Louisiana Temporary Assistance to Needy Families

TANF is Louisiana's Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program. It is a group of programs and services that help people break away from what's holding them back. It's not a welfare program or a handout - it's real help for those who are ready to break the cycle of poverty. TANF funding is made available to different state agencies through the state budget. These agencies receive a specific appropriation for a particular service (like afterschool tutoring, pre-k, job training, etc). These agencies will then contract out to different service providers who can offer that service. Providers who receive a contract for services are selected through a competitive process, or request for proposals (RFP) process. This process usually happens around July 1 which is the beginning of the state fiscal year and is the only opportunity for funding to be dispersed throughout the year. If you have an interest in a particular service, you should contact the state agency who administers that particular TANF servicemost of the TANF initiatives are not operated through the Department of Social Services.

EBT is the US government\s electronic based system in the US for payment of monies to those approved for food and cash benefit payments.

Check EBT Card Balance
States have their methods to log in and check your ETB balance online. We provide that information on our state pages.

Apply for EBT Card
Most states allow online applications for EBT Cards through the application for Food Stamps (SNAP Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) or cash benefits through Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). We provided this local office contact for those who want to apply for their EBT in person at this office. After applying for your benefits you will most likely need to come in for an interview at this or another local social service office.