West Virginia WV WORKS cash assistance for single parents and families (2026)

$542 for three: the WV WORKS payment chart

Appendix A of the manual lists the maximum monthly payment for each assistance group size. A family with no countable income receives the full amount ⁠¹. The manual sets the smallest payment it will issue at $35 and the largest at $811, so payments stop rising at eight people ⁠².

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

The manual’s change log records a 10% increase in WV WORKS payments in May 2018. It shows no later increase ⁠¹.

Payments go onto an EBT card unless you enroll in direct deposit through the State Auditor’s Office. Direct deposits arrive on the last state workday of the month before the month they cover ⁠². If a balance on the EBT card goes unused for 365 days after the card was last used, it is removed. WV WORKS money cannot be spent or withdrawn at casinos, liquor stores or adult entertainment businesses ⁠².

Two income tests: the Standard of Need and the 40% earnings disregard

DoHS applies two income tests ⁠¹:

1. Gross test

   All countable gross income, including the income of any disqualified household member, must be at or below 100% of the Standard of Need: $991 a month for three people, $786 for two and $1,196 for four.

2. Countable income

   DoHS subtracts 40% of gross earnings and any child or adult care you pay for so you can work (there is no cap on this care deduction). It then adds unearned income, minus the child support pass-through. The total must come out below the maximum payment, and your check is the difference.

Here is how that works for a parent with two children who earns $600 a month. The parent passes the $991 gross test. Subtracting the 40% disregard leaves $360 of countable earnings, so the monthly check would be $542 minus $360, or $182 ⁠¹. If you start a job and do not report it within 10 days, DoHS does not apply the disregard to those earnings and also imposes a sanction ⁠¹. A student’s earnings are not counted if the student is under 18 and in secondary school ⁠¹.

Assets, vehicles and the drug use questionnaire

A WV WORKS assistance group can have no more than $2,000 in countable assets, no matter how many people it includes ⁠⁵. Under the FY 2027 state plan, one vehicle is excluded for each work-eligible adult regardless of its value. Tax refunds, the Earned Income Tax Credit, SSI and the earnings of minor children are not counted as income ⁠⁷.

Each work-eligible applicant must complete a drug use questionnaire (form DFA-WVW-DAST-1) ⁠². If you refuse the questionnaire or a drug test, you cannot receive WV WORKS, but the rest of your family can still be paid through a protective payee you choose. Giving false answers bars you for 12 months. After a positive test, you must complete substance abuse treatment and a job skills program. A third positive test bars you permanently ⁠⁴.

Orientation, the PRC, the SSP and 128 hours a month

WV WORKS has four core eligibility conditions: an income test, an asset test, attending orientation, and signing a Personal Responsibility Contract (PRC, form DFA-PRC-1) and a Self-Sufficiency Plan (SSP, form DFA-SSP-1) ⁠⁷. Every adult and emancipated minor in the case signs a separate PRC and SSP ⁠². The SSP lists your goals, the appointments and activities you agree to, and the barriers DoHS will help you remove, such as transportation or child care. The first full SSP is due within 30 days of your application ⁠². If you reapply within three months after your case closed, you do not have to repeat orientation or sign a new PRC ⁠².

Work starts on the first day of benefits, and DoHS case managers run the work program directly, not through a separate agency. Minimum monthly participation hours depend on the household ⁠³:

• Single parent of a child under 6: 85 hours a month, all of them in core activities.
• Other one-parent or caretaker households: 128 hours a month, at least 85 of them in core activities.
• Two-parent households: 150 hours a month, or 236 hours if the family gets federally funded child care.

Countable activities include paid jobs, job search, on-the-job training, the Community Work Experience Program (CWEP), community service, vocational training and college ⁠³. A single custodial parent of a baby under one year old has good cause not to participate. This good cause can be used for at most 12 months in a lifetime ⁠⁴. If you are caring at home for a disabled family member and have medical documentation, you are exempt from the work requirement ⁠⁴. Once you have received 24 months of benefits, being engaged in work becomes a condition of eligibility. The minimum is an average of five hours a week, and the months do not have to be consecutive. Before closing a case under this rule, the case manager must make a home visit ⁠³.

Sanctions of one, six and twelve months

If you do not follow your PRC or SSP and do not have good cause, the whole case loses its cash. A first offense stops the check for 1 month, a second for 6 months and a third or later offense for 12 months ⁠⁴. You get a 13-day advance notice and a case staffing meeting before any sanction starts. Once a sanction begins, it cannot be stopped ⁠⁴. During a first sanction, Emergency Assistance is not available for one month. During a second or later sanction, it is not available for the first three months, and your SNAP benefits will not go up to make up for the lost cash ⁠⁴. Emergency Assistance helps with rent, utilities, food, clothing, transportation or medical needs, and covers one 30-day period in any 12 months ⁠¹².

