Cash assistance from TANF benefits - or your state’s equivalent.
Find how and where to apply for the TANF benefit program, which provides low-income families and people living in or near poverty levels with money to help pay bills over the short term. This program is available in all states, though the name of the benefit may vary based on where the applicant lives. Learn more on how to get government TANF benefits in your area.
The federal government created the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program to help low income households as well as the working poor with children. Cash is also available for single mothers or fathers. Most of the funds are targeted at households that are living in poverty, or close to it. Short term financial assistance from the TANF benefit is available to help pay bills or cover basic household living expenses. The government funds from TANF are often combined with other public assistance, including job programs, food stamps, subsidized daycare and more.
It is government funded, short term cash assistance program that is available in all states for a limited period of time. Note TANF can be called different names in different states, but all state governments offer their residents some form of temporary cash assistance, with some people able to get emergency help.
The goal of this TANF benefit program, which is listed by state below (which some people still mistakenly refer to as “welfare benefits even USA.gov”), is to ensure a family can meet their basic household needs. For example, financial assistance can be provided for paying for housing, rent, energy bills, food, gas for job training or employment costs. In some cases the money from TANF can help pay for health care needs such as medications.
However, just as importantly, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program will help individuals gain longer term self sufficiency. So most of the social service as well as human service agencies that run TANF programs will also help people find a job. The organizations will ensure families attend a wide variety of training classes and improve their overall employment skills.
- Applicants need to keep in mind that any money will only be paid out from TANF if a client is aggressively looking for a job or attending some form of training, including at a government workforce center. Most states will require that recipients find some form of employment within 24 to 60 months (depending on the state), or the benefits may end. Even single moms or parent run homes, or people with a short term disability, need to be in some form of job program.
Type of bills paid by TANF benefits
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Temporary Assistance for Needy Families provides funding to help pay a wide range of expenses and household bills. The government has established requirements about participants needing to be actively looking for work and take on personal responsibility for addressing the cause of their hardship. If they do this, and meet other eligibility criteria, then all sorts of expenses can be paid including food, clothing, job commuting costs, gas for work, and many others. TANF benefits can pay expenses that help people find a job. The program also has time limits in place to as noted.
Many individual states will also offer other government benefits to families, in addition to emergency cash. This will include grant money and social services in combination with TANF. Single parents, whether moms or dads, often benefit from the combination of cash assistance from TANF payments as say Medicaid or SNAP food stamps. This is done as the main objective is to help low-income families with children gain self-sufficiency. Specifically, the primary objectives include paying for certain household needs while also ending the dependency of low income parents for government assistance.
Amount of cash benefits from TANF
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The amount of cash benefits offered in a state or near you that is provided depends on the state as well as your family size, household income and other circumstances. The amount is generally in the hundreds of dollars per month though for a typical family, but it does vary. Some states will also factor in the families’ shelter obligation, which would include their monthly rental expenses or combine TANF by details on state rent payment assistance programs.
- In some cases TANF benefits can pay out as much as several hundred dollars per month however a social service office near you will often have a calculator to determine that amount of cash paid out from TANF grants. The government cash assistance program only runs for a certain amount of time, with those benefits ending even earlier early if the work requirements are not met. Even in best cases it may only last 60 months for adults.
 Pregnant women can also generally get money from TANF - a few hundred dollars or so (depending on state).. However some states may provide additional TANF assistance for child only cases, which will usually not have a time limit. If the expectant woman is unable to work even more funds may be paid out. Find how much cash assistance a state will pay.
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families application rules
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Each state will have their own income and asset requirements for TANF, with some states also offering online applications for TANF benefits, but in general the following apply.
- Citizenship – Applicants need to be either U.S. citizens or qualified non-citizens. It can sometimes help documented immigrants, depending on where the applicant lives.
- Social Security Number - Individuals must be able to provide a Social Security Number for themselves and family members. Or they need to prove that they have applied for one, and they will need to have identification instead.
- Child Support Cooperation - The parent or the caretaker of any children in the household will need to fully cooperate with child support enforcement to prove a legal relationship to the applying parent.
- Work or Job Training - People, including single parents, must participate in some type of job training or work activities unless they meet an exemption which may be offered from time to time. Many state social service offices and employment centers can provide work activities. They can customize services needed to either keep a job or help a beneficiary find employment. Some clients can even get extra money from a work from home job, and that can meet TANF requirements.
- Asset Limits - A family's total household, so called countable assets (savings, investment accounts, etc.) must be under a certain threshold. This may be close to the poverty level.
- Self-sufficiency - The benefit is temporary in nature. Therefore adults who apply for cash assistance from TANF will usually need to sign some type of self-sufficiency contract.
- Children - Any children will need to reside with a legal guardian, parent, a legal custodian, or a specified relative. Most states require children of someone receiving TANF to be in school.
- Timing - As noted, this is a temporary program. Cash is only paid out for a limited amount of months over the clients lifetime.
Apply for TANF government cash assistance benefits in your state
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The contact information below will not only provide information on TANF application sites and phone numbers near you to call, but it covers other public benefit programs too, including food stamps, Medicaid, income based housing and more. As the fact is many low income families and people living in poverty often qualify for more than one entitlement.
Online, telephone, and in personal applications are processed. The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services has information as well from the Children and Families department. This can provide more state details, or locate a list of states too. https://acf.gov/ofa/map/about/help-families.
Alabama - Family Assistance Program
Arizona - TANF Cash assistance)
Arkansas - TANF
California - CALWORKS (California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids)
Colorado - Colorado Works
Connecticut - Temporary Family Assistance
Delaware - TANF
Florida - Florida Temporary Cash Assistance
Georgia - TANF
Hawaii - TANF
Idaho - Temporary Assistance for Families in Idaho
Illinois - TANF
Indiana - TANF, cash assistance
Iowa - FIP (Family Investment Program)
Kansas - Kansas Works - Department for Children and Families
Kentucky - K-TAP (Kentucky Transitional Assistance Program)
Louisiana - FITAP (Family Independence Temporary Assistance Program), cash assistance
Maine - TANF,
Maryland - Temporary Cash Assistance (TCA)
Massachusetts - TAFDC (Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children), cash assistance as well as ESP (Employment Services Program)
Michigan - Cash Assistance and FIP (Family Independence Program)
Minnesota - MFIP (Minnesota Family Investment Program)
Mississippi - TANF
Missouri - Missouri Temporary Assistance (TA)
Nebraska - Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Visit (Aid to Dependent Children)
Nevada - TANF
New Hampshire - Financial Assistance to Needy Families
New Jersey - WORK First
New Mexico - TANF
New York - Temporary Assistance
North Carolina - Work First
North Dakota - TANF
Ohio - Work First
Oklahoma - TANF
Oregon - TANF
Pennsylvania - TANF
Rhode Island - Rhode Island Works
South Carolina - TANF/Family Independence (FI)
South Dakota - TANF
Tennessee - Families First
Texas - TANF
Vermont - Reach Up in Vermont Visit
Virginia - TANF and Emergency Assistance (EA)
Washington - TANF and WorkFirst Program
West Virginia - West Virginia Works
Wisconsin - Wisconsin Works (W-2) Program
Anyone person with a very-low household income can apply. For more information on just receiving cash assistance or similar options, locate welfare phone numbers for each and every state.
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