Louisiana FITAP cash assistance for single parents and families (2026)

What a FITAP check pays in 2026

Louisiana pays a flat grant. First LDH subtracts your countable income from the flat grant for your household size. The rest, rounded down to the dollar, is your grant. A household with no countable income gets the full amount. If the difference is less than $10, you stay eligible but receive no check ⁠³⁠⁵. Benefits are loaded onto the Louisiana Purchase Card, an EBT card, within the first five days of each month. Each ATM cash withdrawal costs $2, and some ATMs add a surcharge ⁠¹.

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

The table in the manual goes up to 18 people, at $1,678. For larger households, add the grant for the extra people to the 18-person figure and subtract $100 ⁠³.

The flat grant table in the state rules has been in effect since Jan. 1, 2022, and LDH’s FITAP page still listed the same figures in 2026 ⁠⁵⁠¹. Louisiana has no separate “income limit” chart for FITAP. The flat grant is the income limit: if your countable income equals or exceeds it, you are ineligible ⁠³.

How LDH counts a working parent’s paycheck

Each working member of the household gets three earned-income deductions ⁠⁴⁠⁵:

• a standard deduction of $120 a month;
• a deduction for what you actually pay out of pocket for child care, or for care of an incapacitated adult, while you work. You cannot deduct care that STEP or the Child Care Assistance Program pays for. Proof is required if the cost is over $500 a month or looks questionable;
• a time-limited deduction of $900 a month, which you can use for six months in your lifetime. The months do not have to be in a row.

New applicants take a pretest first. A new application is one where nobody in the household got Louisiana cash assistance the month before. For the pretest, LDH subtracts only the $120 and dependent care, and the result must be below the flat grant ⁠⁴. Take a parent with two children who earns $600 a month and has no other income. After the $120 deduction, countable income is $480, which is below $484, so the family passes. In the grant calculation, the $900 deduction brings countable earnings to zero, so the family gets the full $484 for up to six months. After the six months, countable income goes back to $480, and the $4 difference is under the $10 minimum, so no check is paid ⁠⁴⁠⁵. Months that use the $900 deduction do not count against the 24-month clock ⁠⁶.

Some income does not count at all. Examples include the Earned Income Credit, SSI, energy assistance, loans, education aid, monetary gifts up to $30 per calendar quarter, interest and dividends, and the earnings of a child working toward a diploma or GED ⁠⁵. LDH’s list of FITAP eligibility conditions has no asset or resource test. Need is measured by income alone ⁠¹.

The 24-month clock and the 60-month lifetime limit

Louisiana’s state limit is shorter than the federal one. If a parent in the assistance unit, or either parent in a two-parent home, has received FITAP for 24 of the previous 60 months, the whole family is ineligible. Separately, any parent or caretaker relative has a 60-month lifetime limit ⁠⁶. The months do not have to be in a row. Months received as a minor child, when you were not head of the household, do not count ⁠⁶.

The 24-month limit does not apply when every adult in the household is incapacitated or disabled ⁠⁶. An extension is possible if jobs are scarce, if you lost a job through no fault of your own, if you are complying with your Family Success Agreement, or if another hardship blocks work ⁠⁶. The manual lists examples of hardship: addiction treatment, no child care or transportation, a death in the family, an eviction, serious illness, domestic violence, or caring full-time for a disabled household member ⁠⁷. Each extension lasts six months or less, and a supervisor must approve it. LDH reviews your case in the 22nd month and again in the 58th. While an appeal is pending, the case stays open ⁠⁷.

STEP: the work program run by Louisiana Works

Every work-eligible FITAP adult must take part in STEP. Work-eligible means an adult under 60, or a teen head of household, who is not disabled and is not caring for a disabled family member ⁠⁸. You and the agency sign a Family Success Agreement, which sets your weekly hours and activities ⁠⁹. Louisiana requires the minimum hours set by federal law, which counts a single parent at an average of 30 hours a week, or 20 if the youngest child is under 6 (45 CFR 261.31). Countable activities include paid or subsidized jobs, unpaid work experience, on-the-job training, job search and job readiness, vocational education, GED or high school classes, and community service ⁠⁹⁠⁸. STEP can pay for child care, transportation, eyeglasses, hearing aids, medical exams or drug tests needed for a job, and work clothes or tools ⁠⁸.

