Montana assistance programs

Montana splits the help covered on this site between two large departments. The Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) decides TANF cash assistance, holds the LIHEAP heating grant and runs the Best Beginnings Child Care Scholarship. The Department of Commerce houses the Montana Board of Housing (MBOH) and the state's business loan programs. Very little of it is a no-strings grant: MBOH's down payment help is a loan you repay, the SSBCI money is recycled loan dollars, and Montana funds no state pre-K and no large statewide college need grant.

Each DPHHS program has its own front door. TANF applications go through apply.mt.gov, the Public Assistance Helpline at 1-888-706-1535, or an Office of Public Assistance, and the required Pathways work program is run by the contractor Maximus. LIHEAP is a winter program: ten HRDCs and community action agencies, plus tribal LIHEAP offices on six reservations, take applications from October 1 to April 30, and LIHEAP approval automatically gets NorthWestern Energy customers a bill discount. Child care scholarships are decided by two regional Child Care Agencies, Child Care Resources in Missoula and Family Connections in Great Falls, after you apply through the MAQCS parent portal with a State of Montana Okta account. The Montana energy guide lists the HRDC for each county.

For buyers, every statewide program starts with an MBOH participating lender. MBOH Plus 0% Deferred and Bond Advantage each lend up to 5% of the price, capped at $15,000, and Billings adds its own 0% loan of up to 20% of the price inside city limits. For businesses, Commerce's SSBCI and ORE programs are loans through lenders and development organizations; the real grants are narrow: Growth Through Agriculture (up to $50,000), Incumbent Worker Training, STEP export reimbursements, the SBIR/STTR match and tribal business grants. The Montana small business guide sorts them by what they pay.

College aid from the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education comes as a stack of smaller programs: the Montana Promise Grant ($1,000 a semester for maximum-Pell students at two-year and tribal colleges), the Gianforte Trade and Technology Scholarships ($1,500 a semester) and Montana 10. All of them require the FAFSA, and Montana has no state alternative. Job training under WIOA starts at a Job Service Montana office. For 4-year-olds, the closest thing to pre-K is the Early Targeted Interventions some school districts offer; see the Montana child care guide.