Understanding Your Benefits

Your Benefit Amount

If you qualify for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) in Nevada,the amount you get each month depends on the size of your family unit (see "How TANF Counts Your Family"), and the type of income you have. The more income you have, the lower your TANF benefit will be.

When Nevada TANF decided you qualified for benefits, it calculated your family unit's total countable income by adding together:

• 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 there can also be a deduction for the cost of child care.

To calculate 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 payment allowance for a family of three is $386.

And if any member of your family unit has earned income, while calculating your benefit amount TANF also checks to see if your family unit qualifies for the Earned Income Disregards.

Earned Income Disregards

If your family has earned income and your total countable income is less than 75% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines (FPG), you may qualify for the Earned Income Disregards. The Division of Social Services provides a TANF Income Limits chart that shows 75% of FPG based on household size. If you qualify, some or all of your earnings won't be counted (they would be "disregarded") when DSS calculates how much TANF you should get:

• For the first three months, TANF doesn't count any of your earnings (called a "100% Earned Income Disregard.")
• For the next three months, they only count 15% of your earnings (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).

This means that you can get more of your maximum payment allowance each month for the first 12 months that you get TANF.

Jocelyn is a single mother of three applying for TANF for the first time. She has a part-time job where she makes $500 per month. She has no unearned income. Every member of her family qualifies for TANF, so they are considered a family unit of four.

TANF subtracts 20% of Jocelyn's earned income, or $100, giving Jocelyn a total countable income of $400. That is less than 75% of FPG for a family of four, which is $2,062.

This means Jocelyn qualifies for the Earned Income Disregards. Since 100% of her earned income will not be counted for the first three months, for those months she will get the maximum payment allowance for a family of four, which is $452.

Jocelyn's income before going to work:

Income from her job	$500
TANF benefits	+ $452
Total Income

For the following three months, TANF will only count 15% of Jocelyn's total earnings, making her monthly benefit $377.

Jocelyn's income during the first three months of work:

Income from her job	$500
TANF benefits	+ $377
Total Income

For the next three months 25% of her earnings are countable, making her monthly benefit $327.

Jocelyn's income during the second three months of work:

Income from her job	$500
TANF benefits	+ $327
Total Income

Then 35% of her earnings will be counted for another three months, giving her a monthly benefit of $277.

Jocelyn's income during the third three months of work:

Income from her job	$500
TANF benefits	+ $277
Total Income

After that, Jocelyn's monthly benefit is $52.

Jocelyn's income after that:

Income from her job	$500
TANF benefits	+ $52
Total Income

Learn more about TANF and work.

Getting Your TANF Benefits

After your eligibility interview, TANF sends a notice telling you whether you qualify for benefits. If you are approved, your 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.

To keep getting your monthly TANF benefits, you must work with a caseworker to create a Personal Responsibility Plan (PRP), and follow the steps in your plan to become more financially stable. Learn more about PRPs, and working with TANF.