CITATIONS: Social Security Act, as amended, sections 401-419, 1611(c)(5)(A), 1612(a)(2), 1612(b)(2)(A), and 1612(b)(6); 20 CFR 416.1102, 416.1103, 416.1124(c)(2), and 416.1124(c)(12); 45 CFR 260-265.
The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 revised Title IV-A of the Social Security Act and replaced Aid to Families With Dependent Children (AFDC) with cash block grants to States and Indian tribes for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). This legislation ended the Federal entitlement of individuals to cash assistance under Title IV-A and gave States and tribes the flexibility to design their own cash assistance programs for providing aid to needy families. Because States determine their own eligibility criteria and set benefit amounts, the TANF programs and requirements vary from State-to-State.
NOTE : The use of the word "State" in this section includes the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the Indian tribes that have developed TANF plans.
is partially funded by Federal block grants. (The States provide the remainder of the TANF funding. Federal and State funds are combined, and the combined funds pay for TANF programs. )
States may call their family grant program something other than TANF. For example, Iowa calls its program the “Family Investment Program,” and West Virginia, “West Virginia Works.”
Many states offer additional programs that complement the basic family grant programs. How the payments made under these programs are counted for SSI is determined by:
the purpose of the program (e.g., programs designed to provided medical and social services are not income),
the funding source, and the method in which it is provided (in cash or in kind).IMPORTANT : Consult regional POMS for information about the TANF programs within your State.
States and tribes are figuring their TANF grants in one of two ways:
Using an incremental method, where the amount of the TANF grant is increased or decreased as the number of people in the family increases or decreases, or
Using a flat rate method, where the amount of the TANF grant is the same for all families regardless of the size of the family.
There is no Federal bar to simultaneous SSI/TANF eligibility. An individual may be included in a TANF grant for the same months that he or she is eligible for SSI. However, in developing their TANF programs, most States prohibited payment of TANF to SSI recipients. Consult regional instructions for information about your State.
Indian tribes may qualify for TANF block grants and can design and administer their own TANF programs in the same way that States do. Some Indian tribes have developed their own TANF plans, but many tribes have not.
Information about any tribal TANF programs in effect in your State will be found in regional POMS.
A TANF recipient who fails to comply with program requirements such as those related to work, education, and child support enforcement is generally subject to sanctioning, often in the form of a financial penalty. The types of sanctions applied vary from State-to-State: the State may reduce the family's TANF grant amount, suspend TANF payments for the person not in compliance, or terminate the grant. TANF payments lost under a sanction do not count as income.
If a TANF family receives more grant money than it is due, the overpayment may be recovered by the State. During the months that the State recovers the overpayment, the TANF grant amount may be reduced.
The double-counting of income policy does not apply to TANF overpayments because the overpayment belongs to, and is recovered from, the family unit, not the recipient. The amount of TANF counted as income to an individual in a household with a TANF overpayment will be computed as if there were no recovery action.
Federal law sets a 60-month time limit on receipt of TANF assistance. However, there are exceptions to that time limit, and periods for which TANF recipient may not be considered subject to the time limit. There are also some States that have established a shorter time limit. The time limits will affect continued receipt of TANF, and expiration of a time limit may indicate the need for a review of continued receipt of TANF. (This may be especially relevant if the TANF recipient is a deemor.)
Some States place a "cap" on TANF grants. When a TANF grant reaches the capped amount, the addition of a new member to the TANF household will not increase the TANF grant amount. For example, if the maximum grant amount payable occurs when the family reaches 8 members, the additional of the 9th family member will not increase the TANF grant amount. Therefore, the amount of the grant including the individual is the same as the amount without the individual.
NOTE : Do not confuse a family cap with a flat rate grant (SI 00830.403B.2.).
TANF and Medicaid recipients assign their child support rights to the State as part of their obligation to cooperate with child support enforcement efforts.
Under TANF, a State may include a child support pass-through provision that allows a certain amount of the monthly child support collected to be "passed through" to the family. The pass-through amount may or may not be deducted from the TANF grant.
See SI 00830.425 for a discussion of how to count any child support passed through to the child/family.
Some TANF programs allow TANF recipients to set up Individual Development Accounts (IDAs). TANF-funded IDAs are excluded from income and resources for SSI purposes. See SI 00830.665, SI 01130.678, and regional instructions.
Because TANF programs use income as a factor of eligibility, and because a TANF family grant is partially funded by Federal block grants, TANF family grant payments are considered income based on need (IBON). The SSI claimant's share of a TANF grant is counted dollar for dollar as income and the $20 general income exclusion does not apply to this income.
IMPORTANT : There are many different programs that fall under TANF besides the TANF family grants. Because the States design their own programs, some programs are funded with State only money. The type of program and the funding source are the keys to determining how the program is treated for SSI purposes.
Effective with applications filed 10/01/00 or later , the method used to determine how much income an individual derives from TANF (i.e., the individual's share) will be based on the method the State uses to calculate the TANF grant.
NOTE : For applications filed BEFORE 10/01/00 (regardless of the date the claim is processed), only the incremental method can be used to determine an individual's share of a TANF grant for payments received both before and after 10/01/00.
If the State computes the grant on an incremental basis (i.e., the grant generally increases or decreases with changes in the family size), use the incremental method to determine the individual's share.
Under the incremental method, an individual's share is determined by figuring the difference between the amount of the TANF payment actually made to the family and the TANF payment that would have been made had the individual not been included in the grant.
NOTE : Most States compute their grants on an incremental basis.
CAUTION : The per capita method can only be used with SSI applications filed 10/1/00 or later. The date the claim is processed does not matter; the application date is the controlling date.
Effective with applications filed 10/1/00 or later, if the State pays a flat rate grant (i.e., the amount of the grant is the same for all families regardless of the size of the family), use the per capita method to determine the individual's share.
Under the per capita method, an individual's share is determined by dividing the grant amount by the number of people in the TANF household.
IMPORTANT : Consult regional instructions to see which method applies to the TANF program in your State.
Under a capped grant, when the amount of the grant including the individual is the same as the amount without the individual, the individual's share of the TANF grant is 0.
IMPORTANT : Consult regional instructions for additional information on the State TANF agencies that impose caps on family grant amounts. Family caps may apply Statewide or only in certain counties.
A State may continue to pay a TANF recipient after the termination date they give to SSA. Presume that the State will recoup any TANF overpaid after the date the State tells SSA they are going to remove the person from the grant, absent evidence or regional instructions to the contrary. In this case, the TANF paid after the stated termination date is not income for SSI purposes.
Under a cash diversion (CD) program, a TANF-eligible family receives a lump sum of cash from the State that enables them to avoid entering the TANF program.
If the CD program is funded in any part with Federal TANF funds and income is a factor in determining eligibility, the CD payments are IBON. The SSI claimant's share of a CD payment is counted dollar for dollar as income and the $20 general income exclusion does not apply. Since the CD payments are made to the family, an individual's share of the CD payment is determined under the guidelines in SI 00830.403B.2. EXCEPTION : If the primary purpose of the CD program is to provide medical or social services (SI 00815.050), then it is not income.
If the CD program is funded with State funds only and income is a factor of eligibility, we exclude the CD payments as Assistance Based on Need (ABON—see SI 00830.175).
If the CD program does not use income as a factor in determining eligibility, we evaluate the payment under regular income counting rules.