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| Scholarships and internships are
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Photos by Natasha Kavanaugh
LaiLa Butler helps Grandma Bird carve a pumpkin.
The Youth Services Team sponsored a Halloween Activities Day on Oct. 16 and
provided families with pumpkins, crafts, games, raffle prizes and light snacks.
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The Udall Foundation offers two amazing opportunities for American Indian
and Alaska Native students.
Udall Scholarship: This $5,000 scholarship is awarded to 80 under-
graduate sophomores and juniors pursuing careers related to Tribal public policy,
Native health care or the environment (you must be an American Indian/Alaska
Native to be eligible in the first two categories).
Udall scholars also get to attend the Udall Scholar Orientation and are
immediately plugged into a growing and active alumni network. The deadline
is March 5, 2012.
Native American Congressional Internship: This 10-week sum-
mer internship in Washington, D.C., is for American Indian and Alaska Native
students who wish to learn more about the federal government and issues
affecting Indian Country. The internship is fully funded - the foundation
provides round-trip airfare, housing, per diem for food and incidentals, and a
stipend at the close of the program.
Undergraduate seniors and juniors, graduate students, law students and
recent graduates are eligible to apply. The deadline is Jan. 31, 2012.
More information is available at udall.gov.
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Discount phone services available nationally for low-income families
Two national telephone discounts -
Lifeline and Link Up - are available for
low-income families and individuals.
Lifeline provides discounts on
monthly phone service charges and Link
Up provides a discount on the cost of
commencing phone service for qualifying
low-income households. Lifeline and
Link Up are supported by the federal
Universal Service Fund (USF).
Lifeline provides discounts on one
basic monthly phone service (wireline or
wireless) for qualified subscribers. These
discounts can be up to $10 per month,
depending on the state. Enhanced Lifeline
discounts are available for qualified low-
income consumers living on Tribal lands.
Federal rules prohibit qualifying low-
income consumers from receiving more
than one Lifeline service at the same time.
That is, qualifying low-income consum
ers can receive a Lifeline discount on
either a home or wireless phone service,
but cannot receive a Lifeline discount on
both services at the same time. Lifeline
also includes toll limitation service, which
enables a subscriber to limit the amount
of long distance calls that can be made.
Link Up provides qualified subscrib
ers with a one-time discount (up to a
maximum of $30) off of the initial instal
lation fee for one traditional, wireline
phone service at the primary residence or
the activation fee for one wireless phone
service. Enhanced Link Up discounts are
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Siletz News
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available for qualified low-income con
sumers living on Tribal lands.
Federal rules prohibit qualifying
low-income consumers from receiving
more than one Link Up discount. That is,
qualifying low-income consumers can
receive a Link Up discount on installa
tion or activation charges associated with
either a home or wireless phone service.
Qualifying consumers can be eligible for
Link Up again only after moving to a new
primary residence.
The Lifeline program is available
to qualifying consumers in every state,
territory and commonwealth and on
Tribal lands.
You must be eligible to enroll in the
program. Eligibility criteria vary by state.
For states that rely solely on the federal
Lifeline and Link Up program eligibility
criteria, subscribers must either have an
income at or below 135 percent of the
federal poverty guidelines or participate in
one of the following assistance programs:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Medicaid
Food Stamps
Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
Federal Public Housing Assistance
(Section 8)
Low-Income Home Energy Assis
tance Program (LIHEAP)
Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families (TANF)
The National School Lunch Pro
gram’s Free Lunch Program
November 2011
For 2011, 135 percent of the federal
poverty guidelines is as follows:
Persons in family
or household
1
2
3
4
135%
FPG
$14,702
$19,859
$25,016
$30,173
Source: Federal Register, Vol. 76, No. 13,
Jan. 20, 2011,pp. 3637-3638
Additional discounts for
households on Tribal lands
As mentioned above, enhanced Life
line and Link Up benefits are available for
low-income consumers who live on Tribal
lands, which are defined as a federally
recognized Indian Tribe’s reservation,
pueblo or colony; on a former reservation
in Oklahoma; within an Indian allot
ment; or within an Alaska Native region
established by the Alaska Native Claims
Settlement Act.
Qualified subscribers on Tribal lands
can receive a Lifeline discount of up to
$35 per month off of the cost of basic
phone service, wireline or wireless. This
discount can mean that low-income sub
scribers on Tribal lands can receive basic
monthly phone service for as little as $ 1
a month.
Qualified subscribers on Tribal lands
also can receive a one-time Link Up dis
count of up to $100 on the initial instal
lation of a traditional wireline phone
connection or the activation of a wireless
phone service.
To be eligible for enhanced Lifeline
and Link Up, subscribers living on Tribal
lands either must have an income at or
below 135 percent of the federal poverty
guidelines (see above) or participate in an
income assistance program outlined above
or one of the following programs:
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Bureau of Indian Affairs General
Assistance
Tribally Administered Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families
(TTANF)
Head Start (if income eligibility
criteria are met)
State assistance programs (if
applicable)
For more information on the Lifeline
program, including eligibility require
ments, visit the USAC website at usac.org
or call the USAC Customer Operations
Center at 888-641-8722.
You also can contact your local phone
service provider or state public utility
commission (PUC). For your state’s PUC
contact information, visit the National
Association of Regulatory Utility Com
missioners website at naruc.org or look in
your local phone directory’s blue pages or
government section.
To talk to a consumer advocate in
your state, visit nasuca.org/archive/about/
membdir.php.