To qualify for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), a child must:
Meet age requirements
Live with a specified relative
Be deprived of the support, physical care, or guidance of one or both parents
Deprived means that there is a lack of, or interruption in, the maintenance, physical care, or parental guidance a child ordinarily receives from one or both parents.
Parent refers to either the biological or adoptive mother or father of the child. For an adopted child, deprivation is based on the lack of support, care, or guidance of the adoptive parent, not the absence or circumstances of the child’s biological parent.
The CAO must determine whether a dependent child who lives with a specified relative is deprived. A child is considered deprived only for the following reasons:
Continued absence of one or both parents.
Incapacity or impairment of a parent; or
Unemployment.
The CAO must use the appropriate deprivation code to describe why a TANF (C or U) child is deprived of support. This entry is mandatory for TANF children who have an EC eligibility status code and for TANF eligible minor parents with an EP code.
Members with an ES eligibility status code are required to have a deprivation code in these three situations:
When a woman is pregnant and eligibility for the unborn must be determined and there are no other TANF children. Use code 12 or 13.
When a child is receiving SSI benefits in a J budget and there are no other eligible children (EC) in the TANF budget, the specified relative is eligible for TANF. Use code 01.
When a TANF budget group has multiple grant groups due to program status codes and the budget that has the specified relative without the EC is also eligible for TANF. Use code 01.
Based on the activity of the person affected, the CAO may need to add, change or delete the deprivation code. See Appendix A for a complete list of codes.
The client must show proof of deprivation. The CAO must record the reason for and proof of deprivation.
Reissued September 21, 2012, replacing January 31, 2012