Eligibility Requirements for TANF
First Time Visitor? Welcome
FinancialLearn.com is dedicated to finding great deals, free stuff, and promote frugal living. We are delighted to have you here.
Sound Fun? Have our articles delivered to you via RSS Feed or E-mail to be reminded of new and upcoming contests and articles.
Categorical eligibility is the non-financial and non-behavioral rules that govern whether a family qualifies to receive TANF assistance. The states decide who is and who is not part of an “eligible family”. The states choices on this matter vary a great deal.
Dependent child
Federal TANF funds cannot be used by states to provide assistance to families without a pregnant women or a minor child. Federal definition of a minor child is one who is under 18, or 18 and in secondary school or the equivalent of that. State or local funds that are to be applied toward the state’s MOE must only be used for families that meet this requirement of minor child or pregnant women. The definition a state uses for a minor child can be broader or more restrictive for programs using MOE funds.
Siblings
Individual state policy determines who must be included, who can’t be included and who may or may not be included in the definition of family. Some states require all half or full siblings who live together to be included in the assisted family unit. Other states exclude children that are receiving SSI, adoption assistance or Foster Care assistance. Still other states allow the family to decide who is considered as part of the family unit.
Non-siblings
The federal government does not mandate whom the states must include or exclude from a family unit that is receiving care from the same person. Some states allow children under the same provider who are not siblings to be considered their own family unit. This would allow a niece or nephew or other individual receiving care to receive assistance as his or her own unit. Half of the states require all children receiving care from a common caretaker be considered a part of one family unit for assistance purposes.
Child absent from home
Federal TANF funds can be used to provide assistance to a child how is temporarily absent from a parent or caretaker relative’s home. This temporary period is limited to 6 months. A state has the option of deciding the length of time that is considered temporary when using MOE funds.
Non-parent caretakers
The requirement that a caretaker had to have a specified degree of kinship is no longer applicable. Federal guidelines require that the child’s caretaker be a relative. The states again decide what constitutes a relative. Since October 1999, state MOE or federal TANF funds can not be given as assistance to a caretaker that is not a relative. Sates can decide to include or not include non-parent caregivers in the family assistance unit. This would apply to stepparents etc.
Pregnant women
States have the option of determining the assistance offered to a pregnant women. Each state can set its own guidelines regarding when during that pregnancy a women becomes eligible. In some states eligibility begins in the first month and in others not until the ninth month.
Two-parent families
With the inception of TANF the inclusion of two-parent families is no longer mandated. States decide their own individual requirements. Some states still adhere to the standard that if there are two parents in the family than one must be incapacitated or unemployed. All of the states provide assistance to two-parent families in some form.
Grandparents
All states set their own requirements regarding parents of minor parents. Some allow the minor parent and their child to be a separate family unit while others require if the grandparent is receiving assistance that all of them are one family unit.
Other adults
States can set their own guidelines in the matter of who is included in the parent or relative caregiver assistance family. Some allow the family to choose whether a stepparent or spouses of a relative caregiver is included in the family unit for eligibility purposes and funding purposes.
Popularity: 13% [?]
Related Posts
- Temporary Assistance to Needy Families
- Social Security Medicaid
- Social Security 101
- 10 Things Men Wish Women knew about Money
- Social Security Administration
- Should I Get An Offshore Account?
- Using EE Series Bonds for Education
