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VA TANF - Overview

TANF is Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. Virginia has two types of TANF programs:

·      TANF (Regular TANF): Overview in this topic.

·      TANF-UP (TANF-Unemployed Parent): For families with at least one child and with two able-bodied parents who are in financial need. See VA TANF-UP - Overview for more information.

The purpose of Virginia's TANF program is to:

·      Provide assistance to needy families so that children may be cared for in their own homes or in the homes of relatives;

·      End the dependence of needy parents on government benefits by promoting job preparation, work, and marriage;

·      Prevent and reduce the incidence of out-of-wedlock pregnancies; and encourage the formation and maintenance of two-parent families.

State and federal law establishes the right of all individuals:

·      To apply for financial assistance;

·      To have their eligibility for such assistance determined promptly and in conformity with law and established policy;

·      If found eligible, to receive assistance promptly and in the amount determined according to established policy; and

·      To appeal to the Commissioner of Social Services if they are dissatisfied with a decision of the local department regarding their case.

TANF Eligibility:

To be eligible for TANF benefits families must:

·       Have a child living in the home with a parent or caretaker-relative who is a relative of a specified degree;

·       Be in financial need;

·       Participate in the VIEW program unless exempt. (VIEW is the Virginia Initiative for Employment not Welfare.)

o    See VA VIEW - Overview for information about VIEW.

o    See VA VIEW - Exemption Criteria to find out if you or your family members are exempt and therefore do not have to participate in VIEW.

See VA TANF Eligibility for detailed information about TANF Eligibility.

TANF and Medicaid Eligibility

Before TANF replaced Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), Medicaid eligibility automatically came with AFDC eligibility. Now, Medicaid for Low Income Families with Children (LIFC) has its own eligibility criteria. LIFC Financial Eligibility criteria is similar in many respects to TANF Financial Eligibility criteria - especially in its use of similar nomenclature for different criteria -- so it is easy to confuse them.

For example, such terms as "countable income", "earned income disregards" and "standards of assistance" mean different things in TANF and in LIFC Medicaid. We will try to help you keep track of those distinctions as we explain the financial eligibility criteria for each program in WorkWORLD.

Different LIFC Medicaid eligibility income limits are used for TANF recipients who participate in VIEW, and those who do not participate in VIEW. See LIFC Eligibility for details.

TANF Time Limits:

A VA TANF Assistance Unit that includes an adult who has received 60 months of assistance under TANF as an adult caretaker, is not eligible for assistance.

"An assistance unit that includes an adult" means an assistance unit where the adult's needs are included in the grant, or a case where the adult's needs are not included in the grant but the adult is required to participate in VIEW. (See VA TANF Policy Manual 901.2.)

The 60 months of TANF eligibility is an accumulated period of time.

See VA TANF Time Limit for more information about the TANF time limit.

NOTE: VIEW participants have a 24-month TANF time limit. See VA VIEW Time Limit for more information on the VIEW time limit.

See Also:

VA TANF - Eligibility

VA TANF - Financial Eligibility

VA TANF - Assistance Unit

VA TANF - Grant Amount Calculations

VA TANF - Time Limit

VA TANF-UP - Overview

VA TANF-UP - Assistance Unit

VA VIEW - Overview

VA VIEW - Exemption Criteria

VA VIEW - Time Limit

VA VIEW - Grant Amount Calculations

Back To:

VA Benefit Information System Welcome and Introduction

Source:

VA TANF Policy Manual 201.1

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