The time limit is 60 months (5 years) over an adult’s lifetime.

· Receiving cash assistance from MFIP, TANF cash assistance from other states, and from tribal TANF programs count toward the 60-month time limit.

· Any month receiving either the cash portion of the MFIP benefit and/or the MFIP Housing Assistance Grant counts as 1 of the 60 months.

· July 1997 was the 1st month that could count in the time limit in Minnesota. (Other states counted months before that date).

· The 60 months do not have to be consecutive.

· The number of months a participant has used is recorded on the STAT/TIME panel on MAXIS.

· Emergency Assistance does not count towards the lifetime limit.

Verify with an eligibility worker how many months a participant has left.

· There are situations in which months do not count. This includes months living on a tribal reservation where the unemployed rate is over 50%. To see a complete list of those situations, see Combined Manual 0011.30 (60-Month Lifetime Limit).

In most situations when a participant uses 60 months of assistance and does not qualify for an extension, MFIP benefits for the entire family end. See 18.18 (Extension Categories).

· The exception is in 2-parent families in which only 1 parent qualifies for an extension or still has not reached the time limit. Then benefits continue for the household.

· The participant and household members may still be eligible for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Medical Assistance or MinnesotaCare, and/or either Transition Year or Basic Sliding Fee child care assistance.

Extensions last as long as the participant is MFIP eligible and meets the criteria for an extension.

Participants can opt to receive only the food portion of their MFIP benefits in order to stop the 60-month clock.

This is called “opting out”.

It means they receive neither the MFIP cash portion of their benefits or an MFIP housing assistance grant.

When participants “opt out”, they:

· Continue to work with MFIP employment services.

· Are still eligible for MFIP child care assistance.

Participants cannot do this when their benefits are required to be paid directly to a landlord or utility instead of received as cash. This is called mandatory vendoring. See 19.15 (Vendoring Benefits).

For more information, see the Combined Manual 0014.03.03.03 (Opting Out of MFIP Cash Portion).