Help and payment support from the government is available for a range of needs, such as housing, utility, and food aid. One of these is TANF, which stands for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).
The program’s goal is to help low-income families with kids younger than 18 pay for things like food, clothes, and a place to live. TANF can help families in Texas who qualify by giving them up to $1,000.
TANF provides monthly and one-time payments for low-income families
TANF rules say that a family is any group of people who care for children under the age of 18.
For TANF eligibility, the amount of money your family makes, the value of the things they own or are paying off, and how much they pay for child support and child care are all taken into account.
In order to get TANF, you must have very few tools and income. To give you an idea, in Texas, the most money a family can make each month with two caregivers and three kids is $268.
In order to get TANF, the parent or guardian of the children must agree to try to find work or train for a job. Follow the rules for child support, and the guardian can not quit their job without a plan to change careers.
Guardians can not abuse drugs or alcohol, and they have to take lessons to learn how to be good parents. Their kids need to go to school and get vaccinated.
Household size and income determines how much TANF families in Texas receive in payments
When living in Texas, the most TANF money a family with two parents and three kids can get each month is $503. Family units with three children and one helper can get $424.
The money from TANF is not meant to last forever like Social Security money. As part of their deal to receive TANF, people must make sure they are looking for long-term ways to make money.
Along with monthly payouts, TANF also gives families in serious need one-time cash payments. If they lose their job, get sick, or lose their home, this could happen.
This one-time payment is meant to help families meet their basic needs when they suddenly have less money coming in. Family members can only get this sum once a year.
Relatives caring for children can receive $1,000
People in Texas who are care for children and related to the children may also be eligible for a one-time annual payment of $1,000. The family member must be at least 25 years old and care for a child who gets TANF.
A single person can not make more than $2,510 a month, and a family of five can not make more than $6,097 a month. Most payments are sent through direct banking or the mail on the first business day of each month.
Families who need help can get more than $16.6 billion from TANF across all 50 states.
The federal government gives TANF grants to states so that they can give them to families who apply. TANF is also given to recognized Native American tribes and groups of tribes so they can give it to their members who qualified.
TANF grants are given to states, and those states are free to handle and create their own welfare programs with those grants. People who get TANF have three years to find work after they are approved for the money.
TANF has been around since 1997, and each state’s welfare programs that use TANF money are run and designed in slightly different ways. Texas gives only $318 per child to poor children, which is one of the smallest grants available.
Other states, like Vermont, give over $3,000 per poor child. Each child in the United States gets an average TANF grant of just over $1,000.
