Frequently Asked Questions

The stipend is intended to help provide economic relief to homeless service workers who work in an industry that is struggling with staffing shortages and worker retention.

The authorizing legislation for this program defines "eligible entity" as an organization that state agencies or local governments grant or subcontract to provide homeless services under their homeless housing program as defined in RCW 43.185C.010. The list of eligible entities for this program is from the annual homeless housing project inventory completed by local governments and submitted to the Washington State legislature via the Dept. of Commerce.

List of eligible organizations (updated 3/16/2023)

If you believe an eligible organization is missing from this list, please contact the program administrator.

Full-time, part-time employees or independent contractors working directly on-site with persons experiencing homelessness or residents of transitional or permanent supportive housing.

An eligible homeless service worker must meet all of the following criteria:

• You are currently employed at an ‘eligible entity’, or eligible organization
• You are a homeless service worker employee living in Washington State
• You have an immediate economic need (you can self-attest to this)
• Your income is at or below 80 % of your area median income
• You work full-time or part-time directly on-site with persons experiencing homelessness or residents of transitional or permanent supportive housing.
• Please note: Applicants do not need to be 18 years of age or older.

The last day to submit application for Stipend #1 is June 2, 2023.

Applicants awarded Stipend #1 on or before December 22, 2022, will be sent instructions viatheir registered email to apply for Stipend #2 approximately five months after their award date.

1. Log into your FORWARD account, go to ABOUT 

Check/update my address (if needed) and my INCOME information (required). In the DOCUMENTS section uploaded your pay stub for THE SAME eligible entity as Stipend

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2. Wait for the email to tell you that your application is active to apply in the portal. When you log into the FORWARD portal and click on MY APPLICATION, you will see if you are eligible to apply for Stipend #2 if the STATUS is “Eligible for Next Application."

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3. Click on PROGRAMS and you will see the INVITATION ONLY Stipend #2 application. Complete the application and SUBMIT it. Make sure you have uploaded your pay stub (required) and corrected W 9/ID (if needed, optional)

You received an email from forward-notification@livestories.com on the date you were approved. The email you receive to notify you to apply for Stipend #2 will contain your approval date in red. As well as the date you can expect to be approved for Stipend #2. You can also check the approval date of your application by emailing stipendwa-support@livestories.zendesk.com

Please apply and provide one paystub issued in the 90 days before your application date.  FORWARD will contact you if there are any questions or additional information needed to process your application. 

You are responsible for reporting TOTAL INDIVIDUAL INCOME in the income section of your application. You also need to upload your pay stub to show the eligible entity you are employed with for verification and income calculations. 

Please apply and provide a letter from your employer, on company letterhead, stating why you do not have a paystub during those 90 days. FORWARD will contact you if there are any questions or additional information needed to process your application. 

Applicants approved for Stipend #1 after December 22, 2022 ARE NOT eligible for Stipend #2.

Log into your FORWARD account and update the address in both the CONTACT tab and the MAILING ADDRESS section.

No, the program is limited to a single application “snapshot” in time. You can decide when during the program you want to apply. There is an established appeal process if you feel that you were denied incorrectly however, you may not submit a new application/reapply.

No, if you work in a qualifying role at an eligible entity, you may apply on the first day of employment and anytime thereafter. 

Yes, you can update your details and your documents anytime but make sure the paystub is within 90 days of the date you got the link.

Your ID in the FORWARD platform must match your pay stub and your Social Security number when we validate with the IRS system.

Provide each employee with a letter that they can upload to the FORWARD platform with their pay stubs to clarify the change. FORWARD will contact you if there are any questions or additional information needed to process your application.

Receiving an additional employer based stipend does not affect your eligibility for the Homeless Service Worker Stipend. Your TOTAL INDIVIDUAL INCOME must still be below 80% AMI to be eligible.

Applications for the second stipend payment must be approved no later than June 9, 2023.

The last day to submit application for Stipend #2 is June 2, 2023.

1. Recent Pay Stub from Eligible Organization

‍Pay stub must have been issued within the last 90 days of application submission

‍2. A completed W-9 form.*

• Download the W9 form from the IRS website
• Download W9 Instruction Guide

‍3. Copy of photo ID to verify identity. Examples of eligible forms of ID include the following:*

• ‍Valid Driver’s License*
• Birth Certificate*
• State-issued Identification Card*
• Student Identification Card*
• Military Identification Card*
• Passport or Passport Card*

Note: No documents are required to demonstrate economic need or to affirm you are a homeless service worker. These requirements will be achieved through self-attestation.

We need your personal W-9 in order to pay you!

Because this stipend is considered taxable income, you will get a 1099 at the end of the year from us that you will use for tax reporting purposes. PLEASE FILL OUT THE W-9 AS YOURSELF, NOT YOUR EMPLOYER. An improperly filled W-9 will delay your application approval.

• Download the W9 form from the IRS website
• Download W9 Instruction Guide

If your W-9 was filled out incorrectly, it will need to be amended.

In that case, our staff may call you from a number you do not recognize. We will never ask you for private information, only how to properly re-submit your W-9. Please keep an eye out for this phone call. Please sign, date, and upload the completed form into the Forward application platform

• The Area Median Income (AMI) describes the midpoint of an area's income distribution, where 50 percent of households earn above the median figure while 50 percent earn less than the median.
• AMI will be calculated on the individual applicant’s gross income (income before any taxes or other deductions). Applicants should attest their personal income only, not household income. The shift in eligibility aligns with the legislation which requires the program to only consider individual income.
• The 80% AMI threshold is relative to the applicant's county of employment or the applicant's county of residence

The 80% AMI threshold is relative to the applicant's county of employment or the applicant's county of residence.

