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The Pandemic Emergency Assistance Fund, to inform tribes administering Tribal TANF programs under a 477 plan of the Pandemic Emergency Assistance Fund reallotment. 

The new system will allow TANF programs to easily submit accurate data and be confident they fulfilled their reporting requirements.

Office of Family Assistance (OFA) Guidance for Use of the Pandemic Emergency Assistance Fund Appropriated in the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act of 2021 (Pub. L. 117-2); Accompaniment to ACF-IOAS-DCL-22-01

To provide supplemental guidance to 477 tribes regarding the newly established Pandemic Emergency Assistance Fund.

To transmit a form and instructions for requesting allotment from the Pandemic Emergency Assistance Fund.

To provide initial guidance regarding the newly established Pandemic Emergency Assistance Fund.

Tribal TANF Plan guidance provides instructions to tribes and consortia interested in starting a Tribal TANF program.

As a consequence of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the United States is experiencing a nationwide emergency, implicating both public health and the economy. Secretary Azar declared a nationwide public health emergency on January 31, 2020, and President Trump declared a national emergency on March 13, 2020.

The Office of Family Assistance (OFA) has heard from several grantees expressing concerns about the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for the Tribal TANF program and is fielding many questions about how Tribal TANF can help support people affected by it. Its top priority is the public health and safety of all those operating its programs and receiving its services. Increased need in many tribal nations for basic assistance and other financial benefits may arise as a result of the pandemic. With that in mind, this program instruction (PI) builds on TANF-ACF-PI-2020-01 (Questions and answers about TANF and the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic), found at /ofa/resource/tanf-acf-pi-2020-01, which addressed questions and answers about how state and tribal grantees might use TANF to help those in need and TANF’s administrative flexibilities for both states and tribes. This program instruction addresses frequently asked questions about the flexibilities available to tribes and the requirements for providing non-recurrent, short-term (NRST) benefits to those in need as a result of COVID-19.

This program instruction (PI) revises and supersedes NEW-ACF-PI 2011-01. It provides guidance on submission of program, financial, and audit reports covering the NEW program, replacing outdated guidance from Program Instruction NEW-ACF-PI-2011-01. Additionally, guidance is added regarding electronic filing of reports as directed by OGM-AT-13-01.