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Page | 16 areas. There is no transaction fee when accessing benefits by way of a POS terminal. Recipients are also issued an EBT brochure, How to Use Your Hawaii EBT Card (Attachment A-3) which includes information on where benefits may be accessed. Any surcharges assessed by the ATM owner are the responsibility of the recipient. Excess transaction fees and surcharges are deducted from the recipient's account balance. Hawaii also has a process in place to address problems with access such as, but not limited to, when the recipient loses their EBT card or when the EBT card does not work. Recipients may also elect to access benefits by way of a direct deposit to a personal bank account designated by the primary payee. Recipients electing direct deposit are not issued an EBT card as access to benefits will be through their financial institution and any fees associated with their personal bank account is the responsibility of the recipient.

12.0 TIME LIMITS

12.1 Sixty-Month Time Limit

Receipt of TANF assistance is limited to sixty (60) months in the lifetime for all recipient households when there is an adult member who is deemed to be a work eligible individual. The time limit begins when the TANF household first receives assistance on or after December 1, 1996. A time eligible month is credited to each adult household member, for each month that the household received assistance. The determination of the number of months of assistance that has been received by a household is based on the adult household member that has the greatest number of used time eligible months.

12.2 Assistance Beyond the Sixty-Month Time Limit Due to Hardship

Pursuant to 45 CFR section 264.1, subsection (c), the state provides TANF or TAONF assistance to households beyond the 60-month time limit if the household is experiencing hardship. Please refer to subsection 7.5 for the state’s definition of hardship and the application of the hardship policy.

12.3 Time Limit Provision for Dependent Children

The time limit provision is not applied to minor dependent children who receive assistance and for child-only households in which the dependent children are the only recipients in the household.