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What is the Family Independence Temporary Assistance Program (FITAP)?
The Family Independence Temporary Assistance Program (FITAP) provides cash assistance to families with children when the financial resources of the family are insufficient to meet subsistence needs. The overall goal of FITAP is to decrease the long term dependency on welfare assistance by promoting job preparation and work. Public assistance is no longer a lifetime benefit but an opportunity to become independent after a financial crisis.
The Family Independence Temporary Assistance Program is authorized by the Social Security Act as amended by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. Effective January 1997 the Family Independence Temporary Assistance Program is funded by the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families Block Grant. The Department of Health and Human Services is the federal agency responsible for its administration. The program is administered at the state level by the Department of Social Services, Office of Family Support.
The average family consists of a mother and two children. The average grant in Louisiana is $200 per month
| Number of Persons |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
| FITAP Flat Grant Amounts |
122 |
188 |
240 |
284 |
327 |
366 |
402 |
441 |
477 |
512 |
Do I Qualify for FITAP?
To be eligible for FITAP, the family must meet all the conditions listed below:
- Residence - the client must be living in the state, must intend to make a home here and the stay cannot be temporary.
- Citizenship - the client must be either a U.S. citizen or a qualified alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence.
- Need - a family must be considered financially needy to be eligible. It is not necessary that a parent be incapacitated, absent or unemployed.
- Enumeration - all applicants or recipients must provide or apply for a Social Security number for each member of the assistance unit.
- Age - children must be under the age of 18 to be eligible or in school and able to complete the course of study or obtain a GED by the 19th birthday.
- Relationship - in order to receive FITAP assistance for a child, an individual must be a qualified relative by meeting certain relationship requirements, i.e., must be related by blood, marriage or adoption.
- Home - it must be verified that the child actually lives in the same home with the qualified relative.
- Support Enforcement Services - the client must assign any child support and medical support rights to the state, and must cooperate with the agency's Support Enforcement Services in establishing paternity and obtaining child support and medical support from the absent parent(s), unless good cause has been established.
- STEP - work eligible applicants and recipients are required to participate in the STEP Program.
- Resources - the client is ineligible if countable resources of the assistance unit including cash, bank accounts, real property other than home property, etc., exceed $2000. Effective June 1, 2002 all vehicles are exempt.
- Income - monthly countable income, both earned and unearned, cannot exceed the flat grant amount for the number of persons in the assistance unit. Total countable income is subtracted from the flat grant amount to determine the client's grant amount. The allowable earned income deductions are:
- Standard earned income deduction of $120 for each employed member.
- Time limited deduction of $900 for six months for each employed member.
- Immunization - sufficient evidence of immunity or immunization against vaccine preventable diseases according to the Office of Public Health schedule, or evidence that such an immunization program is in progress, must be provided for each recipient under the age of 18.
- Parenting Skills Training - each applicant/recipient who is pregnant or has a child under the age one must attend parenting skills training.
- Time Limits - the family is ineligible to receive assistance if a parent or either parent in a two-parent family has received benefits for 24 of the prior 60 months. There is a 60 month lifetime limit if the assistance unit includes a parent/caretaker relative.
- Minor parent restriction - minor unmarried parents and their children must reside in the home of a parent, legal guardian, other adult relative or in an adult-supervised living arrangement in order to qualify for assistance.
- Applicants/recipients age 18 and over must cooperate in screening for the use of illegal drugs, and, if necessary, drug testing, education and rehabilitation.
How and Where Do I Apply?
The person assuming responsibility for the child's care can apply at any OFS Family Assistance parish office.
The Agency must conduct an interview and obtain other verifications to determine if the child is eligible. Written information will help the local office to make a determination of eligibility promptly. For example, a birth certificate, baptismal record, or school record will show the child's age and relationship to the parent. If someone else applies, additional information is needed to establish the child's relationship to the applicant. A decision should be made within 30 days.
Income from all sources must be taken into account in determination of eligibility and amount of grant. This includes income from Social Security, veteran's benefits, Railroad Retirement, or wages, and any other regular income. However, the law exempts certain income.
When you apply, be sure to give all of the facts concerning your situation.
If you withhold information, misrepresent facts in any way, or fail to report changes as required by the local office, you may be prosecuted under the law or asked to repay the amount of assistance you received illegally.
The person who receives the benefits must notify the OFS Family Assistance parish office of any changes in address, residence, living arrangements, resources, and income according to the requirements of the reporting system to which they are assigned. Visit here to find the OFS Family Assistance parish office in which to apply or you can print the application form, completed it and mail to any OFS Family Assistance parish office.
Downloadable Application Form: The following standard form can be downloaded to a disk and then completed on the user's PC. To download a form, simply click on the desired title below, then follow the prompts given by your browser. (On most browsers, you will need to choose the "Save to Disk" option, and then choose the drive and directory you wish to save to.)
Note: The Adobe Acrobat document will be viewable in all formats. To view the Adobe Acrobat document please download the free Adobe Acrobat Reader at: http://www.adobe.com/prodindex/acrobat/readstep.html.
This form has been provided as a public service and has been successfully processed on a State computer system. However, we unfortunately cannot guarantee success for all users, due to the wide variety of browsers/platform in use. It is still the responsibility of the user to use this form appropriately and in a manner consistent within these limitations. No actual text of this form may be changed, and doing so may render it null and void. All relevant deadlines still apply.
Visit here to download the application form OFS 4APP(Application for Assistance) Visit here to download Information About the Application for Assistance
What Are My Rights?
If you believe the action on your case is not correct, or that a decision was not rendered on your application with reasonable promptness, you may request and obtain a fair hearing. The parish office will present the evidence on which its decision was made, and you will be expected to present evidence to support your claim at the hearing. The fair hearing judge will then determine whether you are entitled to your claim.
If you wish to request a fair hearing, you should follow the instructions on the back of the notice you receive from the agency or contact the local office. Requests for fair hearings are mailed to the DSS Appeals Bureau, P. O. Box 2944, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70821. The request must be made within 30 days after the local office decision.
If you believe that you have been discriminated against because of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability, or on the basis of religion or political beliefs, it is your right to file a complaint either through your local OFS Family Assistance office or directly to the State Office of Family Support, or to the Federal Government. If you wish to file such a complaint, you may secure the complaint form from your local OFS Family Assistance office.
How are My Benefits Issued?
Visit Here to Check the Balance on your Louisiana Purchase Card (EBT Account) at JPMorgan Chase.
Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) is a method of delivering governmental benefits to recipients electronically. Louisiana uses magnetic stripe card technology. The card, which is referred to as the Louisiana Purchase Card enables recipients to access benefits at ATM’s and Point-of-Sale (POS) machines.
Cash benefits are posted to recipient accounts during the first five days of the month. Recipient benefits are accessible by 5:00 a.m. the morning after they are posted. Benefits are posted on the same date every month regardless of the day of the week. Holidays and weekends do not affect the date of benefit availability.
Benefits are secure and accessible only to persons authorized by the recipient. The Personal Identification Number (PIN) is selected by the recipient and must be correctly entered in order to successfully complete all electronic transactions. As purchases or cash withdrawals are made at grocery store checkout lanes and ATM’s, recipient accounts are debited and the recipient is given a receipt which provides the remaining account balance.
Related Links
http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/ Administration for Children and Families
http://www.aphsa.org/ American Public Human Services Association
http://www.aecf.org/ Annie E. Casey Foundation
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/ecfr/index.html Federal Regulations for TANF |
