State Family Assistance (EA-Z manual)

Purpose: WAC 388-400-0010 Who is eligible for state family assistance (SFA)?

Clarifying Information - WAC 388-400-0010 

State Family Assistance is available to clients who are ineligible for TANF for specific reasons:

  1. Immigration status
    1. Qualified Alien in the United States for less than 5 years as described in WAC 388-424-0006.

    2. Nonqualified alien as defined in WAC 388-424-0001.

      For additional information, see EAZ chapters Date of Entry and Definitions.

    3. Survivors of certain crimes are noncitizens and their qualifying family members who have filed or are preparing to file an application with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

      For additional information see Public Benefit Eligibility for Survivors of Certain Crimes.

  2. Dependent students
    1. A 19- or 20-year-old dependent student who meets the education requirements of WAC 388-404-0005.

    2. A parent or needy caretaker relative of a 19- or 20-year-old student who meets the education requirements of WAC 388-404-0005, and there are no other TANF-eligible children in the TANF assistance unit.

      For additional information, see EA-Z chapter Age Requirements. 

  3. Pregnant women convicted of welfare fraud

    1. Pregnant woman convicted of misrepresenting their residence in order to receive benefits from two or more states at the same time.

      For additional information, see EA-Z chapter Fraud.

Two-parent Households

SFA is also available to households at the department’s discretion. This includes two-parent TANF households. Two-parent households are defined as:

  1. Otherwise eligible for TANF as a parent.
  2. Another parent in the assistance unit (including step-parents) is also eligible for TANF.

A household is not considered a two-parent household if one or both parents are ineligible for TANF. This includes parents who are on SSI, undocumented immigrants and fleeing felons. See EA-Z chapters Citizenship and Alien Status for State Cash Programs and TANF/SFA Time Limits for additional information.

Note:SFA months are not used when reporting federal TANF months to other states.                                                                                                    
Worker Responsibilities - WAC 388-400-0010 
  1. SFA households have the same grant amounts, time limits and WorkFirst requirements as TANF households. 
    1. SFA households must complete a mandatory WorkFirst orientation if they have not received TANF or SFA within the past 30 days, see EA-Z WorkFirst Orientation. 
    2. A WorkFirst comprehensive evaluation is required, see WFHB 3.2.1 Comprehensive Evaluation for more information. 
Note:If ACES 3G relationship, financial responsibility coding and demographics screens are entered correctly, ACES will automatically determine if the family qualifies for TANF or SFA each month.