Information on Benefits Advice and
Debt Management

Welfare Benefit Advice and Debt Management Resource Directory for Service Users 
 

With the recent credit crunch there is increasing recognition of the way that the distress caused by financial problems can either lead to mental health problems or exacerbate existing mental health problems. For those people on low income or in receipt of welfare benefits the problems of insecure finances and mounting debt can seem insurmountable, while access to appropriate advice can be hard to find.

The Trust’s completed a Project in June 2009 to examine Access to Welfare Benefits and Financial Advice in In-patient and Residential Settings and produced a number of recommendations that are currently being implemented to improve this access.

One of the recommendations is the production of the Resource Directory which provides an easily accessible source of information on local advice services, telephone based help and advice lines and internet-based resources for service users. All the resources identified can be accessed directly by the internet or telephone and will provide basic guidance on issues such as benefit entitlement, managing on a restricted budget or where to find help with getting out of debt.