TANF-ACF-IM-2022-01 (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)

Publication Date: August 26, 2022
Current as of:

TO:

State, tribal, and territorial agencies administering the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Program, and other eligible territories.

SUBJECT:

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

REFERENCES:

The American Rescue Plan Act, Public Law 117-2; section 403(c) of the Social Security Act; TANF-ACF-PI-2021-02 (The Pandemic Emergency Assistance Fund); TANF-ACF-PI-2021-04 (The Pandemic Emergency Assistance Fund); and TANF-ACF-PI-2021-05 (Pandemic Emergency Assistance Fund: Supplemental Reporting Guidance for Tribes)

PURPOSE:

To remind grant recipients of the deadline to use Pandemic Emergency Assistance Fund initial awards by September 30, 2022, and of the guidance on allowable uses of PEAF funds.

BACKGROUND:

On March 11, 2021, the President signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 into law.  Now Public Law 117-2, it establishes the Pandemic Emergency Assistance Fund (PEAF) in section 403(c) of the Social Security Act (the Act).

PEAF provides $1 billion in funding to states (which includes the District of Columbia), tribes administering a TANF program, and five U.S. territories to assist needy families impacted by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.  A specific amount was allotted for each grant recipient, although a grant recipient may qualify for additional, reallotted funds.  A grant recipient may use these funds to provide certain non-recurrent, short term (NRST) benefits, described in more detail below.  All grant recipients must use funds to supplement and not supplant other federal, state, tribal, territorial, or local funds.  A grant recipient has from April 1, 2021, to September 30, 2022, to expend its initial award.  HHS will reallot: (1) funds not initially awarded to a grant recipient because it chose to receive less than its full allotment; and (2) funds from the initial award that are unexpended (including unliquidated obligations) after the grant recipients have reported expenditure data, i.e., after December 29, 2022. 

ACTION:

A grant recipient may use funds only for administrative costs, within limitations, and for certain NRST benefits. 

Use of Funds — Administrative Costs

For states (including the District of Columbia) and territories, the law provides a 15-percent cap on administrative expenditures.  For tribes, the same cap will apply to administrative costs in the PEAF that a tribe negotiated for administrative costs in its approved tribal TANF plan (or approved 477 plan for federally recognized tribes and tribal consortia that integrate TANF under P.L. 102-477).

Use of Funds — Non-Recurrent, Short Term Benefits

For the purposes of PEAF, NRST benefits mean cash payments or other benefits that meet the regulatory definition (45 CFR 260.31(b)(1)), but are limited to those that fall into the specific expenditure reporting category mentioned in the legislation (line 15 of the ACF-196R , the state financial reporting form for the TANF program, which you can find at https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ofa/programs/tanf/reporting-instructions ).  In other words, for this fund, NRST benefits, like all NRSTs under TANF, must:

  • be designed to deal with a specific crisis situation or episode of need;
  • not be intended to meet on-going needs; and
  • not extend beyond four months;

and (as explained in the instructions for reporting on line 15 of the ACF-196R) NRSTs paid for with PEAF funds:

  • must only include expenditures such as emergency assistance and diversion payments, emergency housing and short-term homelessness assistance, emergency food aid, short-term utilities payments, burial assistance, clothing allowances, and back-to-school payments; and
  • may not include tax credits, child care, transportation, or short-term education and training.

Here are some examples of NRST benefits that a grant recipient might want to provide with PEAF funds.  The NRST benefits that a grant recipient funds with PEAF need not be the same as the ones funded by TANF.

  • A one-time payment to provide extra cash to all current TANF recipient families to assist them in dealing with added costs caused by the pandemic.
  • A benefit to provide extra cash to replace lost wages to all families with children eligible to receive SNAP or other means-tested benefits who are affected by the pandemic.
  • Assistance for families who are behind in rent or experiencing other housing insecurity due to the pandemic.
  • A payment for hotel rooms and meal delivery for people who need to quarantine away from their families.
  • A voucher to cover the cost of utility bills in arrears due to financial issues arising from the pandemic.

Please be sure to consult related resources on the OFA website and the sources referenced below.  As always, if a grant recipient has questions, please contact the TANF program manager in your region.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

INQUIRIES:

Please direct inquiries to the TANF Program Manager in your region.

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