{"data":{"id":"us/45-cfr-260.30","jurisdiction":"us","citation":"45 CFR 260.30","heading":"What definitions apply under the TANF regulations?","body":"The following definitions apply under parts 260 through 265 of this chapter:\nACF means the Administration for Children and Families.\nAct means Social Security Act, unless otherwise specified.\nAdjusted State Family Assistance Grant, or adjusted SFAG, means the SFAG amount, minus any reductions for Tribal Family Assistance Grants paid to Tribal grantees on behalf of Indian families residing in the State and any transfers to the Social Services Block Grant or the Child Care and Development Block Grant.\nAdministrative costs has the meaning specified at § 263.0(b) of this chapter.\nAdult means an individual who is not a “minor child,” as defined elsewhere in this section.\nAFDC means Aid to Families with Dependent Children.\nAid to Families with Dependent Children means the welfare program in effect under title IV-A of prior law.\nAssistance has the meaning specified at § 260.31.\nBasic MOE means the expenditure of State funds that must be made in order to meet the MOE requirement at section 409(a)(7) of the Act.\nCash assistance, when provided to participants in the Welfare-to-Work program (WtW), has the meaning specified at § 260.32.\nCCDBG means the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.\nCCDF means the Child Care and Development Fund, or those child care programs and services funded either under section 418(a) of the Act or CCDBG.\nCommingled State TANF expenditures means expenditures of State funds that are made within the TANF program and commingled with Federal TANF funds.\nContingency fund means Federal TANF funds available under section 403(b) of the Act, and contingency funds means the Federal monies made available to States under that section. Neither term includes any State funds expended pursuant to section 403(b).\nContingency fund MOE means the MOE expenditures that a State must make in order to meet the MOE requirements at sections 403(b)(6) and 409(a)(10) of the Act and subpart B of part 264 of this chapter and retain contingency funds made available to the State. The only expenditures that qualify for Contingency Fund MOE are State TANF expenditures.\nControl group is a term relevant to continuation of a “waiver” and has the meaning specified at § 260.71.\nCountable State expenditures has the meaning specified at § 264.0 of this chapter.\nDiscretionary fund of the CCDF refers to child care funds appropriated under the CCDBG.\nEA means Emergency Assistance.\nEligible State means a State that, during the 27-month period ending with the close of the first quarter of the fiscal year, has submitted a TANF plan that we have determined is complete.\nEmergency assistance means the program option available to States under sections 403(a)(5) and 406(e) of prior law to provide short-term assistance to needy families with children.\nExpenditure means any amount of Federal TANF or State MOE funds that a State expends, spends, pays out, or disburses consistent with the requirements of parts 260 through 265 of this chapter. It may include expenditures on the refundable portions of State or local tax credits, if they are consistent with the provisions at § 260.33. It does not include any amounts that merely represent avoided costs or foregone revenue. Avoided costs include such items as contractor penalty payments for poor performance and purchase price discounts, rebates, and credits that a State receives. Foregone revenue includes State tax provisions—such as waivers, deductions, exemptions, or nonrefundable tax credits—that reduce a State's tax revenue.\nExperimental group is a term relevant to continuation of a “waiver” and has the meaning specified at § 260.71.\nFAG has the meaning specified at § 264.0(b) of this chapter.\nFamily Violence Option (or FVO) has the meaning specified at § 260.51.\nFAMIS means the automated statewide management information system under sections 402(a)(30), 402(e), and 403 of prior law.\nFederal expenditures means expenditures by a State of Federal TANF funds.\nFederal TANF funds means all funds provided to the State under section 403 of the Act except WtW funds awarded under section 403(a)(5), including the SFAG, any bonuses, supplemental grants, or contingency funds.\nFederally recognized good cause domestic violence waiver has the meaning specified at § 260.51.\nFiscal year means the 12-month period beginning on October 1 of the preceding calendar year and ending on September 30.\nFY means fiscal year.\nGood cause domestic violence waiver has the meaning specified at § 260.51.\nGovernor means the Chief Executive Officer of the State. It thus includes the Governor of each of the 50 States and the Territories and the Mayor of the District of Columbia.\nIEVS means the Income and Eligibility Verification System operated pursuant to the provisions in section 1137 of the Act.\nInconsistent is a term relevant to continuation of a “waiver” and has the meaning specified at § 260.71.\nIndian, Indian Tribe and Tribal Organization have the meaning given such terms by section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b), except that the term “Indian tribe” means, with respect to the State of Alaska, only the Metlakatla Indian Community of the Annette Islands Reserve and the following Alaska Native regional nonprofit corporations:\n(1) Arctic Slope Native Association;\n(2) Kawerak, Inc.;\n(3) Maniilaq Association;\n(4) Association of Village Council Presidents;\n(5) Tanana Chiefs Council;\n(6) Cook Inlet Tribal Council;\n(7) Bristol Bay Native Association;\n(8) Aleutian and Pribilof Island Association;\n(9) Chugachmuit;\n(10) Tlingit Haida Central Council;\n(11) Kodiak Area Native Association; and\n(12) Copper River Native Association.\nIndividual Development Account, or IDA, has the meaning specified at § 263.20 of this chapter.\nJob Opportunities and Basic Skills Training Program means the program under title IV-F of prior law to provide education, training and employment services to welfare recipients.\nJOBS means the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training Program.\nMinor child means an individual who:\n(1) Has not attained 18 years of age; or\n(2) Has not attained 19 years of age and is a full-time student in a secondary school (or in the equivalent level of vocational or technical training).\nMOE means maintenance-of-effort.