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TANF State Plan FFY 2026 Effective October 1, 2025 Page 9 of 24 E. One-Time TANF Cash Payment Idaho offers one-time cash payments as an alternative TANF payment method. A one-time TANF cash payment can be received only once in a lifetime. To be eligible for a one-time cash payment, families must meet all general eligibility requirements. The family must have a need that cannot be met with existing resources. The one-time cash payment may be up to three times the maximum TANF grant the family would have been eligible to receive. Each month used by the one-time payment counts as two months against the 24-month lifetime TANF limit. Eligibility for one-time cash payments is based on needs such as car repair, moving expenses, employment agency fee, tools, uniforms, and housing expenses. A family already receiving TANF can apply for a one-time cash payment to use for employment related expenses such as relocation and moving expenses, work uniforms, and tools necessary to accept or retain employment. F. Time Limit TANF is designed to provide temporary cash assistance while fostering personal and family responsibility, work, and self-reliance. Monthly cash benefits are provided to eligible families up to a lifetime limit of 24 months. Eligible families moving to Idaho from another state are entitled to TANF cash benefits up to the 24-month time limit. Cash assistance benefits received from another state after July 1, 1997, count against Idaho’s 24-month lifetime limit. Cash assistance provided for relative caretaker child-only cases, with no adult included in the grant, is not time-limited. Cash assistance provided for child-only cases with an eligible dependent child/ren and an ineligible non- citizen parent on the case are subject to the 24-month time limit. G. Extended Cash Assistance Extended Cash Assistance (ECA) may be provided to families who have received 24 months of assistance. All TANF eligibility criteria apply to ECA. In addition to all the eligibility requirements for TANF, all adults in the family must meet one (1) of the following conditions: • A mental or physical condition expected to last at least three months. The condition must prevent any employment that would generate earnings of at least one hundred sixty-seven percent (167%) of the maximum grant per month. • Providing care for an ill or incapacitated child or spouse in the home. The in-home care must be provided for a minimum of one month. The care must prevent any employment that would generate earnings of at least one hundred sixty-seven percent (167%) of the maximum grant per month. Time Limit: ECA may be paid for an additional 36 months after the 24-month temporary cash assistance time limit, but all adults in the family must continue to meet both ECA and temporary cash assistance eligibility criteria. H. Individual Responsibility Plan Families who apply for and receive TANF work with the Department to develop an Individual Responsibility Plan (IRP). This negotiated plan clearly outlines the steps the family intends to take to achieve self-reliance, identifies the expectations a family must meet to continue receiving TANF, and identifies the resources available through the Department to support the participant’s self-reliance plan.