COUNSELING GUIDELINES FOR CLIENTS AT OR BELOW THE POVERTY LEVEL
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What is different about counseling clients below the poverty line?
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After you have done your budget analysis and if you still aren’t sure which recommendation to give, it is generally safe to recommend bankruptcy to those clients that fall below the income poverty line. |
Why the change?
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We want to give accurate recommendations regardless of what the system says. Clients that are near or below the poverty level are not likely to be able to pay back their debt. |
Do they have to be exactly at or below the poverty level?
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No, they can be within a couple of hundred dollars – please use your best judgment. In reality, we shouldn’t get too many of these. |
Do I need to analyze the budget or can I just recommend bk?
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You must still analyze the budget. We still need to account for things that don’t make sense. |
Is it possible for a client living near or below poverty to have a debt repayment?
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Anything is possible but it would be highly unusual. Please check with OM if you think you might have a client in that circumstance. |
What are the levels?
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Why are these listed monthly and not annually like we do for waivers?
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Because we’re comparing this against monthly income (that’s what the clients provide to us in the course). |
What income number do we use? Before or after voluntary deductions?
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Use the monthly income including voluntary deductions (the total monthly income). |