New Hampshire Financial Assistance for Needy Families (FANF) program assists needy families, provided they are responsible for dependent children. The program provides its benefits through four different programs.

• New Hampshire Employment Program (NHEP)
• Family Assistance Program (FAP)
• Interim Disabled Parent (IDP) program
• Families with Older Children (FWOC) program

Each of the sub-programs has similar financial eligibility. The programs also have similar benefits to each other.

The New Hampshire Employment Program (NHEP) assists needy families with cash and job support to become financially self-sufficient. The program will also provide various training services to enable parents to find and stay on work.

Under the NHEP program, parents will be required to attend job preparation classes, vocational skills training, or life skills training classes. Other related activities may included getting a High School Equivalency Diploma or futher job search assistance. The program also provides support services such as child care, transportation, and tuition for educational programs.

On the other hand, the Family Assistance Program (FAP) provides cash benefits to households with dependent children and permanently disabled adults. The adults facing long-term obstacles in employment or above the age of 60 years will also be able to qualify for the FAP program. The program also provides cash benefits to children living with caretaker relatives. Unlike NHEP, FAP does not require any work related commitment from adults receiving assistance through the program.

If you qualify for FANF, you will automatically be enrolled for Medicaid. Children living in the household will be eligible for Healthy Kids Gold Medical coverage. Qualified families not living in government subsidized houses are also provided assistance to secure housing.

When you qualify for FANF cash assistance, you will only receive it for a period of 60 months. Some families may qualify to receive it for a shorter period but no individual can receive these benefits more than 60 months throughout its lifetime. Whenever you receive FANF cash assistance, it will be counted towards your overall 60-month period.

Eligibility Requirements

New Hampshire FANF program provides family assistance through four sub-programs i.e. New Hampshire Employment Program (NHEP), Family Assistance Program (FAP), Interim Disabled Parent (IDP) program, and Families with Older Children (FWOC) program. In order to receive benefits through either of FANF sub-programs, you will have to meet general FANF requirements.

General Requirements

• You must be a U.S citizen or a qualified alien
• You must be a resident of New Hampshire
• You must provide a Social Security Number
• You must provide proof of age for all your household members
• You must assign your right of Child Support to DHHS. This applies whether you apply for NHEP or FAP program. DHHS will collect all child support payments and it will help you establish paternity of required.
• You will be expected to work if you are between 16 and 60 and you are not excused from work due to a disability. The recipients of FAP will not have to commit to work.

Financial Requirements

• FANF program requires applicants to meet certain financial requirements before they can be enrolled for program benefits.
• You will have to meet household income limits according to your family size to qualify for the program. The income of all the members living in the household will be calculated but certain expenses are deducted before determining the eligibility.
• You will also have to meet requirements related to resources. Typically, your resources will include cash, bank savings, bonds, stocks, real estate etc. Certain resources are exempted for the purpose of determining eligibility. One car for a household, house you are living in, and furniture will not add to resources.

Financial Assistance for Needy Families Application Instructions

If you are looking to apply for FANF program, you will have the following three options

Apply Online

You can apply online for Family Assistance through NH Easy by clicking here. You'll have to create an account before you can start filling out the application.

When you apply online through NH Easy, your eligibility will be automatically determined for all DFA services. You can view your application status and request any additional services for already open cases. For reporting any changes in household income or other eligibility requirements, you will just have to login to your account and find the right area for updating such information.

Apply in Person

To apply in person, you will need to contact your nearest DHHS office. Once you contact a DHHS worker in the office, you will be informed about application requirements as well as your interview process after determination of eligibility for the program.

Apply by Mail

Alternatively, you can click here to download an application and mail it to your local DHSS office to apply for the program through regular mail.

You can apply for any of the four programs i.e. New Hampshire Employment Program (NHEP), Family Assistance Program (FAP), Interim Disabled Parent (IDP) program, and Families With Older Children (FWOC) using the same procedure.