Wyoming POWER cash assistance (TANF) for single parents and families (2026)

The July 2026 POWER payment table and the shelter test

DFS updates Table II of its SNAP and POWER Policy Manual every July. The maximum payment is set by state statute and adjusted for the change in the Wyoming cost-of-living index ⁠³. The current table runs from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027. It has two payment columns. Households that pay any part of their own rent, mortgage or utilities get the shelter qualified amount. Households get the lower shelter disqualified amount if their housing is provided free, if they live in government-subsidized housing, if they fall under the minor-parent rules or if a member of the assistance unit gets SSI ⁠¹⁠².

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

Wyoming’s payments rise in steps: a family of 4 gets the same maximum as a family of 3, and payments stop rising after 7 people ⁠¹.

A family is eligible when its countable income, after the earned income disregard, is less than the maximum for its size. The payment is the maximum minus that countable income, rounded down to the nearest dollar ⁠². The disregard is a flat $600 from the gross earnings of each working parent, stepparent or caretaker relative. A married couple with a child in common gets a single $1,200 disregard no matter how many of them work ⁠². Child support the family expects to receive counts as income in the eligibility test ⁠². DFS passes through up to $100 a month of collected support for one child, or up to $200 for two or more children, to families who are meeting all program requirements. Pass-through money is not counted as income ⁠³.

DFS’s consumer page on benefit amounts still says a family of three “could receive” $781 and a caretaker relative’s one child $259 ⁠⁵. Those figures do not match the July 2026 manual table, which is what caseworkers use. If your notice shows a different amount, ask your field office which table and shelter code it applied.

Assets, vehicles and who counts in the household

The asset limit for POWER is $5,000 for the whole assistance unit ⁠¹⁠⁶. Checking and savings accounts, stocks, bonds, mutual funds and property that produces income all count ⁠⁶. Two registered and licensed motor vehicles are excluded. The equity in any other vehicle counts, and so does an unlicensed vehicle unless it is used for self-employment such as farming ⁠². In the Caretaker Relative program, DFS counts only the children’s income and resources, not the relative’s ⁠⁴. If you are a parent applying, your own earnings, your spouse’s and a stepparent’s are counted. A stepparent’s income counts from the month of marriage, after DFS subtracts the payment level for the stepparent’s own dependents ⁠².

How pay-after-performance timing works in practice

POWER pays for the past month, not the coming one. A family that applies on July 5 has to comply from July 5 through July 31 to earn both its first and second payments. To earn the September payment, it must also comply from July 15 through August 14. After that, each payment is earned in a performance period that runs from the 15th of one month to the 14th of the next ⁠². Payments go onto a Way2Go debit card that holds only TANF cash. The first card is mailed 7 to 10 days after DFS authorizes the payment ⁠²⁠³.

If anyone who is required to take part misses a work appointment, does not cooperate with child support or fails to provide information DFS needs, the family’s payment for that performance period is cut to $1. DFS calls this “nonpayment status” ⁠². If a mandatory member quit a job of 20 or more hours a week without good cause in the 60 days before applying, the family must comply for 30 days first and gets no payment for the first month ⁠²⁠³. You can ask your case manager to accept good cause before the deadline you will miss. After you receive a P003 Failure to Comply notice, you have three working days to ask in writing ⁠².

POWER work rules and who is exempt

Each mandatory adult signs an Individual Responsibility Certificate of Understanding (DFS 500) and an initial Individual Responsibility Plan (DFS 568). Both are due by Wednesday of the week you apply, or by Wednesday of the following week if you apply on a Thursday or Friday ⁠². Within 14 days you must register for work on HireWYO.com or at a Workforce Center and contact the work program ⁠². Your DWS case manager assigns activities such as Workforce Center workshops, practice employment, vocational training and budgeting. You turn in weekly time sheets to get paid ⁠⁷. DFS says the number of hours you must take part depends on your family’s makeup, but it does not publish a weekly hour figure ⁠⁷. Ask for yours in writing in your IRP. Once DWS considers you job-ready, or after 24 months of assistance if that comes first, you must move into work activities ⁠³. POWER can also pay for work clothing, transportation, vehicle repair, tools and relocation ⁠⁵.

You are exempt from work requirements if you are:

• a single custodial parent caring for a baby under three months old. This exemption is limited to 12 months in your lifetime and does not apply to teen parents without a diploma ⁠²⁠³;
• age 65 or older ⁠²;
• a child attending school full time ⁠²;
• fleeing or surviving domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking, for up to one year plus 12 more months if you are working with DFS and a domestic violence agency ⁠³.

