A TANF recipient who fails to comply with program requirements such as those related to work, education, and child support enforcement is generally subject to sanctioning, often in the form of a financial penalty. The types of sanctions applied vary from State-to-State: the State may reduce the family's TANF grant amount, suspend TANF payments for the person not in compliance, or terminate the grant. TANF payments lost under a sanction do not count as income.

If a TANF family receives more grant money than it is due, the overpayment may be recovered by the State. During the months that the State recovers the overpayment, the TANF grant amount may be reduced.

The double-counting of income policy does not apply to TANF overpayments because the overpayment belongs to, and is recovered from, the family unit, not the recipient. The amount of TANF counted as income to an individual in a household with a TANF overpayment will be computed as if there were no recovery action.

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  If the State computes the grant on an incremental basis (i.e., the grant generally increases or decreases with changes in the family size), use the incremental method to determine the individual's share.

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  Under the incremental method, an individual's share is determined by figuring the difference between the amount of the TANF payment actually made to the family and the TANF payment that would have been made had the individual not been included in the grant.

CAUTION: The per capita method can only be used with SSI applications filed 10/1/00 or later. The date the claim is processed does not matter; the application date is the controlling date.

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  Effective with applications filed 10/1/00 or later, if the State pays a flat rate grant (i.e., the amount of the grant is the same for all families regardless of the size of the family), use the per capita method to determine the individual's share.

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  Under the per capita method, an individual's share is determined by dividing the grant amount by the number of people in the TANF household.

IMPORTANT: Consult regional instructions to see which method applies to the TANF program in your State.

Incentive payments are additional payments made to TANF recipients as a reward for complying with one or more of the requirements of the TANF program. Since these payments are income, and are partially Federally-funded and based on need, they are IBON and are counted dollar for dollar as income. The $20 general income exclusion does not apply. (See also SI 00815.050A.2.)

Participation allowances are payments made to TANF recipients to reimburse the recipient for an expense incurred when traveling to a training program or to a job. Since these payments are reimbursement for monies spent in complying with TANF requirements, they are considered reimbursement for expenses of obtaining income and, thus, are excluded from income (SI 00830.100).

Other payments may be made with TANF money. The purpose of the payment and the eligibility requirements for that payment will determine how the payment is treated. Consult regional instructions for any special TANF-funded payments made in your State.

Absent regional instructions, verify the information needed to determine an individual's share of a TANF grant and the TANF termination date as follows:

1. 1. 

   Consult an office precedent to determine whether the State pays the TANF grant based on an incremental rate or flat rate so that you know how to develop one person's share of the grant. See SI 00830.403C.2.

2. 2. 

   Contact your local State TANF agency.

3. 3. 

   Ask the TANF agency to verify:

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     the amount of the TANF grant paid to the family for each month, and

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     in States that pay a incrementally computed grant, to provide the amount the grant would be without the SSI claimant(s), or

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     in States that pay a flat rate grant, the number of people in the family.

IMPORTANT: Sanctions or recovery of an overpayment may affect the amount of the TANF grant (see SI 00830.403A.6.). If the individual alleges receiving TANF in an amount that is different from the grants paid to other similar households, verify the amounts with the TANF agency, and do not use rate charts that may be in regional instructions. Compute the individual share using the amounts the State provides and following the instructions in SI 00830.403 B.2 and SI 00830.403C.

If you receive the TANF information about the payment amount or increment orally:

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  process the case based on the oral information, and

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  ask for written confirmation of the information. No follow-up on this request is required.

If the written confirmation you receive later is different from the oral information:

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  compute the individual's share again, using the written information, and

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  post the adjusted information to the SSR.

When the State computes the TANF grant on an incremental basis, follow these steps to figure how much income an individual derives from TANF (i.e., the individual's share):

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  Start with the amount of the TANF payment the family received.

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  Subtract the amount the TANF payment would have been if that individual had not been included in the grant.

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  The result is the SSI claimant's share of the grant.

EXAMPLE: John Smith, a disabled child, files for SSI. John is a member of a TANF household that includes John's parent and two ineligible children. The State informs you that the family's TANF grant is $650 per month and the grant without John would be $575 per month. John's share of the TANF grant is $75 ($650 minus $575).

