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502.7 TANF MANUAL 10/18 Page 7c
502.7 PROTECTIVE AND VENDOR PAYMENTS - According to federal regulations* protective and or vendor payments are to be made in TANF cases in the following situations:
A. Need for Protective or Vendor Payment
1. The use of a protective or vendor payment is appropriate only when there is specific evidence that funds are being mismanaged in such a way that the well-being of the child(ren) is threatened, in making diversionary assistance payments, or if the caretaker who is on probation or parole fails a drug test.**
a. Prior to making a determination of mismanagement, the following conditions must be considered:
1) whether the family has experienced some emergency or extra-ordinary event for which it was appropriate for available funds to be spent;
2) whether expenses for necessary bills exceed the recipient's payment and other income.
The above-mentioned conditions or any other relevant consideration would not be just cause for making a protective or vendor payment.
b. A protective or vendor payment should ordinarily be made only when a caretaker has persistently demonstrated an inability to manage funds in the best interest of the child(ren) and when continued receipt and management of the TANF payment would represent a threat to the health or safety of the child(ren).
Evidence of mismanagement includes but is not limited to:
1) continued evidence that the child(ren) is not properly fed or clothed and that expenditures for the child(ren) are made in such a way as to threaten the child's chances for healthy growth and development.
2) persistent and deliberate failure to meet obligations for rent, food, school supplies, and other essentials.
3) use of the TANF debit card to buy alcohol, lottery tickets, tobacco products, or sexually explicit visual materials; or, use of the TANF debit card at a Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) store, in an establishment in which para-mutual wagering or charitable gaming is conducted, or in an establishment in which tattooing or body-piercing is performed for hire, or in any establishment that
* 45 CFR 234.60 ** Code of Virginia, Section 63.1-105.8
TANF Transmittal 65