The TANF benefits (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) are available in the state of Florida to families in need. They qualify those households that have little or no income and are in a vulnerable situation. These resources are intended to provide to the families assistance for basic needs such as housing, payment of utilities and food.
To apply for TANF benefits, called Temporary Cash Assistance (TCA) in Florida, you must first check if you qualify. The requirements are similar to those requested in most states of the United States. The family must have at least one parent or adult caregiver in charge of a child. In some cases, pregnant women in their third trimester of gestation may also be included. The applicant must be a U.S. citizen, or a legally resident non-citizen who has lived in the U.S. for at least five years, unless they are refugees or another category of person exempt from the 5-year limit.
TANF benefits in Florida: Get a financial boost to make ends meet
The application can be made through the official portal for the Public Benefits and Services section, as part of the Department of Children and Families Public Benefits and Assistance of Florida. Apart from TANF benefits, you can find other applications such as Medicaid benefits, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as Food Stamps.
During the year 2023, in the state of Florida, the maximum TANF benefits you can collect is $303 per month for a family of three. However, this amount may vary depending on the household’s net countable income. This amount can also vary over time and there may be changes over the maximum period of 48 months that payments can be received.
TANF benefits in Florida: The maximum amounts a household could claim
Depending on the size of every household, this is the list of monthly income a family can get from the TANF/TCA program:
- 1 person: $180
- 2 people: 241
- 3 people: 303
- 4 people: $364
- 5 people: $426
Application for cash assistance can be made online through ACCESS Florida — the self-service web-based application managed by the state of Florida. To check the status of your application, you could call 1-866-762-2237 and they will guide you though the process.
You may also qualify for a one-time payment if you need short-term help, rather than long-term. The up-front “cash” diversion is a one-time payment, that could be as high as $1,000, and it’s intended to help those families facing an unexpected emergency in lieu of ongoing TCA payments.