See SI 00830.403C.4. for special rules for calculating an individual's share when there are 2 or more SSI claimants in the TANF household.

IMPORTANT: If the TANF agency advises that the family's TANF grant without inclusion of the SSI claimant is the same as, or more than, the grant with the claimant included, the TANF income received by the SSI individual is 0. If the TANF agency prefers to provide you with the amount of the individual's share, then accept this amount without further development.

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  For MSSICS cases, on the IADC screen, post the TANF grant amount including the SSI claimant in the “Family Grant Amount” field and the amount without the SSI claimant in the “Amount Without Individual” field. (See MSOM MSSICS 015.005 for instructions on the IADC screen.)

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  For non-MSSICS cases, input the individual's share as type "F" income in the UM field per SM 01005.180-SM01005.185 (initial claims) or in SM 01305.200-SM 01305.215 (post-eligibility actions).

When the State pays a flat rate TANF grant, follow these steps to figure how much income an individual derives from TANF (i.e., the individual's share):

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  Start with the amount of the TANF payment the family received.

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  Divide the family grant by the number of individuals included in the grant to obtain the SSI claimant's share of the grant.

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  The result is the SSI claimant's share of the grant.

EXAMPLE: Mary Jones, a disabled child, files for SSI. Mary is a member of a TANF household that includes Mary's parent and three ineligible children. The State informs you that the family's TANF grant is $600 per month. Mary's share of the grant is $120 per month ($600 divided by 5).

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  For MSSICS cases, on the IADC screen, post the TANF grant amount in the "Family Grant Amount" field. Subtract the individual's share from the total grant and post the difference in the "Amount Without Individual" field. (See MSOM MSSICS 015.005 for instructions on the IADC screen.)

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  For non-MSSICS cases, input the individual's share as type "F" income in the UM field per SM 01005.180-SM01005.185 (initial claims) or in SM 01305.200-SM 01305.215 (post-eligibility actions).

If two or more persons from the same TANF unit are found eligible for SSI benefits at the same time (i.e., will be put into pay status at the same time), follow these steps to compute the amount of TANF income for each SSI eligible person:

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  Start with the amount of the TANF payment made to the family (i.e., the amount before any of the SSI individuals are removed from the grant).

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  Subtract the amount the TANF payment would have been if the SSI-eligible individuals had not been included in the grant.

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  Divide the remainder by the number of SSI-eligible persons.

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  The result is the amount of TANF income for each SSI-eligible person.

EXAMPLE: Harold, Nancy, and Debbie file for SSI and are found eligible at the same time. They are members of a TANF household that includes 5 individuals. The amount of the TANF grant for the entire household is $600. The amount that would have been paid without Harold, Nancy, and Debbie is $330. The difference of $270 is the amount attributable to Harold, Nancy, and Debbie. Their individual shares are $90 each ($270 divided by 3).

If two or more individuals from the same TANF household unit apply for SSI and one is found eligible before the other, determine the first eligible person's share per SI 00830.403C.2.

If two or more individuals from the same TANF unit are found eligible for the same period but one was paid SSI before the determination is made for the other, do not recompute the TANF income of the person who has already been paid. Instead, follow these steps to compute the individual shares of the TANF grant:

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  Start with the amount of the TANF payment the family received.

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  Subtract the amount the TANF payment would have been if the SSI-eligible individuals had not been included in the grant.

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  The result is the total amount of TANF income for the SSI-eligible individuals.

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  From that amount, subtract the TANF income already charged to the individual who has already been paid SSI.

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  Charge the difference as TANF income to the second and, if appropriate, subsequent persons in equal amounts.

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  Continue this computation for future months.

EXAMPLE: Bill, Susan, and Steven file for SSI and are found eligible. They are members of a TANF household that includes 5 individuals. The amount of the TANF grant for the entire household is $600. The amount that would have been paid without Bill, Susan, and Steven is $330. The difference of $270 is the amount attributable to Bill, Susan, and Steven. However, Susan was put into pay status before Bill and Steven. At that time, Susan's individual share of the TANF grant was $60. The difference between the $270 attributable to Bill, Susan, and Steven and the $60 already determined to be Susan's share is $210. Bill and Steven are charged with $105 as their individual shares.