The Michigan SER program, formally the State Emergency Relief program, is a one-time payment from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services that helps your household get through a sudden crisis affecting a basic need. It can cover utility shutoffs, eviction or relocation, emergency home repairs, and burial costs.1Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws – Act 280 of 1939 – The Social Welfare Act SER is not ongoing support. The emergency has to be real and current, and a single payment has to be enough to fix it.2Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. State Emergency Relief Manual – ERM 303
What SER Will Pay For
SER is organized around specific crisis categories. Each has its own payment limits, and most limits are lifetime caps rather than annual ones.
Housing and Relocation
If you’re facing eviction, foreclosure, condemnation, or homelessness caused by domestic violence or a natural disaster, SER can help with a security deposit, first month’s rent, moving expenses, and temporary storage.3Legal Information Institute. Michigan Administrative Code R 400.7026 – Relocation Services For homeowners, SER can cover mortgage payments, land contract payments, and property tax arrears to prevent the loss of your home. All home ownership assistance combined is capped at $2,000 for your lifetime, including any payments the program has ever made for you before.4Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. State Emergency Relief Manual – ERM 304 Home Ownership
Emergency Home Repairs
Repairs qualify when a direct health or safety hazard exists, such as a broken furnace in winter or a failed septic system. The caps are lifetime, per household:
- Energy-related repairs (furnace replacement, heating system work): $4,000.
- Non-energy repairs (hot water heater, septic, structural hazards): $1,500.
Any SER-funded repair your household has received, going back years, counts against those totals.5Michigan Department of Health & Human Services. State Emergency Relief Policy Manual
Energy and Utilities
If you’re facing a shutoff for heat, electricity, water, sewer, or cooking gas, SER can pay arrears or a deposit to keep service active. Fiscal-year caps include $350 for water and sewer and $175 for cooking gas. Reconnection fees and deposits are capped at $200 per occurrence. Heat and electric arrears have fiscal-year caps that MDHHS sets each year.5Michigan Department of Health & Human Services. State Emergency Relief Policy Manual
Burial and Cremation
When a household member dies and the family can’t afford final arrangements, SER provides limited help:
- Burial with memorial service: up to $875 total ($615 to the funeral director, $160 to the cemetery, $100 for a vault).
- Burial without memorial service: up to $610.
- Cremation with memorial service: up to $640.
- Cremation without memorial service: up to $390.
These amounts rarely cover the full cost of a funeral.6Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. State Emergency Relief Manual – ERM 306 Burials
Who Qualifies
You have to be a current Michigan resident, and the emergency has to exist when you apply. Beyond that, SER tests your assets and your income, and MDHHS also considers whether a one-time payment will actually resolve your situation.
Asset Limit
Your household’s countable assets cannot exceed $15,000. That includes bank accounts, investments, and other liquid holdings, measured at equity value (fair market value minus any debts against the asset).7Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Bridges Eligibility Manual – BEM 400 Assets
Income Limits
The income cutoff depends on what you’re asking for, and the gap between the two tracks is large. For energy and water or sewer help, the limit is 150 percent of the Federal Poverty Level: $1,956 a month for a household of one, $4,019 for a family of four, and an added $688 per month for each additional person.
For everything else SER covers (housing, home repairs, burial), the monthly income need standards are much tighter:
- 1 person: $445
- 2 people: $500
- 3 people: $625
- 4 people: $755
- 5 people: $885
- 6 people: $1,015
Add $100 per month for each additional household member beyond six. The practical result catches many applicants off guard: you can qualify for help with a gas shutoff but not for relocation assistance on the same income.5Michigan Department of Health & Human Services. State Emergency Relief Policy Manual
How to Apply
SER applications use Form MDHHS-1171, the state’s general assistance application.8Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. MDHHS-1171 Assistance Application and Program Supplements You can file it by mail, by fax, or in person at your local MDHHS office. The fastest route is online through the MI Bridges portal, which also lets you upload scanned copies or phone photos of your documents.9MI Bridges. Apply for Benefits
Your application date starts a 30-day eligibility period. If another emergency comes up during that window, you don’t need to file again; MDHHS treats it as an add-on to your existing case.10Michigan Department of Health & Human Services. State Emergency Relief Manual – ERM 103 Application Procedures
Documents to Have Ready
Most verification needs to be current, dated within the last 30 days, and you’ll generally get 10 days to provide anything MDHHS requests after you apply.11Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Verification Plan to supply:
- Social Security numbers for everyone in the household who is applying.
- Identification for the applicant.
- Income proof such as recent pay stubs, unemployment statements, or documentation that income has stopped.
- Shelter expenses: rent receipts, mortgage statements, property tax bills.
- Shutoff notices for any utility you’re asking SER to help with.
- Bank statements showing current balances.
Report income as gross amounts, before taxes. Numbers that don’t line up with what MDHHS sees in its own systems are one of the quickest ways to stall a decision.
What Happens After You Apply
MDHHS aims to decide SER applications within 10 business days of receiving a signed application at the local office. That deadline can’t be used against you: if you’re cooperating and still gathering documents, the application stays open past the 10-day window.10Michigan Department of Health & Human Services. State Emergency Relief Manual – ERM 103 Application Procedures
Interviews are not automatic. A caseworker will schedule one when there are discrepancies to work through or when your household doesn’t already have an active MDHHS case. When an interview is needed, expect a phone call first; in-person interviews happen only when the phone contact doesn’t come together.
If you’re approved, you’ll get a written notice with the payment amount and the vendor being paid. SER money goes straight to the service provider (your utility company, landlord, or funeral home), not to you.
If You’re Denied
Your denial notice must state the reason. Common ones are income or assets over the limit, missing documents, or an emergency that doesn’t fit the program’s definition. Read the letter closely before you decide what to do.
You can request an administrative hearing to challenge the decision by filing Form DHS-18 at your local MDHHS office. The hearing is run by the Michigan Office of Administrative Hearings and Rules, independent of the caseworker who issued the denial.12Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Michigan Office of Administrative Hearings and Rules for MDHHS
You can also simply reapply. A new application starts a fresh 30-day eligibility period, and if the reason you were denied was a missing document, resubmitting with the right paperwork is usually faster than a hearing.10Michigan Department of Health & Human Services. State Emergency Relief Manual – ERM 103 Application Procedures