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

Independent or shared housing sets the South Dakota payment

South Dakota pays two maximums per family size. The independent living arrangement rate applies when the assistance unit carries all shelter costs alone (LIHEAP help does not change this), including a family in a shelter, a car or a tent that nobody else pays for ⁠². The lower shared living arrangement rate applies in four situations: another adult who is not on the grant lives in the home; the family gets a rent subsidy or lives in public housing; someone outside the home helps with shelter costs; or an SSI recipient lives in the household ⁠².

Sizes 9 to 12 run from $1,093 to $1,304 (independent) and $909 to $1,118 (shared). Above 12 people, each extra person adds $53 ⁠²⁠¹.

A mother on the grant with her two children is a unit of three: $672 if she pays her own rent, and $486 if her sister lives with her or she has a Section 8 voucher ⁠².

Grandparents and other relatives: the child-only rate

A child living with a related caretaker, with no parent in the home, can get TANF in the child’s name. Eligible caretakers are grandparents and great-grandparents, aunts and uncles (including great-aunts and great-uncles), adult siblings, first cousins and first cousins once removed. DSS counts only the child’s own income and assets, such as child support, Social Security or foster care payments. The caretaker’s wages and savings do not count ⁠¹.

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

A relative applying only for a relative’s child skips the Employment Specialist; including their own children brings in the work rules ⁠¹.

How DSS turns earnings into a grant

South Dakota publishes no separate income limit for TANF. The payment standard is the limit. DSS takes the unit’s countable gross income for the month. Each working member gets a $90 deduction plus 20% of the remaining earnings, and any court-ordered child support the parent pays for children in another household is also subtracted. DSS takes the result away from the payment standard and rounds down to the dollar ⁠³⁠². Grants under $10 are not paid ⁠².

Example: a parent with two children in an independent arrangement earns $600 a month. DSS deducts $90 plus 20% of the remaining $510 ($102), leaving $408 countable and a grant of $672 − $408 = $264. Using the same formula, the grant drops below $10 once gross earnings reach about $918 a month. That figure is our own calculation from ARSD 67:10:03:05 and 67:10:05:02, not one DSS publishes.

Other income rules from ARSD 67:10:03:

• Counted: unemployment benefits, Social Security (but not SSI), self-employment income, and child support or alimony passed through by the child support office ⁠³.
• Not counted: the federal EITC, tax refunds, student aid such as Pell Grants, SNAP, earnings of a child who is at least a half-time student, and up to $100 of birthday or holiday gifts ⁠³.
• Lump sums: the first $2,000 is ignored. Any amount above that makes the unit ineligible for a number of months, found by dividing the excess by the family’s need standard ⁠³.

The first month is prorated from the application date. DSS subtracts the day of the month from 31 and multiplies by one-thirtieth of the full grant. An application filed on the 11th pays 20/30 of the grant, which is $448 at the $672 rate ⁠².

The $2,000 asset test and the vehicle rules

The resource limit is $2,000 for the whole assistance unit, and it has not changed since 1997 ⁠⁴. Excluded: your home, household goods, burial spaces, up to $1,500 in a prepaid burial contract, federal trust land and student aid ⁠⁴. One primary vehicle does not count at all. A second vehicle is excluded if its fair market value is $4,650 or less and it is used to get to work, training or school, or to transport the family. Vehicles needed for a disabled member, for hauling water or fuel, or for producing income are also excluded ⁠⁴. Any other licensed vehicle counts at the greater of its equity value or the part of its market value above $4,650 ⁠⁴. Income you keep past the month you receive it becomes a resource ⁠³.

The 60-month limit and South Dakota’s hardship exceptions

A unit that includes a parent who has received 60 months of TANF is ineligible. The months do not have to be consecutive, and months of TANF from other states count ⁠⁵⁠¹. South Dakota does not add a shorter state limit. Two kinds of months do not count: months when the person was a minor child and not a head of household, and months when the parent lived on an Indian reservation where at least 50% of adults were unemployed ⁠⁵.

After 60 months, the family can keep receiving cash if one of these four hardships applies ⁠⁵:

• a physical or mental condition of the parent, expected to last more than 30 days, that keeps the parent from working;
• such a condition in a spouse or child at home that keeps the parent from working;
• low intellectual functioning that prevents work or sharply limits earnings;
• a family safety issue, such as homelessness or domestic abuse.

