources on behalf of those who need help to put food on the table: poor children and their families, the elderly, the unemployed, low-income workers, the ill, and the homeless.
http://pathwayspa.org/: Each year PathWaysPA serves more than 4,400 women, children and families who reside in Philadelphia, Delaware and Chester counties by keeping families together, supporting teen parents and their children, providing in-home services to prevent child abuse and assisting families in their move towards self sufficiency.
http://clasp.org/: The Center for Law and Social Policy conducts research, policy analysis, technical assistance, and advocacy on issues related to economic security and family stability for low-income parents, children, and youth.
http://www.clsphila.org: Community Legal Services in Philadelphia. Check out their Public Benefits Page for important news and analysis of Pennsylvania Welfare Law.
http://www.urban.org/: The Urban Institute gathers and analyzes data, conducts policy research, evaluates programs and services, and educates Americans on critical issues and trends in an effort to promote sound social policy and public debate on national priorities.

Welfare Rights and Economic Justice Organizations and Campaigns:

http://www.phlp.org/: The Pennsylvania Health Law Project is a legal services organization, a resource for the disabilities community, and legal council to low-income families in need of medical care.
http://www.nclej.org: The National Center for Law & Economic Justice advocates for policy changes through litigation and low-income organizing.
http://www.povertylaw.org: The Sargent Shriver Center on Poverty Law develops ways use to use the law and policies to benefit low-income families. They help develop policies and they also host a clearinghouse of legal information and advocacy tools.
http://www.wroc.org/: WROC is a Welfare Rights group based in Seattle, Washington
http://www.kwru.org/: Kensington Welfare Rights Union. KWRU represent poor and homeless people and are based in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia.
http://www.npa-us.org/: National People’s Action is a non-partisan alliance of local community organizations devoted to grassroots empowerment.

Phone Numbers and Contacts

Hotline: For questions, complaints, and other Calls: Local Hotline: 412-565-2146; State Hotline: 1-800-692-7462.
Call Change Center: 1-877-395-8930: To make updates or changes to your case, check application status, request forms, or hear general information