Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.  Temporary assistance for needy families (TANF) was created under the federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996.  TANF is a federal block grant providing temporary cash assistance, subsidized childcare, and work programs for families.  States use TANF block grants to operate their own programs.  State programs differ, but operate in accordance with the following purposes set forth in federal law:

• providing assistance to needy families so children may be cared for in their own homes or in the homes of relatives;
• ending the dependence of needy parents on government benefits by promoting job preparation, work, and marriage;
• preventing and reducing the incidence of out-of-wedlock pregnancies and establishing annual numerical goals for preventing and reducing the incidence of these pregnancies; and
• encouraging the formation and maintenance of two-parent families.

There is a federal life time limit of receiving TANF benefits for 60 months after July 27, 1997.

WorkFirst.  WorkFirst is Washington State's TANF program which was initiated in 1997.  Since 2014, attending a WorkFirst orientation is a condition of eligibility for all TANF recipients who must participate in WorkFirst.  With limited exceptions, adult recipients of TANF benefits must participate in one or more WorkFirst activities.  These activities may include paid and unpaid employment-based training programs, career development, community service, work skills assessment and job hunting training, and participation in vocational training programs.  Federal law requires states to meet a work participation rate for adult TANF recipients.  States not meeting the work participation rate may be subject to penalty.  For example, if a recipient refuses to engage in work or work activities required by DSHS, after two months of continuous noncompliance, the family's grant is to be reduced by the recipient's share or 40 percent, whichever is greater, and must be terminated after 12 months of continuous noncompliance.

In addition to a recipient's monthly benefit amount, a family may earn and keep one-half of its earning every month it is eligible to receive assistance, provided the income does not exceed the maximum earned income level, as set by DSHS.  As provided for in rule, the maximum earned incomes for TANF, and other programs, are as follows:

Sixty Month Lifetime Limit.  There are exceptions to the 60-month lifetime limit of receiving TANF benefits.  Federal law limits hardship exemptions to 20 percent of the caseload.  Current exemptions include:

• by reason of hardship, including when the recipient's family includes a child or youth who is without a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence as described in the federal McKinney-Vento homeless assistance act—Title 42 U.S.C., chapter 119, subchapter VI, part B—as it existed on January 1, 2020; and
• if the family includes an individual who meets the family violence options of section 402(A)(7) of Title IVA of the federal social security act as amended by P.L. 104-193. 

Workfirst Orientation, Noncompliance, and Earnings.  DSHS may not require TANF applicants to attend a WorkFirst Orientation in person as a condition of eligibility for TANF.  However, DSHS may conduct a WorkFirst orientation by phone or incorporate orientation information into the recipient assessment.

If a recipient refuses to engage in work or work activities required by DSHS, while the recipient's grant may be reduced, the family grant may not be terminated after 12 months of noncompliance.

A family may earn and keep of its earnings during every month they are eligible to receive assistance.

Temporary Assistance For Needy Families Lifetime Limit.  DSHS is to add to adopted rules related to TANF time limit extensions, the following criteria by which a recipient and its family may be exempt from the 60 month lifetime limit if the recipient is:

• the recipient is participating satisfactorily in the program;
• the recipient is temporarily prevented from working or looking for a job; or
• the recipient is in need of mental health or substance use disorder treatment.