How to Apply

You can apply for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF):

• Online using the Illinois Application for Benefits Eligibility (ABE)
• By downloading and printing an application (also available in Spanish), completing it, and then mailing, faxing, or taking it in person to your local DHS Family Community Resource Center, or
• At your local DHS Family Community Resource Center.

No matter which way you apply, you can use this same application to apply for TANF (sometimes called Cash Assistance), SNAP (formerly Food Stamps), Medicaid, and other benefits programs. If you need help deciding how to apply, call the Illinois Department of Human Services Help Line at 1-800-843-6154.

What You Need to Apply

When you apply for TANF, you might need:

• Your identification and proof of citizenship (or of your legal immigration status), such as your driver's license, ID card, resident card, or U.S. Passport. (Required if you apply with a paper application.)
• Full names and dates of birth for everyone who is applying for benefits and for any other people living in the household.
• Social Security numbers for you and everyone in your household who has a Social Security number. (Required if you apply with a paper application.)
• Documents showing all income for anyone 18 or older in your household, like pay stubs or a letter from the employer. (Proof of income is also required if you are under 18 and the parent of a child.)
• Documents showing any unearned income, such as unemployment benefits, child support payments, etc.
• Proof of your relationship to everyone included on your application, like a birth certificate for your child or other documents.
• Documents showing any child or spousal support paid and the names of absent parents.

You may need to provide copies of other documents, depending on your situation. Learn more in the frequently asked questions section of the Application for Benefits Eligibility website.

After You Apply

Once TANF gets your application, the next step is an interview (called a family assessment) with a caseworker. The caseworker will usually ask you about your:

• Family and living situation
• Income
• Transportation
• Work history and future plans
• Skills
• Education

Your caseworker needs enough details to know if you and your family qualify for benefits, and what type of services you need. Your caseworker will also check to be sure you have turned in all the documents needed to support your application.

Once a decision has been made, you will be told by letter whether or not you qualify for TANF benefits. (It can take up to 45 days for the state to make this decision, and the decision letter can be sent to you up to two days after the decision is made.)

If you are approved, there is a 30 day wait before you start getting TANF benefits; your benefits don't start until day 31 (from the day they get your application), and there is no back payment for those first 30 days. If you need help sooner, ask if you qualify for Crisis Assistance.

Learn more about who can get TANF benefits and understanding your TANF benefits.

Eligibility

To help families who can't pay for their basic needs like food, clothing, and rent, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) provides:

1. Cash benefits, and
2. Referrals to other benefits and programs that help families become more financially stable.

A family is defined as one or two parents (or other caretaker relatives) living with their child or children under 18. A family can include biological kids, step kids, adopted kids, and children of relatives.

To be eligible for TANF (sometimes called Cash Assistance), you must:

• Be an Illinois 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 (see details below)
• Work with your caseworker to create a Responsibility and Services Plan (RSP) listing the steps needed to make you more financially stable, then sign and follow your RSP, 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 non-parent caretaker relative, you are encouraged but not required to cooperate with efforts to get child support payments.

You cannot get TANF if you:

• Get Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits (there may be an exception if your SSI or SSDI is unusually low)
• Are an undocumented immigrant
• Are on strike
• Are a fugitive felon, or in violation of your probation or parole
• Refuse to work
• Do not cooperate with efforts to get child support payments for your children
• Do not provide all the information needed to prove you are eligible for TANF
• Have used up your five years (60 months) of TANF benefits

Note: Even if you can't get TANF for any of these reasons, other members of your family (including your children) may be able to get TANF benefits, so it can still be a good idea to apply.

How TANF Counts Your Family

Income is money you get from work, benefits, or other sources. There’s a limit to how much income you can have and still qualify for TANF, based on the size of your family unit. Not all income is included, and remember that they may not count every family member.

