How much cash assistance you get in Massachusetts depends on which program you qualify for, how many people are in your household, your living situation, and how much income you already have. The Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) runs two programs. Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children (TAFDC) pays a family of three in private housing up to $901 per month. Emergency Aid to the Elderly, Disabled and Children (EAEDC) pays a single adult responsible for their own shelter costs up to $441.10 per month. Those are ceilings. Your actual check is the maximum grant for your household minus your countable income after DTA applies its deductions.
TAFDC Maximum Monthly Grants
TAFDC serves families with a child age 18 or younger, pregnant applicants, and caretaker relatives raising a child who isn’t their biological or adopted son or daughter.1Mass.gov. Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children The maximum grant depends on your family size and whether you live in private, unsubsidized housing or subsidized housing. Private-housing households receive a slightly higher amount.2Mass.gov. While Getting TAFDC
- 1 person: $604 private / $564 subsidized
- 2 people: $753 / $713
- 3 people: $901 / $861
- 4 people: $1,043 / $1,003
- 5 people: $1,190 / $1,150
- 6 people: $1,341 / $1,301
- 7 people: $1,488 / $1,448
- 8 people: $1,633 / $1,593
- Each additional person: add $153
DTA raised both TAFDC and EAEDC grants by 10 percent effective April 1, 2025.3Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance. Online Guide Transmittal 2025-10 – TAFDC and EAEDC Grant Increase The amounts above are what DTA currently posts. Confirm your figure with your case manager or through DTAConnect.com in case of later adjustments.
EAEDC Maximum Monthly Grants
EAEDC is for people who don’t qualify for TAFDC or federal Supplemental Security Income. You may be eligible if you are 65 or older, have a disability expected to last at least 60 days that substantially limits your ability to work, or are caring for a child who isn’t closely related to you.4Mass.gov. Emergency Aid to the Elderly Disabled and Children (EAEDC)
The grant amount turns on your “living arrangement.” Living Arrangement A, the most common, applies when you are responsible for your own shelter costs — living alone, or living only with a spouse or children who don’t receive TAFDC or EAEDC.4Mass.gov. Emergency Aid to the Elderly Disabled and Children (EAEDC) Maximum monthly amounts under Living Arrangement A:5Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance. EAEDC Benefit Determination
- 1 person: $441.10
- 2 people: $573.90
- 3 people: $706.70
- 4 people: $839.70
- 5 people: $972.70
- 6 people: $1,105.30
Other living arrangements pay less. Living Arrangement B, for people who share housing and contribute to shelter costs, caps a single person at $133.10. Living Arrangement E, for residents of a licensed rest home, provides only a personal needs allowance of $72.80 per month. Living Arrangement D mirrors the amounts under A and generally applies to caretaker households. The April 2025 increase did not apply to the personal needs allowances under Living Arrangements C and E.3Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance. Online Guide Transmittal 2025-10 – TAFDC and EAEDC Grant Increase
How Earned Income Lowers Your TAFDC Check
The maximum grant is rarely what hits your account if you work. DTA subtracts countable income from the grant, and “countable” is the key word: a significant portion of earnings is excluded through disregards.
The First Six Months: 100 Percent Disregard
If you start a new job or begin receiving TAFDC while already employed, DTA ignores all of your earned income for up to six consecutive months. Your grant stays at the full maximum. The only cap is that total household income cannot exceed 200 percent of the federal poverty level for your family size.6Legal Information Institute. Massachusetts Code 106 CMR 704.281 – TAFDC Earned Income Disregards For Grant Calculation For 2026, that monthly limit is $4,553 for a family of three and $6,447 for a family of five.7Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance. TAFDC Need and Payment Standards
After Six Months: $200 Plus Half
Once the six months end, DTA subtracts $200 from your gross monthly earnings as a flat work-expense deduction, then disregards half of what’s left.8Mass.gov. How to Calculate TAFDC Benefit Here is how that plays out for a family of three in private housing earning $1,000 a month:
- Gross earnings: $1,000
- Minus $200 work expense: $800
- 50% disregard: $400 excluded, $400 counted
- Countable earned income: $400
- Maximum grant $901 minus $400: $501 monthly TAFDC check
Add any unearned income to that $400 before subtracting from the grant. If the same family also receives $200 a month in Social Security retirement, countable income climbs to $600 and the TAFDC payment drops to $301.
Self-Employment
If you run a business, DTA counts your net self-employment income, not gross receipts. Allowable business expenses include materials, labor, business insurance, utilities on business property, and advertising. Personal income taxes, depreciation, and prior-period losses are not deductible for this purpose.9Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance. Self-Employment – TAFDC
How Earned Income Lowers Your EAEDC Check
EAEDC uses a different schedule. For the first four consecutive months on the program, DTA excludes $30 plus one-third of your remaining earnings after work-related expenses. For the next eight months, only the flat $30 is excluded. After those 12 months, no earned income disregard is available until you have gone a full year without receiving EAEDC.10Legal Information Institute. Massachusetts Code 106 CMR 704.286 – EAEDC Earned Income Disregards The final payment is the standard of assistance for your household size and living arrangement minus your net countable income.5Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance. EAEDC Benefit Determination
Unearned Income and Child Support
Both programs count most unearned income dollar-for-dollar against your grant. That includes unemployment, Social Security retirement or disability (RSDI), veterans’ benefits, pensions, workers’ compensation, and contributions from other people toward specific household expenses. SSI payments are excluded from the TAFDC calculation.11Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance. Unearned Income – TAFDC
Child support gets one break: the first $50 per month is excluded. Anything above $50 counts.7Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance. TAFDC Need and Payment Standards
One interaction worth knowing if someone in your household receives both SSI and TAFDC: Massachusetts generally does not include SSI recipients in a TAFDC grant, and when it does, the SSI recipient’s share of the TAFDC grant counts dollar-for-dollar against their SSI payment.12Social Security Administration. POMS SI 00830.403 – Temporary Assistance For Needy Families (TANF)
How Long You Can Collect TAFDC
The amount only matters as long as you can draw it. TAFDC is capped at 24 months in any 60-month period. DTA may grant a three-month extension if you participated in work-related activities and followed program rules.13Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance. Online Guide Transmittal 2025-24 – TAFDC Time-Limited Benefits Revised Extensions Procedures Certain months don’t count against the 24, including months when you are disabled, caring for a disabled household member, in the 33rd week or later of pregnancy, caring for a child under age 2, a teen parent, a non-parent caretaker relative not receiving benefits for yourself, age 60 or older, or receiving less than $10 per month in TAFDC.14Mass.gov. TAFDC Benefits Time Limit EAEDC has no time limit.