For anything that changes — income limits, benefit amounts, fees, filing deadlines, licence status — the state's own systems are the source, and everything else is a copy of varying age. That includes this site.
The state publishes its own self-service portal for applications and case information, programme pages for each service area, and public records for licensed providers.
Provider and licence records
Licence status, inspection history and complaint findings are public for most licensed categories.
Programme dashboards
Several service areas publish aggregate data — caseloads, outcomes, spending — which is useful for understanding scale even when it says nothing about an individual case.
Statutes and rules
The underlying law is published in full. When a page anywhere disagrees with the statute, the statute wins.
Check the date
A page with no date on it is a page nobody has checked.
Be suspicious of exact numbers
Thresholds quoted without a year attached are usually copied from an old version.
Never pay to apply
Applications for public assistance are free. A site charging a fee to submit one on your behalf is at best redundant.
Ignore anyone offering to check your balance
No third party can see a benefit account. Sites offering this are collecting card details.
The pages in the other sections of this site are written to be read before you go to the official source, not instead of it. They are meant to save you the first hour — the one spent working out which programme you are even looking at.