\nNeedy State is a term that pertains to the provisions on the Contingency Fund and the penalty for failure to meet participation rates. It means, for a month, a State where:\n(1)(i) The average rate of total unemployment (seasonally adjusted) for the most recent 3-month period for which data are published for all States equals or exceeds 6.5 percent; and\n(ii) The average rate of total unemployment (seasonally adjusted) for such 3-month period equals or exceeds 110 percent of the average rate for either (or both) of the corresponding 3-month periods in the two preceding calendar years; or\n(2) The Secretary of Agriculture has determined that the average number of individuals participating in the Food Stamp program in the State has grown at least 10 percent in the most recent 3-month period for which data are available.\nNoncustodial parent means a parent of a minor child who:\n(1) Lives in the State; and\n(2) Does not live in the same household as the minor child.\nPrior law means the provisions of title IV-A and IV-F of the Act in effect as of August 21, 1996. They include provisions related to Aid to Families with Dependent Children (or AFDC), Emergency Assistance (or EA), Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (or JOBS), and FAMIS.\nPRWORA means the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, or Pub. L. 104-193, 42 U.S.C. 1305 note.\nQualified Aliens has the meaning prescribed under section 431 of PRWORA, as amended, 8 U.S.C. 1641.\nQualified State Expenditures means the total amount of State funds expended during the fiscal year that count for basic MOE purposes. It includes expenditures, under any State program, for any of the following with respect to eligible families:\n(1) Cash assistance;\n(2) Child care assistance;\n(3) Educational activities designed to increase self-sufficiency, job training, and work, excluding any expenditure for public education in the State except expenditures involving the provision of services or assistance of an eligible family that is not generally available to persons who are not members of an eligible family;\n(4) Any other use of funds allowable under subpart A of part 263 of this chapter; and\n(5) Administrative costs in connection with the matters described in paragraphs (1), (2), (3) and (4) of this definition, but only to the extent that such costs do not exceed 15 percent of the total amount of qualified State expenditures for the fiscal year.\nSecretary means Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services or any other Department official duly authorized to act on the Secretary's behalf.\nSegregated State TANF expenditures means expenditures of State funds within the TANF program that are not commingled with Federal TANF funds.\nSeparate State program, or SSP, means a program operated outside of TANF in which the expenditures of State funds may count for basic MOE purposes.\nSFAG means State family assistance grant, as defined in this section.\nSFAG payable means the SFAG amount, reduced, as appropriate, for any Tribal Family Assistance Grants made on behalf of Indian families residing in the State and any penalties imposed on a State under this chapter.\nSingle audit means an audit or supplementary review conducted under the authority of the Single Audit Act at 31 U.S.C. chapter 75.\nSocial Services Block Grant means the social services program operated under title XX of the Act, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 1397.\nSSBG means the Social Services Block Grant.\nState means the 50 States of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa, unless otherwise specified.\nState agency means the agency that the Governor certifies as the administering and supervising agency for the TANF program, pursuant to section 402(a)(4) of the Act.\nState family assistance grant means the amount of the basic block grant allocated to each eligible State under the formula at section 403(a)(1) of the Act.\nState MOE expenditures means the expenditure of State funds that may count for purposes of the basic MOE requirements at section 409(a)(7) of the Act and the Contingency Fund MOE requirements at sections 403(b)(4) and 409(a)(10) of the Act.\nState TANF expenditures means the expenditure of State funds within the TANF program.\nTANF means The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program.\nTANF program means a State program of family assistance operated by an eligible State under its State TANF plan.\nTerritories means the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa.\nTitle IV-A refers to the title and part of the Act that now includes TANF, but previously included AFDC and EA. For the purpose of the TANF program regulations, this term does not include child care programs authorized and funded under section 418 of the Act, or their predecessors, unless we specify otherwise.\nTribal family assistance grant means a grant paid to a Tribe that has an approved Tribal family assistance plan under section 412(a)(1) of the Act.\nTribal grantee means a Tribe that receives Federal TANF funds to operate a Tribal TANF program under section 412(a) of the Act.\nTribal TANF program means a TANF program developed by an eligible Tribe, Tribal organization, or consortium and approved by us under section 412 of the Act.\nTribe means Indian Tribe or Tribal organization, as defined elsewhere in this section. The definition may include Tribal consortia (i.e., groups of federally recognized Tribes or Alaska Native entities that have banded together in a formal arrangement to develop and administer a Tribal TANF program).\nVictim of domestic violence has the meaning specified at § 260.51.\nWaiver, when used in subpart C of this part, has the meaning specified at § 260.71.\nWe (and any other first person plural pronouns) means the Secretary of Health and Human Services or any of the following individuals or organizations acting in an official capacity on the Secretary's behalf: the Assistant Secretary for Children and Families, the Regional Administrators for Children and Families, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Administration for Children and Families.\nWelfare-to-Work means the new program for funding work activities at section 403(a)(5) of the Act.\nWtW means Welfare-to-Work.\nWtW cash assistance has the meaning specified at § 260.32.","path":["Title 45—Public Welfare","Subtitle B—Regulations Relating to Public Welfare","CHAPTER II—OFFICE OF FAMILY ASSISTANCE (ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS), ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES","PART 260—GENERAL TEMPORARY ASSISTANCE FOR NEEDY FAMILIES (TANF) PROVISIONS","Subpart A—What Rules Generally Apply to the TANF Program?"],"source_url":"https://www.ecfr.gov/api/versioner/v1/full/2026-08-25/title-45.xml","current_through":"2026-08-25","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-08-27T02:26:21Z","sha256":"423c83993968be30df0b4c59abc6e1cd2719b81c17485638d7d1f75dbe5987c3","source_id":"us-cfr","stale":true,"prev":"us/45-cfr-260.20","next":"us/45-cfr-260.31"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}