TAFDC for Survivors of Domestic Violence

TAFDC helps low-income pregnant women and families with children. To get TAFDC as a family, you must be related by blood or marriage to the child or children living with you.

TAFDC pays cash every month. The amount of cash you get depends on:

1. the number of people in your family,
2. if you are "exempt" from time limits, and
3. if you live in private or subsidized housing.

If you get TAFDC, you automatically get MassHealth (Medicaid) and you will probably get Food Stamps too.

As part of the TAFDC program, you can get training, help finding a job, and help paying for child care and transportation. You may be able to get child care for a full year after you get off TAFDC. The child care benefit alone can make it worth applying for TAFDC, even if you only plan to stay on it for a short time.

Find basic information on TAFDC on MassLegalHelp.

Why does DTA want to know about the father of my child when I apply for TAFDC?

When you apply for TAFDC, the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) asks about the father of your child because they want him to pay child support.

After DTA gets information from you about the father, DTA gives the information to another agency called the Department of Revenue (DOR). DOR has lawyers who will take the father of your children to court and try to get an order for child support (unless you already have one.) This can be helpful if you want child support.

You will have to give DTA this information and work with the DOR lawyers unless you are afraid of the father of your child. You do not have to give the DTA information about him if you can show you have "good cause" not to. Working with the DOR lawyers may mean going to court, and taking blood tests (genetic marker tests). If you do not work with the DTA and you cannot show "good cause" DTA will lower your TAFDC benefits.