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Iowa’s TANF State Plan

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Note that in all instances where child care assistance is provided for Two-Parent Families Receiving FIP, state only funds under the State Child Care Assistance Previously Authorized program are used, regardless of employment status.

 TANF Child Care Assistance for Working Non-FIP Families: This program provides direct TANF funding for the child care needs of working non-FIP families, excluding protective child care.

Family eligibility criteria:  Working or a combination of work and school, for a minimum of 32 hours/week (28 hours/week if the family has a special needs child) or full-time education/training enrollment;  Gross monthly income less than or equal to 160% of the federal poverty level (FPL) based on family size for basic care or 200% of FPL for special needs care for initial eligibility and less than or equal to 225% of FPL based on family size for continued eligibility; and  Must cooperate with the Iowa HHS’ quality control review unit and with investigations conducted by the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals.

Child eligibility criteria:  Under age 13 (under age 19 if child has special needs);  Citizen or a qualified alien; and  Live in Iowa.

Kinship Caregiver Payment Program:

Iowa uses TANF in the form of a Non-Recurrent Short-Term Benefit (NRST) for its Kinship Caregiver Payment Program. This program is designed to address a specific crisis or episode of need; is not intended to meet recurrent or ongoing needs; and will not extend beyond four months. TANF funds are only used to fund children that meet US Citizenship requirements; meet Iowa’s definition of “Child” as defined in Iowa Code §234.1(2); and meet all TANF NRST requirements.

The Kinship Caregiver Payment Program (KCP) aims to keep children in the safe care of kin and fictive kin. The goal is to provide early financial support to kinship caregivers to meet the needs of the child, increase placement stability, and to provide equitable financial support to kinship caregivers to what licensed foster parents receive.

The KCP program is a time-limited payment specifically for kinship caregivers where eligibility is based off the child’s episode of need and court-ordered placement. The kinship caregiver will be eligible for payment 14 days after the court-ordered placement of the child into their home has occurred. A kinship caregiver must meet the definition of a person to whom a child is related by blood, marriage, or adoption, or a person who has a significant, committed, positive relationship with the child and who is caring for a child placed in out of home care.

Kinship caregivers receive the equivalent foster care daily maintenance rate amount by age for each child placed in their care, for up to four months during the duration of placement. Should the caregiver become licensed or approved for foster care during the four months, the KCP payment ends, and the foster care maintenance payment begins. Kinship caregivers receive a paper check monthly for up to four months during the duration of the child(ren) placed.