Lifetime Limit of 60 Months (Five Years) of Cash Benefits

Adults age 18 and older and their children can get cash benefits for only 60 months. This includes months that you got TANF cash benefits in another state. This is your lifetime limit. You can never start over.

We will not count a month if you reported earnings for that month and you work an average of 30 hours or more per week. If you are a two-parent family, you must work 35 hours per week. Working is one way you can get cash benefits that do not use up your time. For one-parent families, we will not count any month during which you are a full-time student in college with at least a 2.5 grade point average (on a 4.0 scale). Also, a month doesn't count if we have approved you to care for (1) your child under 18 or spouse due to their medical condition or (2) your disabled child under 21 who has a Home and Community-based Care Program waiver for medically fragile/technology-dependent children under age 21 or (3) if we have approved you for a family violence exclusion.

When you reach your 60-month limit, you and your children cannot get any more cash benefits. You can still get medical assistance and SNAP benefits. If you care for children for whom you are not the parent, you can still get cash for just the children after your time runs out.

If you are not in the cash case and you only get cash benefits for a child(ren), you can get the benefits until he/she is 19 (or 18 and not in school). If you are the child(ren)'s parent, you cannot choose to be left out of the cash case to avoid the time limit.