The 60-month limit and West Virginia’s Extension Committee

West Virginia uses the federal 60-month lifetime limit and adds no shorter state limit. Months of TANF from any other state count toward it, and a payment of even $1 counts as a month. If any adult in the case reaches 60 months, the entire assistance group is ineligible ⁠³⁠¹⁴. Child-only cases have no time limit ⁠³.

The FY 2027 state plan lets you apply for an extension after your 55th month ⁠⁷. The manual requires the request to be made before the first day of your 60th month, because no extension can be granted after the case closes ⁠³. The state 60-Month Extension Committee reviews each request against criteria including:

• domestic violence;
• caring for a disabled relative;
• a disability or an incapacity that began late;
• being in the last trimester of pregnancy, or having a baby under six months old, in the 60th month;
• making satisfactory progress in vocational training or school;
• agency error.

Most extensions last up to six months and can be granted only once. Extensions based on domestic violence or caring for a relative can be renewed ⁠³. Federal rules cap extensions at 20% of the state’s caseload ⁠³⁠¹⁴. If an extension is denied, you can ask for a fair hearing, but benefits do not continue past month 60 while you wait ⁠³.

Diversionary Cash Assistance and the Employment Assistance Program

Diversionary Cash Assistance (DCA) is a lump sum offered only to applicants, at the caseworker’s discretion and with a supervisor’s approval ⁠². To qualify, you must be eligible for WV WORKS, have a need you cannot meet with your own resources, and have a job or another verified source of income starting within two months. The payment can be up to three times your family’s maximum monthly payment, which is $1,626 for three people. It covers only the verified or agreed need, not automatically the maximum ⁠². Taking DCA means you withdraw your WV WORKS application and cannot receive monthly WV WORKS for three months. DCA is available only once per family. It does not count toward the 60-month limit and does not have to be repaid unless fraud is found ⁠².

After a job closes your case, you choose one of two transitional benefits on form DFA-WVW-15. You must have reported the job within 10 days, and you must return the form within 30 days of closure ⁠³. Option 1 continues support services, such as transportation and vehicle repair payments, for up to six months. Option 2, the West Virginia Employment Assistance Program (EAP), keeps paying the check you received before the job for up to six months by disregarding 100% of your earnings ⁠³. To get EAP, gross family income must be at or below 150% of the poverty level, and you must work full time, which means 128 hours a month or 85 for a single parent of a child under 6 ⁠³. EAP months count toward the 60-month limit ⁠³.

Applying through WV PATH or a county DoHS office, step by step

1. Start the application

   The Bureau for Family Assistance directs applicants to WV PATH or the local DoHS office ⁠⁸⁠¹¹. You can file online or sign a paper DFA-2 at the office. Benefits are prorated back to the application date, and a short form called DFA-RFA-1 protects that date if you cannot finish everything the same day ⁠².

2. Go to the face-to-face interview

   A face-to-face interview is required. Bring proof of income, assets, child support received and any TANF months from other states. You will have at least 10 days to return any documents the caseworker asks for ⁠².

3. Complete orientation, the drug questionnaire and the initial SSP

   DoHS must complete these within 10 working days of your first contact. If the next group orientation is later than that, you get an individual session ⁠².

4. Sign the PRC and child support forms

   You agree to redirect child support to BCSE and to cooperate with paternity and support actions unless you have good cause ⁠²⁠⁷.

5. Watch for the decision

   DoHS must approve, deny or withdraw your application within 30 days of the application date. If you quit a job or cut your hours without good cause in the 30 days before applying, your family is ineligible until 45 days after that job or training ended ⁠².

6. Appeal if you disagree

   If you request a pre-hearing conference or fair hearing before a reduction or closure takes effect, your benefits continue until the decision. After that, you have 90 days from the effective date to request one. Hearings can be held by phone, and DoHS Client Services is at 1-800-642-8589 ⁠⁶.

7. Renew every year

   Cases are redetermined at least every 12 months, and each WV WORKS review needs its own face-to-face interview ⁠²⁠⁷.

BCSE child support: the $200 pass-through and the $25 incentive

When you receive WV WORKS, the Bureau for Child Support Enforcement (BCSE) keeps the child support it collects for your children. BCSE then passes through up to $100 a month for one child or up to $200 for two or more children. These pass-through payments are not counted as income, and they arrive the month after the support is collected ⁠¹. Any month that BCSE collects support, your family also receives a $25 Child Support Incentive, even if you already get the maximum payment. The incentive is paid around the 20th of the month ⁠¹. BCSE services are free to any parent, including parents who are not on WV WORKS. You can apply online through WV PATH (a Social Security number is required) or on paper at a child support office ⁠¹⁰⁠¹¹.

Families on WV WORKS often also apply for the School Clothing Allowance. Its 2026 application period closed early, on July 27, 2026, because funding ran out ⁠¹³. For child care while you work or train, see the West Virginia child care assistance guide. For other help, see all West Virginia assistance guides or compare cash assistance across states.