Assistance is offered to Bahamian citizens or Bahamian permanent residents. Food Assistance and Shelter in the aftermath of a nationally-declared or local area disaster is offered to anyone within the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.
For some assistance types, applicants must meet certain criteria. These include:
- Housing- Placement to Motel
- Housing- Rental
- Burial
- Uniform
- Food Ongoing
- Financial Assistance- Assets
- Financial Assistance- Utility
Proxy-means testing (PMT) is used to determine the eligibility of a household for some assistance types. PMT is based on fairly easy to observe characteristics of the household such as the location and quality of the dwelling, ownership of durable goods, demographic structure of the household, and the education of adults.
An interview aimed at assessing the personal, family, and income situation of the applicant forms the basis for giving social assistance benefits. It is carried out by a social worker within 14 days of the application being made.