Working with an Employment Specialist on the TANF Parent Work program

The parent signs a Personal Responsibility Agreement and works out a Personal Responsibility Plan with an Employment Specialist. If either is not signed, the whole unit is ineligible ⁠⁶. The plan sets the parent’s weekly hours ⁠⁶:

Job skills training, education and GED classes count only after 20 hours of other activities such as work, job search or vocational training ⁠⁶. A parent is exempt while caring for a baby under 12 weeks old (one parent per household), while receiving Social Security disability, or as a veteran with a 100% VA disability rating ⁠⁶. Domestic violence, rape, temporary illness, treatment programs and family crises can justify reduced hours ⁠⁶. The program pays for transportation, car insurance and repairs, work clothing, tools, relocation and GED test fees when no other source covers them ⁠¹⁠⁶. Withdrawing an application after a support-services payment bars the unit for three months ⁠⁶.

Penalties increase with each violation. The first is a written warning. The second cuts the grant by 50% for one month, and the case closes if the parent still does not comply. Any later violation means one month of disqualification and a new application ⁠⁶. If a child misses school, the grant drops by $50 for each child, up to $150 a month ⁠⁶. Quitting a job or cutting hours without good cause costs an applicant up to 60 days of eligibility and a recipient up to three payment months ⁠⁶.

One-time payments: what South Dakota offers instead of diversion

Neither the ARSD 67:10 rules nor the DSS TANF page describes a diversion program, meaning a lump sum paid instead of monthly TANF. South Dakota does have two one-time payments:

• Transitional employment allowance. This is a single payment equal to the last month’s TANF grant. A family qualifies if TANF ends because a parent’s earnings rose from a job (or several permanent part-time jobs) averaging at least 80 hours a month and expected to last at least 120 days. A parent cannot receive it again until 12 straight months have passed without cash assistance ⁠⁷.
• Emergency payment. If the caretaker of a child already on TANF dies, deserts, is jailed or is hospitalized, DSS can pay a person acting for the caretaker until the child’s care is arranged ⁠¹⁴.

Filing Form DSS-EA-301 and what follows

1. Get the paper application

   The eaportal.sd.gov site takes only SNAP and Medicaid. For TANF, use Form DSS-EA-301 and check the box for your own children, a relative’s child, or both ⁠⁸.

2. Sign page 3 right away

   Benefits can start from the date DSS receives a form with your name, address and signature, so turn in a partial form if you need to. Mail it, fax it or bring it to one of the DSS offices listed on the office finder ⁠⁸⁠⁵.

3. Meet the Employment Specialist

   If you are applying for your own children, DSS schedules the required employment interview within two business days of receiving your application ⁠⁸. You and the specialist draft your Personal Responsibility Plan, and you must follow it while the application is pending or you will be denied ⁠⁶.

4. Complete the eligibility interview with ID

   For TANF you need the full application, an interview, proof of identity and a signature on page 19. Bring your Social Security numbers, pay stubs, bank statements and rent papers ⁠⁸.

5. Watch for the decision

   DSS has 30 calendar days from receiving the signed application to approve or deny it ⁠⁵. Payments go by direct deposit or onto a Way2Go card ⁠¹.

6. Keep reporting

   If your income rises above the payment standard, report it by the 10th of the next month. Report gambling or lottery winnings over $2,000 within 10 days. Return the six-month report form by the 20th of the month you receive it, and reapply at least every 12 months ⁠⁵⁠⁸.

7. Contest a decision

   You can ask for a conference with DSS within 10 days of an adverse action ⁠⁹. To keep your benefits unchanged until the hearing decision, request the hearing within 10 days of the notice ⁠⁹. Otherwise, send a written hearing request within 30 days of the notice to the Office of Administrative Hearings, 700 Governors Drive, Pierre, SD 57501 (605.773.6851). In most cases the judge decides within 90 days ⁠¹⁰⁠¹¹.

Child support cooperation through the Division of Child Support

Signing the application assigns your child support rights to the state, and support collected while you are on TANF repays your benefits. You must help DCS establish paternity and support unless that would endanger you or your children ⁠⁸. TANF families are referred to DCS automatically, with no fee and no separate form, and services continue after TANF ends unless you decline them ⁠¹. Parents who are not on TANF can file the Application and Agreement for Full Services with a $5 fee or call 605.773.3641 ⁠¹. DCS says setting up a new case takes two to four weeks ⁠¹².

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