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Vermont TANF State Plan Renewal October 1, 2024 through December 31, 2027 7
Emergency Assistance (EA)
Vermont’s TANF program authorizes emergency assistance (formerly ANFC-EA) for essential needs the family is unable to meet due to a catastrophic situation or circumstances in which the family's income and resources are exhausted.
Vermont provides families with dependent children TANF-funded EA benefits to address specific short- term (not to exceed 4 months) crisis need that the family could not have avoided and that cannot be met without DCF’s intervention.
A family may qualify for EA by meeting either the non-catastrophic or the catastrophic criteria in the Emergency Assistance rules1, or by meeting the Housing and Urban Development (HUD)/Agency of Human Services (AHS) definition of homelessness.
Non-catastrophic eligibility criteria include:
1. The applicant family includes a dependent child in the household; 2. the family has applied any available resources toward meeting the emergency need; a family with resources in excess of the emergency need is not eligible for EA; and 3. the family’s income is less than the Reach Up payment standard for a family of comparable size with the same housing costs.
Catastrophic eligibility criteria include:
1. The applicant family includes a dependent child in the household; 2. The family experienced one of the following catastrophic situations: death of a spouse or child, medical emergency, natural disaster, court-ordered or constructive eviction, child welfare emergency, or domestic violence; and 3. The family has exhausted all income and resources.
Housing and Urban Development (HUD)/Agency of Human Services (AHS) definition of homelessness2: 1. Literally Homeless 2. Imminent risk of homelessness 3. Homeless under other Federal Statutes 4. Fleeing/Attempting to Flee Domestic Violence
Benefits issued under the EA program include: • vendor payments for current utility bills, minimum heating fuel delivery, cash benefit for food and personal needs • back rent, mortgage arrears, security deposits, and housing case management services.