North Dakota TANF cash assistance for single parents and families (2026)

How North Dakota sets a TANF payment: the standard of need

North Dakota does not use a separate “maximum grant” chart. It has a single TANF Basic Standard of Need, built from six items: shelter, food, clothing, personal needs, household supplies, and fuel and utilities. A family with no countable income receives the full standard ⁠¹. The standard depends on how many caretakers and how many children are in the case. The chart section was last updated Oct. 1, 2025, and it is unchanged in the Oct. 1, 2026 edition of the manual ⁠¹.

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

The chart continues to 10 children; one caretaker with 10 children has a standard of $2,702 ⁠¹.

The same number serves as the income test and the payment ceiling. A household qualifies when its adjusted net income is below the standard, and the payment is the standard minus that income.

Earnings, the 27% allowance and the 12-month disregard cycle

Wages are counted in two steps ⁠²:

1. Standard employment expense allowance

   HHS subtracts either 27% of each worker’s gross earnings or $180, whichever is larger.

2. Time-limited percentage (TLP)

   HHS then disregards 50% of the remaining earnings in months 1 through 6, 35% in months 7 through 9 and 25% in months 10 through 12. From month 13 on, nothing more is disregarded.

The cycle runs once. If you use all 12 months, you cannot get the TLP again until you have been off TANF for a full year. If you keep the 50% level for six straight months, the rest of the cycle keeps running even when you stop working or your case closes. A month in which the benefit is under $10 or zero does not use up a TLP month ⁠².

As a worked example (our calculation, using the manual’s rules): a parent with two children earning $1,200 a month in the first six months keeps $324 for the 27% allowance and has half of the remaining $876 disregarded. That leaves $438 of countable income, so the TANF payment is $962 minus $438, or $524. Under the same rules, that family stays eligible in months 1 to 6 until gross wages reach roughly $2,630 a month. After month 12 the cutoff drops to about $1,315 ⁠¹⁠².

Asset limits that scale from $9,000

Countable assets must be below these limits ⁠³:

• $9,000 for a one-person household
• $15,000 for a two-person household
• $500 more for each additional person, so $15,500 for a parent with two children and $16,000 for a family of four

Diversion, described below, has no asset test at all ⁠⁸.

JOBS: the up-front orientation and the 20- or 30-hour week

North Dakota’s TANF work program is the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) Program. HHS contracts with Community Options, Job Service North Dakota and Turtle Mountain Employment and Training to run it. Tribal members may be served through a Tribal Native Employment Works (Tribal NEW) program instead ⁠¹⁴.

JOBS begins before approval. Each adult who is referred must call JOBS or Tribal NEW within seven business days of the referral date. The day after the referral is day one. The adult must then attend an appointment covering orientation, an initial assessment and an employability plan, and must not quit or refuse a job without good cause after applying. If any of these steps is missed, the application is denied ⁠⁶.

After approval, each participant must average at least 30 hours a week in approved activities. A single parent who personally cares for a child under 6 needs 20 hours. A pregnant woman whose only child is unborn needs 30 ⁠⁵. Countable activities include job search, paid work, on-the-job training, vocational training, unpaid work experience and community service. Education and training are limited and must be approved ⁠¹⁵. People exempt from JOBS include caretakers age 65 or older, a parent caring for a baby under 2 months old, and teens enrolled full time in school ⁠¹⁵. Parents with impairments or family violence issues can be put on a modified plan with fewer hours ⁠⁵.

Missing JOBS without good cause leads to a sanction. For one month, the sanctioned person’s needs are removed from the grant. If the person does not show cooperation during that month, the whole case closes and the household is barred for one more month ⁠¹⁵.

The 60-month clock and who North Dakota exempts

North Dakota does not set a shorter state limit. Each adult has 60 lifetime months of TANF, and the count includes months received in other states and from tribal TANF programs ⁠¹⁵. The manual lists three ways to stay on past 60 months ⁠⁴:

• Automatic exemptions. These apply to a caretaker who is 65 or older and to a caretaker who receives SSI, as long as the person had not already used 60 months.
• Indian land with unemployment above 50%. Months do not count while the caretaker lives on Indian land where unemployment is over 50%. Such land exists in Benson, Dunn, Eddy, Mercer, McKenzie, McLean, Mountrail, Nelson, Ramsey, Richland, Rolette, Sargent, Sioux and Ward counties. As of January 2023, Benson, Rolette and Sioux counties were over 50%.
• Exemptions you must request. These cover a caretaker who is incapacitated for 30 days or more, a caretaker whose spouse or child is incapacitated and needs full-time care, and a victim of family violence who cannot work regularly or take full part in activities.

