Indiana assistance programs

Indiana runs most of this help through two state bodies rather than through counties or workforce boards. The Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA) decides TANF cash assistance in Division of Family Resources offices in all 92 counties and sets one statewide income chart, fee schedule and waitlist for child care vouchers, while the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHCDA) runs both the First Step and Next Home down payment programs and the Energy Assistance Program (EAP), Indiana's name for LIHEAP.

Where you apply depends on the program. IHCDA takes no applications from homebuyers: First Step, Next Home and Step Down all start with a loan officer at a participating lender. Energy help goes through 19 Local Service Providers, 18 of them community action agencies, or online through the new LITT portal at eap.mylitt.com, open October 1, 2026 to April 30, 2027. One application on the FSSA Benefits Portal covers TANF, SNAP and Medicaid, and families without internet can apply at their county DFR office. CCDF vouchers and On My Way Pre-K share one online application, Early Ed Connect. For college grants, the FAFSA filed by April 15 is the state's one deadline; WIOA job-training money comes through WorkOne centers in 12 regions.

Several Indiana rules cut against what families expect. IHCDA's down payment help is a 0% second mortgage that is never forgiven and is repaid when you sell, refinance or move out (homebuyer guide). TANF caps assets at $1,000 when you apply and limits adults who must take part in IMPACT to 24 months of cash (cash assistance guide). Every new child care applicant joins a statewide waitlist, which began moving again in late May 2026 at about 3,000 children a month after a $200 million FROG Fund infusion (child care guide). EAP has no summer cooling help, but applying protects eligible households from electric and gas shutoffs from December 1 to March 15 (energy guide).

Indiana has no state grant for starting a business. Its $99.1 million SSBCI allocation goes to Legend Fund loans of $5,000 to $1,000,000 and to the Indiana Angel Network Fund, and the grants that do exist are narrow, such as the Employer Training Grant (up to $5,000 per trained employee) and IN-STEP export reimbursements (small business guide). For students, the 2026-27 Frank O'Bannon Grant pays up to $10,600 at private colleges and $5,300 at public universities, and 21st Century Scholars covers up to four years of tuition for students enrolled by June 30 of eighth grade (student grants guide). Cities add their own homebuyer help: Bloomington's $10,000 loan is forgiven over five years, Gary pays up to $30,000 to core workers, and INHP in Indianapolis pays assistance only with its own mortgage.