Alabama assistance programs

Alabama's Department of Human Resources (DHR) handles two of the six programs covered here: Family Assistance cash help through its 67 county offices, and the child care subsidy through regional Child Care Management Agencies. The other four are spread across separate bodies. ADECA passes LIHEAP to 18 community action agencies, the Alabama Housing Finance Authority (AHFA) lends through participating banks, Innovate Alabama runs the federal small-business capital, and the Commission on Higher Education (ACHE) sends grant money to colleges, which choose who gets it.

In Alabama you rarely apply to the state agency itself. ADECA takes no LIHEAP applications: you book with your county's agency, for heating help from October through April and cooling help from May through September. Child care subsidy applications go through the ARISE Family Portal to one of four Child Care Management Agencies, and every application outside DHR's priority categories has gone on a wait list since May 8, 2026. College aid offices award the Alabama Student Assistance Program (ASAP), and WIOA training accounts start at a Workforce Alabama Career Center.

Several of the biggest programs are not grants. AHFA's down payment help under First Step and Step Up, up to $10,000 or 4% of the price, is a 10-year second mortgage you repay monthly. Innovate Alabama says LendAL and InvestAL are not grants either, and its SBIR/STTR Supplemental Grant is closed. Forgivable help comes from cities: Birmingham's Ready to Own, Huntsville's HOAP and Mobile's Down Payment Assistance Program. The Alabama homebuyer guide and the small business guide explain what each one pays.

For Family Assistance, apply through OneAlabama or at your county DHR office. Since October 5, 2026, residents of Montgomery, Elmore, Tuscaloosa, Dallas and Talladega counties use DHR's new ACES self-service portal instead, and the statewide launch is tentatively set for January 2027. Free First Class Pre-K is separate from the subsidy: it has no income test, registration opens January 15 on AlaCEED, and seats are drawn by lottery in March. The child care guide covers both.