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North Carolina

1 WORK FIRST STATE PLAN Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)

INTRODUCTION

North Carolina’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, called Work First, and is based on the premise that parents have a responsibility to support themselves and their children. The Work First program promotes a strengths-based, family-centered practice approach and shares in the mission of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, in collaboration with its, partners, to protect the health and safety of all North Carolinians and provide essential human services. Work First provides parents with short-term training and other services to help them become employed and move toward self-sufficiency. Other families where grandparents and relatives are caring for their relative children and legal guardians are able to receive services and support that prevent children from entering the foster care system unnecessarily.

In accordance with federal law, TANF funds, as well as maintenance of efforts (MOE) funds must meet one of four purposes. The four purposes under TANF are:

1. Assist needy families so that children may be cared for in their own homes or in the homes of relatives 2. Reduce dependence of needy parents by promoting job preparation, work, and/or marriage 3. Prevent or reduce the incidence of out-of-wedlock pregnancies 4. Encourage the formation and maintenance of two-parent families

In North Carolina, Work First emphasizes three strategies:

1. Diversion: Keeping families off welfare by helping them cope with unexpected emergencies or setbacks. Under Work First, qualifying families may receive Benefit Diversion, Emergency Assistance, Work First Services for Low-Income Families below or at 200% of the Federal Poverty Level, or Employment Services for Non-Custodial Parents and other supportive services if applicable. 2. Work: Shortening the length of time that families are on Work First by making work mandatory and by limiting how long a family can receive cash assistance. To receive Work First Family Assistance (WFFA) participants must sign a Mutual Responsibility Agreement (MRA)/Outcome Plan. Once the participants move into the work components of the program, they can continue to receive benefits for up to 24 months. In most cases, families who have reached the 24-month limit cannot receive WFFA for three years. Federal law sets a 60-month cumulative time limit for receiving these benefits. 3. Retention: Helping families to stay off Work First by encouraging them to save money and by helping to make sure they really are better off working than on Work First. Work First increased limits from the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) on savings, vehicles, and the state legislature raised income eligibility limits for subsidized child care to ease the burden on low-income, working families. To help families stay employed, counties are also providing services, such as transportation, child care, and other supportive services to families whose income is at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level. Families leaving WFFA for work may receive a Job Bonus payment for three months.