TO:                             State, Territory, and Tribal agencies administering the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Program.

 

SUBJECT:                 Form OFA-100, the Emergency Fund Request form.

 

REFERENCES:         Section 403(c) of the Social Security Act; TANF-ACF-PA-2009-01.

 

PURPOSE:                 To transmit form OFA-100, a form and instructions for requesting grants from the Emergency Fund.

 

BACKGROUND:      On February 17, 2009, the President signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act), which established a new Emergency Contingency Fund for State TANF Programs (Emergency Fund) as section 403(c) of the Social Security Act (the Act). The Emergency Fund provides up to $5 billion to help States, Territories, and Tribes in fiscal year (FY) 2009 and FY 2010 that have an increase in assistance caseloads or in certain types of expenditures. It is intended to build upon and renew the principles of work and responsibility that underlie successful welfare reform initiatives. It provides resources to States, Territories, and Tribes (hereafter referred to as “jurisdictions”) to support work and families during this difficult economic period.

 

                                    The Recovery Act calls on the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to implement the Emergency Fund “as quickly as possible pursuant to appropriate guidance.” In that spirit, we are issuing the attached form and instructions on which a jurisdiction may request emergency funds, form OFA-100. This form has been approved by OMB under the expedited clearance process.

 

ACTION:                   Effective immediately, a jurisdiction applying for emergency funds must use form OFA-100. A jurisdiction should not resubmit any applications it made prior to the issuance of this guidance, but must use form OFA to update and revise data it has already submitted as part of an earlier application. The instructions explain the procedures for updating data.

 

ATTACHMENT:      Form OFA-100     [HTML]     [MSWord]     [PDF]
Instructions for completing the form.     [HTML]     [MSWord]     [PDF]                                   

 

EFFECTIVE:             Immediately.

                       

INQUIRIES:             Please direct inquiries to the TANF Program Manager in your Region.

 

 

 

 

 

                        /s/

            Ann Barbagallo,

            Acting Director

            Office of Family Assistance