What is TANF all about?

Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)

Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program is limited to 60 months of lifetime assistance per household.  The TANF program is designed to help families gain the necessary skills and address barriers to employment helping them off assistance and on the road to self- sufficiency.

To be eligible households must have an income limit of $2,000 or less and have children in or in preparation for re-establishment of a home.  Households may be single parents, 2 parent families, or caretaker relatives of children. Cooperation with Child Support is a requirement of the program.

Households on TANF must develop a Family Self Sufficiency Plan which addresses barriers to becoming self sufficient.  This plan must be developed within 30 days of case approval or may receive penalties which may reduce the monthly cash benefit amount.  Participants may receive individualized supportive services while on TANF to help them become self-sufficient.  These services may be child care, transportation, job related clothing, training to name a few. 

To apply for Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, you may use the State of Alaska Gen 50B combined application form. You may check off the boxes to apply for Food Stamps and Medicaid at the same time and BBNA will then forward the original application in to Public Assistance for you.   All our forms are on the BBNA website www.bbna.com.

Four Purposes of TANF:

• Assisting needy families so that children can be cared for in their own homes.
• Reducing the dependence of needy parents by promoting job preparation, work and marriage.
• Preventing out of wedlock pregnancies.

• Encouraging the formation and maintenance of two-parent families.

Please report changes which affect Food Stamps or Medicaid directly to Public Assistance office at:1-800-418-4372 or fax: 1-907-562-1619.

If you should have further questions or need assistance with a TANF Application, please contact the main Tribal TANF office at 907-842-2262 or 1-888-285-2262.

Completed applications may be faxed to 1-800-948-1293 or 907-842-1293

To learn more go to: TANF home ~ TANF Offices