Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) – Prevention, Retention and Contingency (PRC) Program

The PRC program has become a critical tool for Ohio counties to help families become and stay self-supporting. The services and benefits provided under the PRC program fall into three categories:

• Prevention services designed to divert families from ongoing cash assistance by providing short term non-assistance.
• Retention services provided to assist an employed member of the family in maintaining employment.
• Contingency services provided to meet an emergent need which, if not met, threatens the safety, health, or well-being of one or more family members.

The PRC program is a non-assistance program that provides nonrecurring, short-term, crisis-oriented benefits or services that are directly related to the four purposes of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program which do not meet the federal definition of assistance.

Services and benefits shall be provided that directly lead to or can be expected to lead to the family becoming self-sufficient by accomplishing one of the following four purposes of TANF:

Purpose 1: To provide assistance to needy families so that children may be cared for in their own homes or in the homes of relatives

Purpose 2: To end the dependence of needy parents on government benefits by promoting job preparation, work, and marriage

Purpose 3: To prevent and reduce the incidence of out-of-wedlock pregnancies and establish annual numerical goals for preventing and reducing the incidence of these pregnancies

Purpose 4: To encourage the formation and maintenance of two-parent families

Summit County Department of Job and Family Services (SCDJFS) has several programmatic areas of PRC including cash-related assistance, disaster assistance and supportive services. PRC services are provided through a collaborative effort with community organizations to ensure that families have access to temporary services that encourage them to attain and retain employment, prevent dependency, and promote family stability. This collaborative effort is achieved through Subrecipient Agreements which supports the specific deliverables expected in the collaborative effort.

Eligibility for PRC services are dependent upon the following: completion of a TANF Services application, United States citizenship or qualified alien status, Summit County residency, no SCDJFS TANF intentional program violation (IPV), a minor child (or pregnant individual) and economic need. Economic need for services may be established if each AG member, at the time of application, is in receipt of OWF and/or SNAP benefits and is verified to be below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level.