How To

Under Jobs First, recipients who get a job are allowed to keep all earnings up to the Federal Poverty Level as well as their cash assistance for the remainder of the 21 months. They are also eligible to receive medical assistance, child care and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Formerly Food Stamp Program).

Child support payments from an absent parent are sent directly to recipients and all but $50 is counted as income to calculate the amount of their public assistance grant.

To provide for future emergencies, recipients are allowed to have up to $3000 in a bank account. All life insurance policies and pension plans are excluded, and bonds are excluded as long as the combined face value of all bonds owned by the assistance unit are less than $1,000.

Understanding the need to have reliable transportation for work, one non-luxury car, with an equity value up to $9500, is excluded from consideration in determining eligibility for assistance.

Other program simplifications have been instituted to allow workers to concentrate their efforts on helping recipients to become employed and eventually self-supporting.

The purpose of the Safety Net program is to minimize the likelihood of harm occurring to children and families who have lost TFA cash benefits.  Safety Net provides solution-focused case management and care coordination for up to 12-months to help current and former recipients of TFA achieve self-sufficiency through the identification and reduction of barriers to employment.