General Assistance

February 21, 2026

Website: https://www.maine.gov/dhhs/ofi/programs-services/general-assistance

PineTree Legal also has lots of information on their website

General Assistance helps individuals and families to meet their basic needs. This may include help paying for:

Household or personal supplies (toiletries, cleaning supplies)
Food
Housing (e.g., mortgage, rent, room rent, temporary housing)
Fuel & utilities
Medical, dental, prescriptions, medical supplies/equipment
Burial costs

You may be eligible for General Assistance if you do not have the income or resources to meet your own basic needs.

General Assistance programs are administered by the local municipality in which a person lives. Each town has different procedures on how to apply so please click on the links below for your town for details on how to apply and what information/documents will be required.

If eligible, assistance is provided in the form of a voucher payment to the vendor.

If you are unable to reach your local General Assistance office or you have questions or concerns, call the state’s toll free hotline at 1-800-442-6003.

Bangor: https://bangorpublichealth.org/community/general-assistance/

Old Town: https://old-town.org/general-assistance

Orono: https://www.orono.org/319/General-Assistance

Brewer: https://brewermaine.gov/city-manager/general-assistance/

Other Info for Bangor:

You need to request a telephone interview.

Prior to the interview, the General Assistance office will need all required documents to be uploaded to their website, emailed to generalassistance@bangormaine.gov or brought to the Public Health office at 103 Texas Avenue, Bangor.

Other Info for Old Town:

General Assistance applications are taken by appointment only. To make an appointment, call (207) 827-3965 x107, Tuesday and Thursday from 8 am to 10 am.

Other Info for Orono:

The Town of Orono accepts applications for General Assistance by appointment on Tuesdays from 8:00AM - 11:00AM and Wednesdays from 12:00PM - 3:00PM. Call (207) 866-2556 for an appointment.

Information that may need to be provided at the interviews:

Identification documents (photo identification preferred)
Proof of any money available to the household during the last 30 days (this includes wages, TANF, child support, social security benefits, veteran’s benefits, etc.)
Proof of current expenses
Name of landlord
Current eviction or disconnection notice (if applicable)
Statement from doctor (if you are unable to work)
Proof of all current assets and/or benefits received.

Applicants may need to provide proof of income, expenses, and receipts for all household members, not just for themselves.

For those who are paid in cash, the Self Affidavit of Income Letter may be accepted by the general assistance office.

For photo ID, I-220A (Order of Release on Recognizance) and I-220B (Order of Supervision) forms from the US government should be accepted if a person does not have a Maine State ID or driver’s license. It is unclear if a photo ID from another country such as a passport or consular ID will be accepted or not.

For those towns that do phone interviews it will be necessary to have the person applying for general assistance, as well as an interpreter, with you during the phone interview.

If the interview is in person and an interpreter is not available to be at the interview, google translate can be used.

For some who are living in an apartment but do not have a lease, proof of a rental arrangement will be problematic. General assistance makes rental payments directly to a person’s landlord, which means they need to see a rental agreement and contact the landlord to have them fill out a W-9 for the town before they will make payments for rent. Many of the people we work with are unlikely to have landlords willing to fill out the required paperwork.

Those that are not able to receive assistance with rent may still be eligible for food assistance or assistance with other personal supplies in the form of store vouchers.

The decision on a General Assistance application is usually made quickly, so if you do not hear back soon after an application is submitted, reach out to the town office again to inquire about the decision.

According to Maine Equal Justice, people are eligible for General Assistance even if they are not US citizens in one of two ways:

by being lawfully present - which includes persons who have submitted asylum applications and have received a work permit, along with many other immigration statuses.
By pursuing a lawful process to apply for immigration relief.

This second category is meant to be flexible to serve those who haven't yet submitted an asylum application. So, people who haven’t had time to apply for asylum, people who have an I-220A (Order of Release on Recognizance) or I-220B (Order of Supervision) and are on file with ICE, people who are applying for SIJS (Special Immigrant Juvenile Status), or anyone with an upcoming immigration hearing of any kind MAY be eligible under this category. We do not know exactly how this category will be applied by the towns.

If a person does not have documentation of their immigration status, General Assistance should be allowing applicants to complete a form that indicates the person is "pursuing lawful process." They call this form an affidavit (General Assistance Affidavit.pdf). You should also be able to ask for this document when you call any General Assistance office.

If the town does not offer you such an affidavit form even when you ask for it or if you help someone apply for General Assistance and they are denied based on their immigration status, please reach out to Maine Equal Justice at 626-7058 ext 205 (specifically to Sue Hamlett shamlett@mejp.org or Moriah Geer mgeer@mejp.org) for help with the appeals process. Everyone has a right to appeal if denied General Assistance. We believe that appeal needs to happen within 5 days of receiving a denial letter so it will be important to appeal in a timely manner.

According to the Bangor general assistance office, ALL information reported on General Assistance applications is kept confidential and never released to Immigration. However, there is no law controlling the behavior of individual workers in a local town office, so there is always the risk of an individual town worker deciding to report someone without legal immigration status to ICE. DHHS and state agencies are different in this regard since there are laws requiring workers in these offices to keep all client information confidential - workers can be fined and fired for not following these laws.

Questions they will likely ask during the interview

It is recommended that these questions be reviewed with your families prior to the interview to have all the necessary information.

What country were you born in?
Are your parents living?
What are your parent’s names?
Do you have any siblings?
What are your sibling’s names?
What is your marital status?
When did you get married?
Do you have any children?
Where do you work?
If you are not employed, are you eligible for unemployment?
What is your education level?
Are there any physical or mental health issues that prevent you from working?
How much money do you earn?
When did you stop receiving income?
Do you own real estate either here or in your home country?
How much is your monthly rent?
Does your rent include utilities? If yes, which utilities are included in the rent?
What kind of heat is used in your apartment? (Maine Energy delivers for General Assistance and if the company hasn’t delivered to the house before they would need to come and inspect the tank prior to delivery. The maximum they can cover for oil is 100 gallons).
Do you have an automobile in Maine?
Do you have any savings or cash?
Do you have a Checking/Savings Account/ Trust Fund/ 401-K/Bonds/IRA?
Have you ever been Institutionalized for a mental health illness?
Is anyone in the household going to school and receiving financial aid?
Are you receiving any food stamps?