Kentucky K-TAP cash assistance for single parents and families (2026)

What KTAP pays after the November 2025 cut

Kentucky roughly doubled KTAP payments in February 2023, when 921 KAR 2:016 raised the maximum for a family of three from $262 to $524 ⁠³. That regulation still lists $524. In practice, DCBS has paid about 35% less since November 2025: Manual Section (MS) 2820, revised Nov. 1, 2025, and the Cabinet’s own KTAP page list the reduced scale below, and those are the amounts caseworkers issue ⁠²⁠¹. The CHFS “Income and Resource Limits” sheet captured in July 2026 still showed the 2023 maximums, so do not rely on it for the payment amount ⁠⁵.

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

Sources: current payment scale ⁠¹⁠²; 2023 regulation scale, standard of need and gross limits ⁠³. A family with no countable income gets the full amount in the “now” column.

Kentucky pays the same scale whether one or two parents are in the home, and a relative raising a child gets the same amounts when the parents do not live there ⁠¹⁠².

Kentucky’s two income tests and the 55% ratable reduction

DCBS tests income twice at every application, recertification and change ⁠²:

1. Gross income test

   All non-KTAP income before deductions must be under the gross limit, which is 185% of the standard of need: $1,169 a month for three people ⁠³⁠².

2. Standard of need test

   After deductions, countable income must be below the standard of need ($631 for three) ⁠².

The deductions are $175 per worker for work expenses, then 50% of the remaining earnings for six months. The 50% deduction can restart with a new job, but only twice in a lifetime ⁠². Child care you pay yourself (not through the Child Care Assistance Program) can be deducted up to $175 per child for full-time work, $150 for part-time work, and $200 for a child under age two ⁠². The first $50 of child support is not counted ⁠³.

The payment is 55% of the gap between countable income and the standard of need, capped at the maximum ⁠²⁠³. For example, a parent with two children earning $800 a month passes the gross test. Countable income is $800 − $175 = $625, then halved to about $313. The gap to $631 is about $318, and 55% of that is about $175 a month. Once the six months of the 50% deduction run out, the same paycheck leaves almost no payment.

A lump sum, such as a lottery win or settlement, makes the family ineligible for as many months as the money covers when divided by the standard of need ⁠².

The $10,000 resource limit and what DCBS leaves out

Kentucky counts only liquid assets, and the family total must be $10,000 or less ⁠³. Excluded items include retirement accounts while you cannot withdraw from them, prepaid burial funds, savings in a 529 college plan or ABLE account, up to $15,000 in a matched individual development account, and federal tax refunds for 12 months after you receive them ⁠³. Giving away money to qualify brings a penalty: one month of ineligibility for each $2,500 transferred, up to 24 months ⁠³.

Kentucky Works Program hours and the full-family sanction

Each work-eligible adult completes a KWP assessment and signs a KW-202 Transitional Assistance Agreement. If you skip the assessment, the application is denied ⁠⁶⁠². Hour requirements under 921 KAR 2:370 ⁠⁶:

• Single parents: at least 30 hours a week, of which 10 may be education or training. A single parent whose child is under six meets the rule with 20 hours a week.
• Two-parent families: 35 hours a week combined, or 55 if the family gets subsidized child care.
• Exemptions: a single parent caring for a baby under 12 months (12 months total in a lifetime), parents caring for a disabled family member (Form PA-4), SSDI recipients, and survivors of domestic violence for whom participating would be unsafe.

Missing activities without good cause leads first to conciliation (Form KW-204) and then to a pro-rata cut in the payment ⁠⁶. After an adult has received six months of cash assistance and three months of these cuts since August 2005, KTAP closes under a full-family sanction. To reapply, the adult must complete 15 days of half the monthly required hours, such as 65 hours for someone required to do 30 hours a week ⁠². In a two-parent case, if neither parent participates, the case closes ⁠⁶.

