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Pennsylvania program

Monthly cash aid when income has all but stopped (TANF)

Monthly cash help for a family with very little income. Pennsylvania's TANF grants depend on family size and county.

What it is

Monthly cash help for a family with very little income. Pennsylvania's TANF grants depend on family size and county.

TANF is cash when family income is very low, far below the food-help line. The county tests income after deductions and checks savings on the first of the month. A child on SSI is left out of the grant; the rest of the family can still apply.

Eligibility rules
  • TANF uses more than one income test. For a new wage-earner case, the county first checks income after allowed deductions against its standard of need, then applies the earned-income and grant rules. County, grant-group size, income type and recent TANF receipt change the calculation.
  • For a new wage earner without TANF in the prior four months, the initial test uses a $90 work-expense deduction per qualifying earner. Qualifying earned income then receives a 50% disregard. The final net-income test is strictly below the Family Size Allowance plus applicable special needs.
  • Counted resources must be $1,000 or less. The usual lifetime limit is 60 months.
  • The county counts savings but leaves out one car and some education savings. If your balance is close to $1,000, the county's own count decides it.
  • The income test is very low: for a parent and two children, wages must be under roughly $620 to $700 a month depending on the county, after the county takes $90 off and ignores half of the rest.
What you get
  • Monthly cash at the county's family-size rate.
  • A one-time Diversion payment can cover some short-term needs.
  • No application charge.
What the help includes
  • For three and four people, the monthly maximums are $403 and $497 in Philadelphia, Allegheny and other schedule-2 counties.
  • Bucks, Chester, Lancaster, Montgomery and Pike have maximums of $421 for three and $514 for four. Four-person maximums in county groups 3 and 4 are $479 and $454.
  • Diversion can provide up to three monthly allowances at once, once in 12 months, for a qualifying short-term need.
  • For three people the most you can get is between $365 and $421 a month depending on the county. Diversion can be up to three months of that amount at once, and it expects income to return within three months.
If you decide to apply
  1. Ask your social worker to help the County Assistance Office compare monthly TANF and Diversion for your situation.
  2. Complete COMPASS or form PA 600 if you choose to request cash help.
  3. Have current income, bank balances, IDs and Social Security numbers ready.

1-866-550-4355 · Official page ↗

After you ask
  • The county has a 30-day processing standard. Its notice gives the grant decision and amount.
  • A person receiving SSI is left out of TANF for that same person. The county checks the remaining family's case.
  • For a relative caregiver, your social worker can help the county review a child-only case and whose income belongs in it. Before choosing Diversion, the county can explain in writing any repayment, offset or conversion rule if monthly TANF is needed during the period covered by that payment.
Good to know

The income test is much lower than the food-help limit. A person cannot receive both SSI and TANF at the same time.

Other details
  • A cash-aid refusal does not mean food help or MA is unavailable. Those programs use different income and resource rules.
  • The small county grant figures are maximums before the family's income calculation, not promised payments.

Federal background: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

Official sources
Ask your social worker

“Would monthly cash help or a one-time Diversion payment fit us better? Could you explain the income, savings and SSI effects and help with the application if we qualify?”

Why I’m asking: I need to know whether cash help can cover basic expenses when income is very low.

More background and detailed requirements
Additional program information and published rules

Who does what

The three parts, side by side. The agency decides; nobody on this page does.

You

Apply on COMPASS with this month's income and savings.

Your social worker

The social worker checks whether a one-time Diversion payment fits better.

The care team

Records and letters when the application asks for them.

Who decides
The County Assistance Office (the county benefits office)
Ask your social worker
“Our income has stopped. Can you help us apply for cash assistance and ask the county whether a Diversion payment would cover the next three months instead?”

How to apply

First step: Apply on COMPASS or at the County Assistance Office the month income stops; ask about Diversion (a one-time payment instead of a monthly grant).

  1. Apply on COMPASS the month income stops.
  2. Ask about the Diversion payment if the need is short-term.

Official application / program page ↗

Where it starts: COMPASS or the County Assistance Office (form PA 600).

What to gather

  • This month's income
  • Bank balances on the first of the month
  • ID and Social Security numbers

How long: The county has 30 days.

What a yes looks like

A monthly grant at your county's family-size amount, or a one-time Diversion payment.

What a no looks like, and the next move

The county’s income or counted-resource calculation does not fit. A raw savings band or another program’s income test does not decide TANF.

Watch out

  • The income test is on income after deductions and is roughly a quarter of the poverty line; most working families are over it.
  • Counted resources must be $1,000 or less. The county checks ownership and exclusions; raw savings alone do not establish counted resources.
  • A child on SSI (the Social Security check for a disabled child) cannot be on cash aid at the same time.

The numbers and the rules

The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 9, 2026.

What it is worth

Monthly cash of $403 (three) or $497 (four) in Philadelphia, Allegheny and the other schedule-2 counties; $421 / $514 in Bucks, Chester, Lancaster, Montgomery and Pike; less elsewhere. Savings limit $1,000.

  • $403/month — Maximum monthly grant, unit of 3, county group 2 (Philadelphia, Allegheny and 28 others)
  • $497/month — Maximum monthly grant, unit of 4, county group 2
  • $421/month — Maximum monthly grant, unit of 3, county group 1 (Bucks, Chester, Lancaster, Montgomery, Pike)
  • $514/month — Maximum monthly grant, unit of 4, county group 1
  • $479/month — Maximum monthly grant, unit of 4, county group 3
  • $454/month — Maximum monthly grant, unit of 4, county group 4
  • $1,000 — Countable resource limit
  • $60 — Lifetime limit
  • $3 — Diversion: maximum number of monthly allowances

What it costs the family: None.

The eligibility facts, as published

Income
net income below the Family Size Allowance plus special needs (55 Pa. Code §183.101(d)); $90 work-expense screening deduction; 50% earned-income disregard for qualifying earners
Resources
$1,000 or less in counted resources, after the county applies ownership and exclusions
Ssi
a person may not receive SSI and TANF simultaneously
Time limit
60 months
Promptness
30 days

The trap: The grant table dates from January 1, 1990 and does not rise with inflation. The income test is on income after a $90 work-expense deduction. For a single wage earner in Philadelphia or Allegheny County with no recent cash aid, that works out to total pay under about $814 a month for four (our arithmetic from the published tables, not a printed limit).

Where I read this

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