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• Has a household income of less than 160% of the federal poverty level (FPL); and • Parent of the child is not in the home (mother, father, or minor parent).

Georgia legislation passed House Bill 129 during the legislation session of 2023. Effective July 1, 2023, this bill ended the Family Cap policy, and TANF cash assistance will be provided to a pregnant woman without dependent children. The needs of the pregnant woman or minor will be used to determine the amount of assistance that the family receives.

Assistance excludes non-recurrent, short-term benefits designed to deal with individual crises rather than ongoing needs. Short-term benefits that are not considered assistance cannot provide for a need that will extend beyond four months. Assistance also excludes childcare, transportation, and other support services provided to employed families. The receipt of assistance does not count against a family’s time limit when a grantee relative who is not required to be an AU member does not receive assistance for her or him but instead receives assistance for the children only.

The term “assistance” is important because specific TANF requirements only apply to families receiving assistance. These requirements are:

• Time limits (for federally funded assistance), • Work and personal responsibility requirements, • Assignment of child support, and • Data collection requirements, including three quarterly reports and one annual report.

The State provides services, referrals or cash assistance, or a notice of denial within forty-five days of the application date. Applicants requesting assistance for themselves and dependent children are required to seek and accept employment. Parents and caretakers approved for cash assistance are required to agree to certain work and non-work obligations to receive benefits. These agreements specify the client and agency responsibilities, the temporary and contractual nature of receipt of TANF, and the work activities required of participants. Teen parents are required to live in an adult-supervised setting unless DHS determines that it may be detrimental to the child or parent to impose this requirement.

Eligibility for TANF is based on objective non-financial and financial criteria.

Non-Financial Rules

Age — Assistance is provided for children under age 18. Families have the option to include children who are 18 years of age and who are still in school, including high school, vocational or technical school, adult education classes, college, valid home study programs, or a course of study granting a GED.

Application for Other Benefits — Applicants and recipients must apply for all other monetary benefits for which they may be eligible.