Diversion: up to four months of crisis payments instead of a monthly check

Diversion is North Dakota’s short-term emergency track. If a TANF applicant has a “specific crisis or episode of need,” HHS handles the case as Diversion. That means a temporary loss of income that threatens eviction, homelessness or a utility shut-off (with a new or returning job, or expected income, in place), a disaster such as a fire or flood, or an unmet need tied to getting or keeping a job ⁠⁸. The family must meet TANF’s financial and non-financial rules except the asset limit, and it can receive Diversion for at most four months in a rolling 12-month period ⁠⁸. Some families must use regular TANF instead. These include SSI and SSDI recipients, a parent of a baby under 2 months old, people who have used 60 TANF months, kinship care households, and caretakers with an uncured sanction ⁠⁸.

Diversion pays for specific costs, usually straight to the landlord, utility or other vendor ⁠⁹:

• Housing and shelter. This covers rent or mortgage, a rental or utility deposit, a utility shut-off, or up to three nights in a motel. For a new applicant, it can cover the two months before the application month, the application month and the month after. State TANF staff must approve each request, and you must show you can keep up the payments afterward.
• Job-related costs, per participant per state fiscal year (July to June). The limits are $250 for work clothing, $150 for tools, $500 for car repairs or up to three months of liability insurance, $1,000 for books and tuition, $150 for license or exam fees, and $1,000 for moving costs. Transportation is covered up to $150 a month.
• Emergency household needs. Up to $430 a month for one-time costs that no other category covers.
• Other help. This includes replacing items lost in a disaster and a $250 one-time payment for finishing high school or a GED.

Transition Assistance when a new paycheck closes the case

When higher wages make an ongoing TANF case ineligible, North Dakota can keep the family on Transition Assistance instead of closing the case. The family must have been on TANF the month before, must fail only because of earned income, and must meet every other TANF rule. Transition Assistance is not available in an application month ⁠¹⁰. It lasts six consecutive months unless the family would qualify for a regular TANF payment of $200 or more, stops meeting TANF rules or no longer has earnings ⁠¹⁰. Payments include $200 a month for job retention. JOBS participants can also get a transportation allowance of up to $150 a month, and child care is paid through the Child Care Assistance Program ⁠¹¹. Transition Assistance months still count toward the 60-month limit, and you still have to cooperate with child support and JOBS ⁠¹⁰.

Applying through the Self-Service Portal or a human service zone

1. Gather proof

   HHS’s checklist asks for citizenship or immigration papers, proof of residence, age, identity, Social Security numbers and relationship to the children. It also asks for last month’s and this month’s income, bank accounts, retirement plans, life insurance, vehicles, and any child support or dependent care you pay ⁠¹⁴.

2. Apply

   Apply online in the Self-Service Portal after creating a North Dakota login. You can also print the Application for Assistance (SFN 405) and return it to the Customer Support Center or a human service zone office, or request a mailed application. If you have questions, call 1-866-614-6005 or 701-328-1000 (TTY 711), or email [email protected] ⁠¹⁴.

3. Complete SFN 74 for each absent parent

   Each caretaker fills out the Child Support Information form for each absent parent of each child. Without it, the application is denied. If you fear harm from cooperating, file the Notice of Right to Claim “Good Cause” (SFN 443) ⁠⁷⁠¹⁴.

4. Contact JOBS within seven business days

   Attend orientation and the assessment unless you are exempt ⁠⁶.

5. Watch for the decision

   HHS must approve or deny within 30 days of the application date, unless delays outside your control hold it up. If you do not turn in the required proofs within that time, the application is denied ⁠¹².

6. Appeal in writing

   Use SFN 162, Request for Hearing, and email it with any supporting files ⁠¹⁴. You have 30 calendar days from the print date of the notice. If you file within 10 days of a notice that cuts or ends your benefits, payments continue at the old level until the Office of Administrative Hearings decides ⁠¹³.

Child support cooperation and other help for single parents in North Dakota

HHS sends each family’s completed SFN 74 forms to the Child Support Division within one day. If an earlier non-cooperation finding on your case is still open, you have to resolve it with the regional child support office before TANF can be approved ⁠⁷. Parents who are not on TANF can apply to HHS Child Support for paternity, support orders and enforcement through its online application. Parents under 21 who are pregnant and still in school can ask about the Crossroads Program, which helps with child care and transportation costs while they finish school.

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