Frequently Asked Questions

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) helps low-income families by giving them money to pay for basic needs like food, clothing, and rent. At the same time, TANF (sometimes called Cash Assistance) helps these families find ways to become more financially stable by offering things like:

• Education and training
• Workshops on resume writing or interviewing
• Job referrals
• Help applying for other benefit programs, or
• Other steps to create more income.

TANF also helps with things like child care or finding housing.

TANF is part of the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, which can have different names (and somewhat different rules) in different states. Learn more about TANF in Nevada.

To get Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) in Nevada, you must:

• Be a Nevada resident (if you are experiencing homelessness, you can still qualify)
• Be unemployed, underemployed, or about to become unemployed
• Have a child under age 18 at home, or be pregnant
• Be a U.S. citizen or qualified alien
• Have very low, or no, income
• Have $10,000 or less in resources (not everything you own is counted)
• Have each adult (18 or older) member of the family unit create, sign, and follow a Personal Responsibility Plan (PRP) listing the steps they will take while on TANF, and
• Cooperate with any efforts to get child support payments for your children, if applicable (unless you have good cause not to because of domestic violence or other potential harm).

Note: If you are a member or descendant of the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California and are a resident of Nevada, you may be eligible for TANF benefits through the Washoe Native TANF program.

Learn more about who can get TANF.

To apply for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) you need to complete an Application for Assistance. There are several ways to do this:

• Online at ACCESS Nevada
• Contacting your local Division of Social Services (DSS) office, or
• Downloading an application, filling it out, and then faxing or taking it to your local Division of Social Services (DSS) office

No matter which way you apply, you can use this same application to apply for both TANF (sometimes called Cash Assistance) and SNAP (formerly Food Stamps).

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) defines a family as one or two parents (or other relative-caregiver) living with their child or children under 18. A family can include biological kids, step kids, adopted kids, and children of relatives.

Learn more about who TANF includes as part of your family unit.

The rules for how much you can earn and still get Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) are complicated. There are limits on both your unearred income and earned income, and not all of your income is counted toward those limits. Exactly how much you can earn also depends on your situation and the size of your family unit under TANF rules. Learn more in DB101's section on Understanding Your Benefits.

To get Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) in Nevada, the things you own have to be worth less than $10,000. This includes bank accounts, investments, or other property. However, TANF does not count your personal and household items, the home you live in (if you own it or are buying it), and other items. Learn more about How TANF Counts Your Family's resources.

Note: Any money you have in an ABLE Account won't count toward the $10,000 TANF resources limit. Learn more about ABLE Accounts.

How much you get each month from Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) in Nevada depends on the size of your family unit and your family's total countable income. To calculate your countable income, TANF adds together your:

• Unearned income, which is money from other sources, like unemployment benefits, investment income, or other money you get that isn't from work, plus your
• Adjusted earned income, which is your earned income minus the standard deduction of $90 or 20% of earned income, whichever is more. (In some cases TANF may also deduct child care costs from your earned income.)
  • Note: If your earned income is very low, you may qualify for what are called Earned Income Disregards, where all or some of your earned income isn't counted in some months.

To decide how much you get, TANF subtracts your total countable income from the payment allowance for the size of your household.

Your Monthly Benefit Amount

Payment Allowance

Minus Total Countable Income

= Your Monthly Benefit Amount

The Division of Social Services provides a chart of TANF Need Standards, including the payment allowance based on household size. For example, the maximum payment allowance for a family of three is $386.

Learn more in DB101's section on Understanding Your Benefits.

If you have earned income and your family unit's total countable income is less than 75% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines (FPG) for your size of household, then the Earned Income Disregards could increase the amount you get each month from Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) in Nevada by lowering your total countable income:

• For the first three months, TANF doesn't count any of your earnings (this is called a "100% Earned Income Disregard.")
• For the next three months, they only count 15% of your earnings (called an 85% Earned Income Disregard).
• For another three months, they count 25% of your earnings (a 75% Earned Income Disregard), and
• For a final three months, they count 35% of your earnings (a 65% Earned Income Disregard).

Learn more about how Nevada TANF calculates your benefits and the Earned Income Disregards.

In Nevada your Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) monthly payments are sent to you through your Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card, a plastic card that looks and works like a debit card. Learn more in Understanding Your TANF Benefits.

There are two time limits on how long an adult (18 or older) can get get a Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) monthly cash benefit in Nevada:

• The federal limit of a total of 60 months (five years) in any state. Sometimes called the TANF "time clock," the 60 months is a lifetime limit. Any month that you get TANF counts toward this limit, even if you got some of those benefits in different states. If you stop getting benefits and then start getting them again, the count picks up where it left off. For example, if you get benefits for 12 months, go off TANF for a while, and then get back on later, you only have 48 months of cash benefits remaining.

• In addition to the federal rules, in Nevada TANF benefits are paid out in three phases. After you get TANF benefits in Nevada for a total of 24 months (the months do not have to be in a row) you cannot get any TANF benefits in Nevada for the next 12 months (one year), which is sometimes called a "sit-out" period. You can then reapply and, if eligible, get another 24 months of benefits in Nevada followed by another 12-month sit-out period. You can then reapply for another 12 months of benefits, for a total of 60 months.

A month might not count toward the time limits if you are experiencing an approved qualifying hardship. Note: There are no time limits on TANF benefits for children under 18.

Learn more about the TANF time limits.

If you are an adult (18 or older) and get Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) in Nevada, you and a caseworker create a Personal Responsibility Plan (PRP) that lists everything you and your family need to do to become more financially stable.

Your PRP should include:

• What you agree to do while getting TANF benefits, and
• What the state agrees to do to help you.

The PRP is based on your situation, and lists activities that you need to do each week. These activities are usually work-related, but can be anything you need to do before looking for work, like applying for disability, mental health, or substance abuse services.

If your family's needs change over time or as you meet the goals on your PRP, you and a caseworker will create a new PRP, listing the next steps you need to take. For example, your first PRP might list what you need to do to finish your education, and after you finish school your next PRP would list the steps you need to do to look for work.

Learn more about PRPs.

If you get Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits and are an adult (18 or older) considered able to work, you are required to do a certain number of hours of "work activities" each week as part of your Personal Responsibility Plan (PRP). Work activities can include doing things like subsidized work, work experience, actively looking for a job, on-the-job training, or community service. The work activities listed in your PRP are based on your situation.

You cannot ever get Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) in Nevada at the same time, and in most cases you cannot get Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Nevada TANF at the same time, unless your SSDI benefit is unusually low. Even if you can't get TANF for any reason, other members of your family (including your children) may be able to get TANF benefits without you, so it can still be a good idea to apply for TANF.