Work, Benefits, and You

After your application for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) is approved, you must work with a caseworker to create a Personal Responsibility Plan (PRP), listing everything you need to become more financially stable. If you have a disability, your PRP will be designed to meet your specific needs, rather than focusing on finding work.

You have to start creating your PRP within five business days of being approved for TANF, and you must sign it within 60 days. To create your PRP, a caseworker talks with you to decide what services, training, or other support you and your family need. This can include questions about:

• Family
• Housing
• Work experience, including internships
• Anything in your life that prevents you from working
• Basic job skills (you may be asked to take tests)
• Education and training
• Interests
• Need for transportation to your job, schools, or place of childcare
• Need for child care
• Health issues
• Past legal troubles (if any)

Tell the caseworker about anything you might need, from counseling to car repairs, a bus pass, school supplies, or diapers. If the caseworker can't help you with those, they may be able to tell you where you can get the help you need.

Based on your answers, you and the caseworker create your PRP. Your PRP must be signed and dated by both you and the caseworker.

Your Personal Responsibility Plan (PRP)

Your PRP should include:

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

Make sure your PRP meets your needs and includes goals that you can do and want to do. This can include:

• The kind of job you plan to find, including how much time you have to get that job
• Job readiness workshops
• Vocational education
• Community work experience
• Help with your job search
• Employment
• Services and things you and your family need, like
  • SNAP or Medicaid
  • Child care
  • Transportation
  • Employment
  • Work-related clothing and items, like uniforms, tools, or work permits
  • Family counseling
  • Health referrals
• The date when you need to have everything done.

As you meet some of the goals on your PRP, or if your family's needs change over time, you and a caseworker will create a new PRP. 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 what you need to do to look for work.

Note: Your PRP looks different if you have a disability or someone you are caring for has a disability, and the TANF time limits might be extended.

Learn more about Personal Responsibility Plans.

Redetermination

If you get TANF, after 12 months you are sent a redetermination packet. You must fill out the packet and return it by the deadline. A caseworker then reviews your living situation, resources, and income, to see if you still qualify for benefits.

Time Limits and Sit-Outs

In Nevada, there are two limits on how long you can get TANF benefits as an adult age 18 or older: the federal "time clock" and the Nevada "sit-outs." (There are no time limits on TANF benefits for children under 18.)

The Federal TANF "Time Clock"

If you are considered a "work-eligible" adult, the State of Nevada requires two "sit-out" periods of 12 months each before you can get your total 60 months of TANF benefits. Most parents and needy relative-caregivers are considered work-eligible by Nevada TANF.

After you get TANF 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 consecutive year), although there are some hardship exceptions.

After the sit-out period you have to re-apply for TANF. If you qualify you can get TANF benefits again for another 24 months, followed by another sit-out year. You would then need to re-apply for benefits. If you qualify again, you can get TANF for another 12 months, giving you an overall total of 60 months.

Learn more about TANF time limits and exceptions in Nevada.