The 60-month clock and Kentucky’s extension reasons

Each adult, and any teen parent who heads a household, can receive KTAP for 60 cumulative months. TANF months from other states count ⁠⁷⁠². Child-only cases, including those where a parent receives SSI, do not use the clock ⁠². DCBS reviews each case in the 57th month. An extension is available while the adult ⁠⁷:

• is a victim of domestic violence and follows a service plan;
• has a physical or mental disability and follows the recommended treatment;
• cares for a disabled family member in the home;
• is a grandparent or other relative caring for a child who would otherwise go into foster care;
• has had too few job openings locally, in which case the extension is limited to six months; or
• was earlier excused from KWP for domestic violence, in which case the extension equals the number of months excused.

Families closed for the time limit or a full-family sanction are referred to Protection and Permanency to check the children’s safety ⁠².

FAST, Kentucky’s three-month alternative to KTAP

Family Assistance Short-Term (FAST) is Kentucky’s diversion program. It is for a parent who is working, on leave, or starting a job within three months and has a short-term money problem after a change in work, such as maternity leave, a temporary layoff or an injury ⁠². FAST pays up to $2,600 in total over three months, regardless of family size. The money goes directly to vendors for rent or mortgage, utilities, car payments and repairs, insurance, unsubsidized child care and work expenses ⁠². FAST does not have an asset test. Gross income in the application month must be under 100% of the federal poverty level, which was $2,221 a month for three people in the manual’s 2025 table ⁠². You must show that you will earn at least 30 hours a week at the federal minimum wage by the end of the three months. Taking FAST bars the family from KTAP for 12 months, unless going without KTAP would put a child at risk ⁠². You cannot apply for FAST online, and you cannot get it within 12 months of a previous FAST payment or after reaching the 60-month limit ⁠².

Extra payments for families already on KTAP

• Relocation Assistance Program (RAP): up to $1,500 for deposits, first and last month’s rent, utility hookups or a moving truck. It is available to accept or keep a full-time job at least 10 miles from home, to prevent an eviction or end homelessness, or to escape domestic violence. You must ask before you move ⁠².
• Work Incentive (WIN): $200 a month for up to 12 cumulative months after KTAP closes because of earnings, if household income stays at or below 200% of the poverty level and you reported the job within 10 days ⁠².
• Educational Bonus: $500 once for earning a high school diploma, GED, ESL certificate or postsecondary degree or certificate while on KTAP ⁠².
• Kinship Care: closed to new applications since March 31, 2013. Relatives raising a child can apply for KTAP for the child instead ⁠²⁠¹.

Applying through kynect or DCBS Call Services, step by step

1. Choose a channel

   Start online at kynect.ky.gov, call DCBS Call Services at (855) 306-8959, or go to any DCBS office ⁠⁴. Your application date is the day you start online, or the next business day if you start on a weekend ⁠². Ask about FAST by phone or in person, because kynect cannot take FAST requests ⁠².

2. Gather proof

   Have Social Security numbers for everyone applying, pay stubs for the last two calendar months, bank balances, child care bills and any child support records ⁠²⁠³.

3. Complete the interview

   It can be done by phone or in person. The worker explains the 60-month limit and KWP and completes your KWP assessment and Transitional Assistance Agreement ⁠².

4. Cooperate with child support

   If a parent lives outside the home, you must help identify and locate that parent and turn over support payments. Refusing without good cause, such as a risk of domestic violence, cuts the payment maximum by 25% ⁠⁷.

5. Watch for the decision

   DCBS must process the application by the 30th day after the application date. Report changes within 10 days, and recertify every 12 months ⁠².

6. Appeal if you disagree

   Request a hearing within 30 days of a notice that denies, reduces or ends benefits. You can get up to 30 more days with good cause ⁠⁸.

Child support help for Kentucky single parents

Kentucky’s Division of Child Support Enforcement locates parents, establishes paternity and orders, and collects support. KTAP cases are referred to it automatically ⁠⁷. Parents who are not on KTAP can apply through Kentucky Child Support Interactive or a local child support office. If you have never received cash assistance, a $35 annual fee is taken once $550 has been paid to you in a federal fiscal year ⁠⁹.

Compare Kentucky with other states on the cash assistance overview.