See ACES Screens and Online Pages for an example of pages or screens used in this chapter.
TFA is a food assistance program that provides food benefits to families leaving Temporary Assistance For Needy Families (TANF) or Tribal TANF cash assistance programs.
Clients who were receiving Basic Food Assistance at the time their Temporary Assistance Food Needy Families (TANF) closed or Tribal TANF income was removed may be eligible for TFA. For more information on TFA eligibility, see EAZ Manual - WAC 388-489-0005 Who is Eligible for transitional food assistance?
TFA cannot be authorized when any member of the Basic Food Assistance Unit (AU) receives Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) or Tribal TANF benefits. For more information, see EAZ Manual - WAC 388-489-0005 Who is Eligible for transitional food assistance?
TFA cannot be authorized when ALL TANF/Tribal TANF members are closing for one or a combination of the following reason codes:
TFA cannot be authorized if ANY member of the Basic Food AU is under TANF sanction for one of the following reason codes:
TFA cannot be authorized if ALL members of the Basic Food AU (associated with the closed TANF AU) are disqualified from receiving Basic Food for any of the following reason codes:
TFA cannot be authorized if ANY member of the Basic Food AU is not eligible for the following reason:
The certification period for TFA is five consecutive calendar months, see EAZ Manual - WAC 388-489-0015 How long will my family receive transitional food assistance?
For Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and State Family Assistance (SFA) clients, the certification period begins the month following the month of TANF/SFA closure.
For Tribal TANF clients, the certification period begins the first of the ongoing benefit month following the removal of Tribal TANF income.
For information about what happens to the TFA certification period when a TANF AU is reinstated, see Certification Period - What happens to the certification period for Transitional Food Assistance (TFA) when a Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Assistance Unit (AU) is reinstated?.
When a closed TFA Assistance Unit (AU) is re-screened, the AU changes back to Basic Food Assistance and the AU number remains the same. This happens even if the reopening is during the original five-month certification period.
During screening the TFA indicator is removed and upon screening completion, the indicator displays in ACES.online and ACES Mainframe as Basic Food Assistance (BF).
The system automatically opens TFA when a Basic Food Assistance Unit (AU) is eligible for TFA. The system opens TFA using the existing Basic Food AU number, calculates the benefits and generates Letter 008-01 (Change in Cash/Food Assistance) to notify clients about their transitional benefits.
TFA is identified by an indicator on the following pages in ACES 3G:
TFA is identified by an indicator in the Assistance Unit summary section at the top of ACES.online pages. The indicator can also be found on the following pages:
The system calculates TFA by first identifying which month the benefit amount is based on by:
The latest date is used if one or more of the events above occur during the same session.
The TFA benefit amount is calculated by using:
Reinstatement is allowed on a TFA AU in the same manner as reinstating a Basic Food AU. When TFA is reinstated within the five-month certification period, it continues unchanged.
For more information on reinstating an AU, see How do I reinstate an Assistance Unit (AU)?
After the TFA benefit amount is calculated, it is normally the same amount for each month of the five-month certification period. Changes in income, resources or expenses do not affect the TFA benefit amount. For more information, see EAZ Manual WAC - 388-489-0020 Am I required to report changes in my household’s circumstances while on transitional food assistance?
If a TFA member is removed from the TFA Assistance Unit (AU) with Reason Code 549 - Voluntary Termination of Transitional Food Benefits; the client, their income, resources and deductible expenses are removed from the TFA AU. The system recalculates the benefit using the new number of household members and the client no longer shows on the Assistance Unit Detail page. Reason codes display in the Reasons For Change section at the bottom of the Eligibility Details page to indicate the changes.
TFA benefits change if the Thrifty Food Plan (TFP) standards increase or decrease.
TFA benefits change if recoupment starts, stops or changes.
The TFA Assistance Unit (AU) closes, if all TFA members in the TFA AU household are not eligible for any one of the invalid TFA reason codes. For a list of reason codes, see Who is not eligible for Transitional Food Assistance (TFA)?
If a review is not completed at the end of the TFA five-month certification period, the TFA AU closes for Reason Code 235 - Review Not Complete.
When the household requests voluntary termination of their TFA benefits or chooses to receive Basic Food Assistance instead of TFA, users need to close the TFA AU with Reason Code 549 - Voluntary Termination of Transitional Food Benefits. For more information, see:
When a TFA Assistance Unit (AU) member moves out of the TFA household, that person and their income remain part of the TFA AU; unless, that person is removed from the TFA AU with Reason Code 549 - Voluntary Termination of Transitional Food Benefits or they are approved for Basic Food in a different AU.
When a TFA AU member dies before the TFA certification period is over, the deceased person and income remain part of the TFA AU through the end of the TFA eligibility period. At re-certification for Basic Food the deceased person is then removed from the benefits. Take the following steps to remove them from the TFA AU:
A new household member can be added to an active TFA AU, but the TFA amount and household composition do not change. For more information, see EAZ Manual - WAC 388-489-0020 Am I required to report changes in my household’s circumstances while on transitional food assistance?
If a household member is to be added to the TFA AU, using the Add a Person process take the following steps:
When a review is initiated on an active TFA AU, it goes through Basic Food eligibility. If eligible, the AU changes back to Basic Food Assistance and the AU number remains the same.
Any client coded on the Assistance Unit Details page as a Non-Member (NM) with Reason Code 130 - Not TFA Eligible - Not Recipient of BF in Prior Month is included in the Basic Food household and if they pass all eligibility for Basic Food, they are an active Recipient (RE) in the Basic Food AU.
To delete Tribal TANF income, take the following steps:
When household composition changes in the TFA calculation month and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) closes, the system prevents the Basic Food Assistance Unit (AU) from trickling to TFA. Users receive error message Household Composition Changed from TFA Calc Month.
To open TFA in this scenario, take the following steps:
If household member is now a recipient of a new AU, see EA-Z Manual - WAC 388-489-0022 What happens if I reapply for Basic Food while receiving transitional food assistance?
For more information on how a Basic food AU is used to calculate TFA, see: EA-Z Manual - WAC 388-489-0010 How is my transitional food assistance benefit calculated?
See ACES Screens and Online Pages for an example of pages or screens used in this chapter.