Temporary Assistance (TANF & VIEW)

What is TANF?

The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program provides eligible families with a monthly cash payment to meet their basic needs. For a child to be eligible he must be:

• Under age 18, or if 18, will graduate from high school before age 19
• Going to school regularly if he is between the ages of five and 18
• Living with a parent or other relative
• A U.S. citizen or an eligible immigrant

Virginia's TANF program emphasize personal responsibility. Participants may be provided with services such as job skills training, work experience, job readiness training, child care assistance, transportation and other work related expenses.

For more information please visit...https://www.dss.virginia.gov/benefit/tanf/index.cgi

What is VIEW?

The Virginia Initiative for Education and Work Program (VIEW) is a program of employment, education, and training opportunities to assist individuals in attaining the goal of self sufficiency.*

As a condition of eligibility, each recipient of TANF and TANF-UP must participate as required in VIEW, unless otherwise exempt. Exemption status is determined by the TANF intake worker at initial evaluation of eligibility.

VIEW is not a stand alone program and can only be accessed through TANF eligibility.

The VIEW program goals are to offer Virginians living in poverty the opportunity:

• To achieve economic independence by removing barriers and disincentives to work, and
• By providing positive incentives to work:
  • To provide work skills necessary for self-sufficiency;
  • To allow families living in poverty to contribute materially to their own self-sufficiency;
  • To set out the responsibilities of and expectations for recipients of public assistance;
  • To obtain work experience through the Virginia Initiative for Education and Work (VIEW).