C.F.R. » Title 45 » CHAPTER II—OFFICE OF FAMILY ASSISTANCE (ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS), ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES › PART 260—GENERAL TEMPORARY ASSISTANCE FOR NEEDY FAMILIES (TANF) PROVISIONS › Subpart A—What Rules Generally Apply to the TANF Program?

45 C.F.R. § 260.31

What does the term “assistance” mean?

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(a)(1) The term “assistance” includes cash, payments, vouchers, and other forms of benefits designed to meet a family's ongoing basic needs (i.e., for food, clothing, shelter, utilities, household goods, personal care items, and general incidental expenses).

(2) It includes such benefits even when they are:

(i) Provided in the form of payments by a TANF agency, or other agency on its behalf, to individual recipients; and

(ii) Conditioned on participation in work experience or community service (or any other work activity under § 261.30 of this chapter).

(3) Except where excluded under paragraph (b) of this section, it also includes supportive services such as transportation and child care provided to families who are not employed.

(b) It excludes:

(1) Nonrecurrent, short-term benefits that:

(i) Are designed to deal with a specific crisis situation or episode of need;

(ii) Are not intended to meet recurrent or ongoing needs; and

(iii) Will not extend beyond four months.

(2) Work subsidies (i.e., payments to employers or third parties to help cover the costs of employee wages, benefits, supervision, and training);

(3) Supportive services such as child care and transportation provided to families who are employed;

(4) Refundable earned income tax credits;

(5) Contributions to, and distributions from, Individual Development Accounts;

(6) Services such as counseling, case management, peer support, child care information and referral, transitional services, job retention, job advancement, and other employment-related services that do not provide basic income support; and

(7) Transportation benefits provided under a Job Access or Reverse Commute project, pursuant to section 404(k) of the Act, to an individual who is not otherwise receiving assistance.

(c) The definition of the term assistance specified in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section:

(1) Does not apply to the use of the term assistance at part 263, subpart A, or at part 264, subpart B, of this chapter; and

(2) Does not preclude a State from providing other types of benefits and services in support of the TANF goal at § 260.20(a).

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 3 cases, 2000–2008 · leading case: Greene v. Comm'r of the Minnesota Dep't of Human Servs., 755 N.W.2d 713 (Minn. 2008).
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Greene v. Comm'r of the Minnesota Dep't of Human Servs., 755 N.W.2d 713 (Minn. 2008). · cites it 2× “" 45 C.F.R. § 260.31 (a)(1) (2007). The regulations specifically exclude services such as "employment-related services that do not provide basic economic support" from the definition of "assistance.”
Harbour v. Ridgeway, Unpublished Decision (5-26-2005), 2005 Ohio 2643 (Ohio Ct. App. 2005). “" See, also, 45 CFR 260.31 . { 38} Thus, the EIC is specifically distinguished, by federal regulation and by this state's administrative code, from TANF and similar public assistance programs akin to the former "welfare" programs of the past, which were characterized by cash…”
Williams Ex Rel. Ricard v. Humphreys, 125 F. Supp. 2d 881 (S.D. Ind. 2000). “See 45 C.F.R. § 260.31 (b)(3) (identifying other services that are not TANF "assistance”).”
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