The program administrator will calculate the AMI relative to the applicant's county of employment and the applicant's county of residence. If one or both are within the 80% threshold, the applicant is eligible.

If you would like to verify your AMI on your own, follow these steps.

• First, add all your individual gross income (income before any taxes or other deductions) and check the AMI for your county of residence and county of employment.
• You can check your AMI for a household of 1 person using the Department of Housing & Urban Development’s (HUD) website.
  

Immediate economic need includes, but is not limited to needing help paying for:

• rent or mortgage payments;
• utilities and other household bills;
• medical expenses; student loan payments;
• transportation related costs;
• child care-related costs;
• behavioral health-related costs;
• other basic necessities.
  

• You can self-attest to having an “immediate economic need”.
• When you self-attest to having one or more of the immediate economic needs listed (and meets all other screening and eligibility criteria), you are eligible for a stipend payment of up to $2,000.

This includes, but is not limited to;

• Emergency shelter and transitional housing staff;
• Street outreach workers;
• Caseworkers;
• Peer advisors;
• Reception and administrative support staff;
• Maintenance and custodial staff; and
• Individuals providing direct services for homeless youth and young adults.

Executive and senior administrative employees do not qualify for this stipend.

An eligible homeless service worker who works for two or more eligible organizations may only receive a stipend for working at one organization.

Applications for an initial stipend payment open September 29, 2022. Applicants receiving an initial stipend payment are eligible to apply for a second stipend six months after being approved for the first one. All payments will be received no later than June 30, 2023.

Applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis.

Click Apply Now to begin your application. 

No. Currently, you can only apply online.

Once your application is approved, you can expect payment within 2-4 weeks.

Yes, when the online application is available, you will be able to use your phone’s browser to submit an application. Please note you will need to upload documents as a part of your application, so those documents should be readily available on your phone.

LiveStories, a U.S. company, created FORWARD to simplify the management of assistance programs. With FORWARD, local governments and non-profits can connect households and businesses to resources, collect applications, process payments, and drive equity. Contact the program administrator.

Visit the Contact page to reach the Program administrator.

The approval process can take up to 60 days from the time of application.

You will receive an automatic email message from the program administrator at the time of approval. You can also contact the program administrator to learn about the status of your application.

Once your application is approved, you can expect payment within 2-4 weeks.

• Eligible applicants are qualified for a second stipend payment if they are still working for the same eligible organization, working in an eligible position, six months after approval of the first stipend payment.
• Eligible applicants can submit their application for the second stipend six months after approval of the first stipend payment.
• There is a tight timeline to fit both payment windows in six months apart and all payment must be distributed by June 23, 2022. For instance, if you were approved for your first stipend payment on October 1, 2022, you would be eligible to apply for your second stipend payment on April 1, 2023.
• Applicants are ineligible to receive a second stipend if they did not apply for, and were approved of, an initial stipend payment on or before December 9, 2022.

Yes, workers hired between the first and second stipend are eligible to apply. These workers will only be eligible for one, $2,000 stipend payment (assuming there are hired when there is no longer sufficient time for six months to pass between the first and second stipend payments).

Yes, you can apply for one stipend up to $2,000.

Recipients must be currently working for the eligible organization, and no minimum number of days served is required.

No. Full-time, part-time employees and homeless service workers that work as independent contractors are eligible, as long as they work directly on-site with persons experiencing homelessness or residents of transitional or permanent supportive housing are eligible. This does not include executive and senior administrative employees of an eligible organization.

No, there are no restrictions on the minimum hours needed to be eligible as a part-time worker.

Creating an account to apply for the stipend program is easy. To learn how, watch the following video from Live Stories. If you are not able to watch the video, contact support.

If you have more questions on how to use the FORWARD platform, take a look at additional video tutorials.

If an application was denied, written notice of the denial will be provided to the applicant. Applicants denied have the right to file a grievance if they disagree with the program administrator’s (LiveStories) decision. The Grievance Procedure will be included in the written notice for denial.

Read the program’s grievance policy here.

No, you are responsible for paying any and all taxes associated with your stipend. You will receive an IRS Form 1099 from the program administrator to file with your annual federal personal income tax for 2022 and/or 2023 (depending on when you receive stipend payments).

To prevent disruption of income-based social services, please consult with your service provider(s) to ensure this stipend will not affect your benefits eligibility. (For example, if you are a recipient of SNAP benefits, please check with DSHS on the impact of this additional income on your food and/or cash benefits eligibility.)

Please use this tax bracket calculator to determine your tax liability.

Yes, Geocko, Inc. is the parent company of FORWARD.

If you were awarded a stipend payment in 2022, an IRS tax form 1099 reporting that payment has been mailed and/or emailed to you from GEOCKO, INC. The email will come from a service called Track1099 1099 & W-2.

Anonymous demographic data will be collected for applicants receiving a stipend payment over $1,000. This data includes recipient age, gender, length of time at the current agency, salary/wage, educational attainment, race, ethnicity, and geographic location.

LiveStories, the program administrator of the FORWARD platform is committed to protecting your privacy and will never share or disclose your information without your consent. Click here for FORWARD’s Privacy Policy.