To see if you can get benefits, Illinois TANF:

1. Adds up the total earned income (wages, tips, and self-employment profits) for your family unit and then subtracts what is called an Initial Employment Deduction (IED) based on the size of your unit. The Department of Human Services provides a chart of IED amounts based on family size.
2. Adds any unearned income, like unemployment benefits, investment income, or other money you get that isn’t from work. (Not all unearned income is counted, for example TANF does not count benefits from SNAP.)
3. This total (earned income, minus IED, plus countable unearned income) is your family's countable income when the state is deciding if you are eligible for TANF.

If your countable family income is more than the monthly TANF benefit for the size of your family, you cannot get TANF benefits. If it less than the standard payment, you can get TANF benefits. The Department of Human Services provides a chart of TANF payment amounts based on family unit size.

For example, a family of two can get TANF if their countable income is less than $596, while a family of three qualifies if their countable income is less than $753 a month.

After TANF decides that you are eligible for benefits, they look at your countable income again to decide how much you get in benefits each month.

TANF Cash Benefits

If you qualify for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), you’ll get a monthly cash benefit for up to 60 months (five years), as long as you meet the requirements of your Responsibility and Services Plan (RSP) and you continue to qualify (learn more about the redetermination process that TANF uses to check that you are still eligible).

Your Benefit Amount

If you qualify for TANF (sometimes called Cash Assistance), the amount you get each month depends on the size of your family unit (see "Who Can Get TANF?"), and what type of income you have. The more income you have, the lower your TANF benefit will be. However, not all of your income is counted.

To calculate the amount of your monthly benefit, TANF looks at your income differently than when it decided you are eligible for benefits. To decide how much you get each month, TANF:

1. Subtracts the Earned Income Deduction (EID) from your earned income. The EID is 75%, which means they only count 25% or what you earn, or $1 out of every $4. For example, if you have a part-time job and make $400 a month, TANF says your EID is $300 and you only have $100 in countable income. (If your income is different each month, estimates how much you expect to earn in a year, and divides that by 12.)

2. Adds in any unearned income you get (like unemployment benefits, investment income, or other money you get that isn’t from work) to get your total countable income.

3. Figures out the highest TANF benefit your family can get based on your family’s size and living situation. For example, the maximum benefit for a family with one parent and one child is $596 per month. The Illinois Department of Human Services has a chart of TANF Payment Levels by family size.

4. Subtracts the maximum benefit possible for a family like yours (step 3) from your family’s countable income (step 2), which gives the amount your family gets each month.

If you earn money at work, the TANF program is designed so that your benefit never goes down by as much money as you make. That means that you’ll always be better off if you have a job.

Learn more about TANF and work.

Getting Your TANF Benefits

After your eligibility interview, you are mailed a notice telling you if you can get benefits and how much you’ll get. Your TANF monthly payments are sent to you through your Illinois Link Card, a plastic card that looks and works like a debit card.

When you get monthly TANF benefits, you must work with your case manager to create a Responsibility and Services Plan (RSP), and follow the steps in your plan to become more financially stable. Learn more about RSPs, and working with TANF.

Working with TANF

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

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 RSP.

Your Responsibility and Services Plan (RSP)

Your RSP should include:

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

You need to work with the caseworker to make sure your RSP 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.
• Which work activities you must do.
• Anything you and your family need, like SNAP, child care, medical insurance, transportation, housing, school supplies, drug or alcohol treatment, or counseling.
• The date you have to have everything done.

As you meet some of the goals on your RSP, or if your family's needs change over time, you and your caseworker will create a new RSP. In your new RSP, you will list the next steps needed to help you and your family become more self-sufficient. For example, your first RSP might list what you need to do to finish your education, and after you finish school your next RSP would list what you need to do to look for work.

Note: Your RSP looks different if you have a disability or someone you are caring for has a disability, and the TANF 60-month time limit might be extended.

Work Activities

If you are considered work eligible, your RSP will include doing a certain number of "work activity" hours each week. These can be:

• Unsubsidized employment
• Subsidized employment
• Work experience
• Actively looking for a job
• On-the-job training
• Vocational training
• Community service
• Job skills training directly related to getting a job
• Education directly related to getting a job

The work activities listed in your RSP can be based on your situation. For example, if you are at risk of homelessness, your RSP may include taking specific steps to find stable housing. If your children have health problems, your plan could include getting them medical care.

