Albanian National Mother and Child-British Dad Advice Needed

I am working with a family where mother and her child were living in Albania and she is married to a British Citizen.  She applied for a spouses visa in Albania and was told that further information was being gathered before a decision was made on her case.  However her child has a disability and she felt unable to get the care and attention for him in Albania so came to the UK without a Visa.  Her passport has been taken and she has papers giving her temporary admission but she is liable to be be detained and removed. She has been here for seven months and sought advice from CAB and was given a list of solicitors.  She hasn’t acted on this advice as she says they have no money for the application to be made to the Home Office.

Father works as and when he can doing handyman jobs but this is inconsistent and they are struggling with rent, food and bills.

I am concerned that any application for Child Benefit etc may cause problems with their case.  We would normally ask the client to discuss with their solicitor to check in such cases but are not able to do so and this family are in considerable hardship.  I have advised that it is vital that they get legal advice but if anyone has any comments I would be grateful.