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State of New Hampshire

TANF State Plan

3 New Hampshire State Plan Effective October 2023 INTRODUCTION

PURPOSE This document is the State of New Hampshire’s plan for providing financial assistance to families with children from funds provided under Title I of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-193) and amended by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. The Act amended Section 402 of the Social Security Act to require that states submit a plan to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that outlines how the state will provide Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits.

Since the adoption of the original state plan in October 1996, New Hampshire’s TANF program has continued to evolve. An amendment submitted in March 2011 incorporated all changes made from October 1, 2006, to that date. That amended plan provided all changes necessary for New Hampshire to retain its status as an eligible state under the reauthorization of the TANF program provided by the Deficit Reduction Act. The State Plan continues to incorporate all changes made from the original State Plan to the current State Plan effective October 1, 2023. Any changes made during the 27 months of this current plan will be amended within 30 days of the change.

ORGANIZATION OF THE PLAN The sections in this document correspond to the organization of the language in the Social Security Act (“the Act”) that describes the requirements of TANF state plans, including general provisions, special provisions, and optional provisions relative to the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA). Attachment A contains the state’s executive certifications; Attachment B contains the text of the public notice advertising availability of the 2023 TANF plan; Attachment C explains uses of maintenance of effort funds and is updated each year as these uses change; and, Attachment D describes the State’s procedure to determine when an individual has demonstrated an inability to obtain needed childcare including how the parent is informed about the procedure and their right to an appeal.

BACKGROUND In New Hampshire, TANF provides temporary financial assistance to families who are low-income and have dependent children under age 18, or up to age 20, if enrolled full-time in high school or a high school equivalency program, these dependent children must also be facing economic instability while meeting at least one of the TANF deprivation requirements. The state maintains four different eligibility categories and one category of nutritional assistance. Each eligibility category provides the same level of financial assistance. Changes in a family’s circumstances, such as the age of a child or the presence of a disability, move the recipient from one TANF category to another.