1501 Financial Overview

Georgia State Seal

Georgia Division of Family and Children Services
TANF Policy Manual

Policy Title:

Financial Overview

Effective Date:

January 2020

Chapter:

1500

Policy Number:

1501

Previous Policy Number(s):

MT 1

Updated or Reviewed in MT:

MT-52

Requirements

Financial eligibility for cash assistance is based on the resources and income available to the assistance unit (AU).

Basic Considerations

Resource Limits

Resource limits are set by the state. The resource limit is $1,000 per AU.

All countable resources available to the AU are applied to the resource limit.

If the countable resources are less than or equal to the resource limit, the AU is eligible based on resources.

If the countable resources exceed the resource limit, the AU is ineligible based on resources.

Income Limits

Income limits for cash assistance are set by the state legislature.

The gross income ceiling (GIC) is a percentage of the state standard of need (SON). It is currently 185% of the state’s SON.

The SON is a fixed amount established by the state legislature. It is a compilation of the basic budgetary needs based on the size of the AU. Budgetary needs include food, shelter, fuel, lights, water, medicine and other incidentals.

The state legislature sets the maximum payment that can be made to an eligible AU. This is the family maximum.