Sanctions are tied to time. If a work-eligible family does not meet its agreement without good cause, the case closes for at least one month the first time, two months the second time and three months after that. In each case, the closure lasts until you comply, if that takes longer ⁠¹⁰. The same sanction schedule applies if you do not attend parenting skills classes (required if you are pregnant or have a baby under one), keep children’s immunizations current, cooperate with child support, or complete the drug screening required of every adult applicant ⁠¹⁰⁠¹.

Short-term and after-FITAP payments

Louisiana does not run a standing one-time diversion payment like the ones in some other states. Instead, its rules let LDH pay a nonrecurrent short-term benefit, within the limits of appropriations, to deal with a specific crisis such as a disaster or pandemic. LDH can pay it as a lump sum or in installments for up to four months ⁠⁵. LDH did not publish an active short-term benefit when we checked. After a disaster, ask LAHelp-U whether one has been authorized.

Post-FITAP transitional assistance is for STEP participants who lose FITAP because their earnings rise. Within available funds, it can provide a monthly transportation payment, other work-support payments, housing help for a specific need that keeps you employed, educational help and a work retention incentive. It can start in the first month you are no longer eligible and run up to 12 months, or until the job ends ⁠¹¹. While you receive it, you must report within 10 days if you stop working, if your only child moves out, or if you leave the state ⁠¹².

Applying through LA CAFÉ, step by step

1. Apply in CAFÉ

   Complete the Application for Assistance (OFS 4APP) online in the LA CAFÉ Self-Service Portal. You can also apply by phone at 888-524-3578, or on paper at an LDH office or a community partner. One form covers FITAP, KCSP and SNAP ⁠¹²⁠¹.

2. Upload proof early

   Gather birth or baptismal records showing each child’s age and your relationship, Social Security numbers, immigration documents if they apply, your last four pay stubs, child support or benefit letters, children’s immunization records and proof of who lives in the home. You can upload these in CAFÉ, or mail them to the LDH ES Document Processing Center, PO Box 260031, Baton Rouge, LA 70826-9918, or fax them to 225-663-3164 ⁠¹²⁠¹.

3. Complete the interview

   LDH sends an appointment letter and a list of the proof it still needs. The interview is required, and you can ask for it in person ⁠¹².

4. Expect the STEP referral

   If you are work-eligible, you will be referred to STEP and will set your hours and activities in a Family Success Agreement ⁠⁸⁠⁹. If you are reapplying after using 24 months, you also need an active work registration in HiRE, the Louisiana Works job system, before LDH can approve an extension ⁠⁷.

5. Watch for the decision

   LDH must make a decision within 30 days of receiving your signed application. If you are approved, benefits arrive on your EBT card ⁠¹².

6. Report changes within 10 days

   Report changes in income, household members, address, an 18-year-old’s school attendance or marital status. You can message your caseworker in CAFÉ, and a reply can take up to two business days ⁠¹²⁠¹.

7. Appeal within 30 days

   If you disagree with a decision, you can ask for a fair hearing in writing, in person or by phone. For FITAP, STEP and KCSP, the request is due within 30 days of the notice date ⁠¹³⁠¹².

Kinship care and child support for Louisiana families

KCSP pays $450 a month for each child who lives with a qualified relative other than a parent, such as a grandparent, aunt, uncle, sibling or first cousin. The child’s own income must be under $450, and the relative’s income must be under 150% of the federal poverty threshold. The relative must have legal custody or provisional custody by mandate, or get it within one year. The child’s parents cannot live in the home ⁠¹⁴. You apply for KCSP through the same CAFÉ application ⁠¹⁴.

Child support. When you apply for FITAP, you assign your child support rights to the state. You must also cooperate with DCFS Child Support Enforcement to establish paternity and collect support, unless you have good cause ⁠¹. DCFS automatically enrolls FITAP and KCSP households. Other parents can apply for services online or on paper ⁠¹⁵.

For other help in this state, see all Louisiana assistance guides or compare cash assistance across states.