Note: If you or someone you care for has a disability, your RSP could include activities like applying for disability benefits or getting medical care.

Redetermination

If you get TANF benefits and you do not have any earned income, you are sent a Redetermination form every 12 months to see if you still qualify for benefits. You must also report any changes to your income or living situation by the 10th day after the change (see below).

If you do have earned income, you are sent a Mid-Point Report (MPR) form in your fifth month and a Redetermination form in your 10th month of benefits. You must report any changes to your household, job status, other income, and expenses on these forms, and provide proof of your current work hours.

To keep getting TANF benefits, both forms must be completed and returned by the due date (the MPR is due the second day of your sixth month; the Redetermination form is due the 15th day of your 12th month).

After submitting the forms, you must have an interview with a caseworker to complete the process and continue getting TANF benefits.

Jason and Isabel's Story

Jason’s family was having a difficult time making ends meet. Up until a month ago, he was able to support his wife Isabel and their young daughter through his job as a cashier at a local grocery store. Then the grocery store laid some people off. Jason lost his job, but he didn't qualify for unemployment benefits.

Jason and Isabel didn’t have much money in savings. They realized that they were going to have trouble paying for rent, food, and utilities. They decided to apply for help until they could get back on their feet. Jason has a disability. He had applied for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) at his local Social Security office in the past, and had been told that his disability didn’t meet their definition of disability. So he knew he didn’t qualify to get SSI benefits.

So Jason went online to ABE.Illinois.gov and applied for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). As part of the online application process, he was asked if he would also like to apply for SNAP and Medicaid, and he clicked "yes" for both.

In a few days he got a phone call to set up an appointment for Isabel and Jason to meet with Maria, a caseworker, and instructions about the documents they needed to have with them.

Maria asked them a series of questions about their family, living situation, and work history, and reviewed their valid identification, proof of the address where they lived, and other required documents.

"I see you applied for TANF, SNAP, and Medicaid, so if you qualify you'll get all three," Maria told them.

Several weeks later, Jason and his family got a letter saying they were approved for all three programs. Since they didn’t have any income, they got the maximum TANF benefit for a family with two caretakers (parents) and one child, $753 a month.

Next, Jason and Isabel met with another caseworker, Carol, to come up with Responsibility and Services Plans (RSPs) designed to get them jobs.

Isabel needed just a few more classes to complete her training as an x-ray technician, but had put those plans on hold when they had their child. Her RSP included finishing those credits, and turning in her grades to TANF to show that she successfully finished the training. Carol explained that after Isabel completed her training, the next step would be to create a new RSP listing the steps for Isabel's job search.

Jason’s RSP was a little different because of his disability. He thought that maybe he could work from home doing customer service over the phone. His RSP included a one-week customer service training program and then searching for a job. It also included a referral to Division of Rehabilitation Services (DRS) for support services, and said that Jason would attend any medical appointments needed to care for his disability.

Jason and Isabel had two concerns about working.

“Ok, so I’d love to go back to school,” Isabel said, “but what about my little girl? I can’t afford to pay someone to watch her.”

“I'll give you a referral to the Illinois Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP)," Carol told them. "They can help you pay for child care."

“Great!” said Isabel. “That solves that problem.”

“But what happens when one of us starts working?" Jason asked. "Won’t our benefits go down? Won’t we be even poorer then?”

“Not necessarily,” Carol reassured them. “It depends on many factors. But no matter how much money you make, TANF only counts 25%. That's just $1 out of every $4 that you earn. So you’ll still be eligible for benefits until you get back on track. Plus you’ll have even more money than just being on TANF alone.”

Jason and Isabel left the meeting with the case worker feeling like things were looking up. With a little help, they’d be back on their feet soon enough.