Exempt people still have to cooperate with child support ⁠².

Wyoming’s five-year limit and its hardship extensions

POWER ends when the family has received 60 months of TANF cash from any state. Wyoming does not set a shorter state limit ⁠²⁠³. The federal rule behind this bars federal TANF funds for a head of household who has received 60 cumulative months ⁠¹⁰. Wyoming’s count is stricter than many people expect. A $1 nonpayment month counts, a partial month counts as a full month, and months while disqualified count too ⁠². Months do not count while an adult tribal member lives on a reservation where at least 50% of adults are unemployed ⁠²⁠¹⁰. The limit does not apply to a caretaker relative who is not part of the grant, or to a one-parent unit where the parent gets SSI ⁠².

DFS reviews each family at month 53. It can extend benefits for up to one year if the head of household abandoned the family and you reported it to law enforcement. It can extend for up to two years for domestic violence, for a total disability or for full-time care of a totally disabled family member in your home ⁠²⁠³. You must keep complying during the extension, or it ends ⁠².

No diversion payment, but two exit payments

Wyoming’s TANF State Plan has no diversion or one-time lump-sum payment in place of monthly POWER. Its “emergency assistance” section covers child-welfare services, such as crisis shelter care, bought from contracted providers. It is not cash paid to parents ⁠³. POWER instead has two payments for families leaving because their income went up ⁠²:

1. One more month at the prior amount

   If new earnings or higher child support push you over the limit, you can choose to get one more month at your previous payment amount. You qualify if you have received POWER for two or more full months and complied during the period.

2. Earned income incentive payment

   This is available only once in a lifetime. It pays 50% of your family’s maximum benefit level for up to six consecutive months after a new job or raise ends eligibility, as long as the job is not temporary. If you have ever been penalized for noncompliance, you cannot get it. For a parent with two children paying shelter costs, half of $939 is about $469 a month ⁠²⁠¹.

Both payments count toward the 60-month limit ⁠².

Applying for POWER at a DFS field office, step by step

1. Get the DFS 100

   Download the Application for Assistance from the DFS cash assistance page. The same form, revised 8/2025, covers SNAP and POWER. Fill in every section if you are applying for POWER ⁠⁴⁠⁸.

2. Submit it

   Bring, mail or fax the application to your county DFS office, or email it to [email protected] with your full name and date of birth in the subject line. Applications that arrive on a weekend or holiday are dated the next working day ⁠⁴⁠². Enrolled tribal members in Fremont or Hot Springs County may instead apply to the Tribal TANF program at a tribal office ⁠²⁠³.

3. Complete the interview

   Call the interview line at 307-777-8550 (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.) or go to your field office ⁠⁴.

4. Bring proof

   You will need Social Security numbers, birth certificates, wage stubs, bank statements and vehicle titles or registrations. Noncitizens must provide immigration documents within five days of the interview. You get at least 10 days to send any other proof DFS asks for ⁠².

5. Sign the DFS 500 and DFS 568 and start complying right away

   Your performance period begins on the day you apply ⁠².

6. Open the child support case

   Submit the DFS 543 child support application, on paper or online, within 14 days. You also assign your support rights to the state on the DFS 100 ⁠².

7. Watch for the decision

   For exempt applicants, such as caretaker relatives and parents of a newborn, DFS must act within the 30-day limit. Applications from parents who must take part in the work program are handled as priority cases ⁠².

8. Recertify on time

   Reviews happen at least every six months. Return the review by the 20th of the month, or you will get a $1 sanction ⁠².

9. Appeal within 30 days

   You must request a POWER hearing within 30 days of the notice of adverse action. Unlike SNAP, POWER payments do not continue while the hearing is pending ⁠².

For general questions about the program, DFS lists its TANF program manager at 307-473-3948 ⁠⁴.

Child support through the Wyoming Child Support Program

If a parent lives outside the home, cooperating with the DFS Child Support Program is a condition of every POWER payment. You must name the father, and you can list him as “unknown” only if the Child Support Program approves it ⁠². From the second month of benefits, you must turn over any support paid directly to you. Keeping it is treated as noncompliance ⁠². You can claim good cause if cooperating could lead to physical or emotional harm, if you are fleeing domestic violence, if the child was conceived through rape or incest, or if an adoption is pending. DFS has 30 days to decide a good cause claim ⁠². Parents who are not on POWER can open a case for paternity, a support order or collection with no income test and no application fee. Apply online or ask for a paper application at a local child support office ⁠⁹. After a POWER case closes, child support services continue at no cost ⁠².

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