The Federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program is known as the Personal Opportunities With Employment Responsibilities (POWER) program in Wyoming.

Goals for the program at the federal level are to:

  • Provide assistance to needy families so children may be cared for in their own home or in the homes of relatives;
  • End the dependence of needy parents on government benefits by promoting job preparation, work and marriage;
  • Prevent and reduce the incidence of out-of-wedlock pregnancies and establish annual numerical goals for preventing and reducing the incidence of these pregnancies; and
  • Encourage the formation and maintenance of two-parent families

Goals for the program at the state level are to:

  • Promote and support individual and family responsibility through the belief that parents, not government, should be responsible for themselves and their children; and
  • Provide information and services within the program limits and restrictions, which will allow the parent(s) or caretaker(s) to make informed and responsible decisions concerning the family’s progress toward self-sufficiency

Participants in the work program are provided case management services and intensive job services and work with Case Managers to create an Individual Responsibility Plan to help the Participant achieve to employment and/or self-sufficiency.

For more information on the POWER program and where to apply for assistance, please visit the Wyoming Department of Family Services POWER program website.

This program is supported by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) of the United States (U.S.) Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award with 100 percent funded by ACF/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by ACF/HHS, or the U.S. Government. For more information, please visit the ACF website, Administrative and National Policy Requirements.