The COVID-19 crisis has forced the County to make tough choices on how to use our resources. Rest assured that our commitment to helping the most vulnerable members of our community, regardless of immigration status, remains a top priority.
We can provide you and your family access to available supports and resources including food, rental assistance, utility assistance and other help. The starting point is to call 703-222-0880, TTY 711, our Coordinated Services Planning (CSP) social work call center. CSP will make all the arrangements to get you the help you need through our network of community and county service providers. The call center has dedicated English and Spanish lines and specialists who have the ability to provide services in 17 languages and accessibility to translation services for others.
County staff does not ask questions around a person’s immigration status, unless you are seeking a type of assistance, such as Medicaid, where there is a legal or regulatory requirement for us to ask about this. We keep your information confidential, including any documents you submit to us. We do not share this information outside of CSP, unless you have given CSP authorization with other Fairfax agencies and not with the state or federal government (except when you are applying for a type of federal aid like Medicaid where we must do so). The majority of our County and community sponsored programs do not need this type of documentation.
We know that the immigration status of some Fairfax County residents excludes them from certain types of federal government assistance designed to address the impacts of COVID-19, such as expanded unemployment benefits and tax benefits. Acknowledging this, Fairfax County and our nonprofit partners are committed to providing basic needs assistance regardless of immigration status.
We acknowledge that some residents may not feel comfortable accessing any type of support provided by the government. Therefore, community residents can continue to access some basic needs assistance by contacting nonprofits directly as well. The nonprofit providers we work with include some faith-based organizations, houses of worship and community-based organizations.
In addition to all of these items, Fairfax County is also actively exploring a number of opportunities with our philanthropic and nonprofit partners to ensure that the needs of this population are being considered and addressed.
Jeffrey C. McKay
Chairman, Board of Supervisors