Health & Benefits

You can’t get TANF for more than 60 months total. This is true even if you received TANF benefits in another state. 

A month does not count towards the 60-month limit if you:

• Work at least 30 hours per week and still qualify for cash assistance (35 hours for two-parent families),
• Are a single parent and attend an approved postsecondary education program full time and maintain a cumulative 2.5-grade point average,
• Provide full-time care for a related child or spouse due to their medical condition, known as the "family care barrier,"
• Have a child in your home who is approved for the Medically Fragile Technology Dependent program, or
• Are approved for a Domestic Violence Exclusion.

Exceptions to the 60-month limit

A young parent under the age of 18 and their child may be eligible for TANF, even if the youth's parent (the child's grandparent) has reached the 60-month limit. The youth's parent may receive the TANF as a representative payee. 

If the young parent goes to live with another relative, that relative may receive TANF for the youth and their child as the representative payee. The relative will have the same 60-month limit on TANF benefits. 

There are other exceptions to the 60-month limit. To get the exception, you and your family must meet one or more of the following:

• You are eligible for and have applied for SSI or Social Security disability; if you are at the appeal level, you must also have a lawyer,
• You have a medical condition that prevents full-time employment,
• You are receiving services through a program that prevents full-time work (includes DCFS, domestic or sexual violence, homeless services, mental health, substance abuse, and vocational rehabilitation programs),
• You are in an approved education or training program that will end within 6 months of time running out,
• You provide full-time care for a related child or spouse due to their medical condition, or
• Your child is approved for the Medically Fragile Technology Dependent program.

If there are at least 2 adults, only one has to meet an exception for the whole family to get TANF.