Ohio Works Now (OWN) Supplemental Food Assistance Program
In an effort to improve the nutritional status of working families, the Ohio Department of Job & Family Services has developed a new state sponsored program, the Ohio Works Now (OWN) supplemental food assistance program, which will issue a benefit of $10.00 a month in addition to the food assistance benefits received by employed low-income families with children. This benefit is part of the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program. All families receiving an OWN benefit will be included for potential reporting for the state’s Ohio Works First (OWF) work participation rate. Effective January 2012, this additional benefit will be loaded onto the Ohio Direction Card on a monthly basis for eligible food assistance groups.
Food Assistance groups will not have to apply for the OWN benefit. Eligibility will be determined each month based on data in the State’s CRISE eligibility system. Five business days from the end of the month, benefits will be automatically loaded onto the assistance group’s Ohio Direction Card. OWN is not a cash benefit; it’s a food assistance benefit that can only be spent as permitted in the Ohio Food Assistance Program.
Eligibility for the OWN benefit includes:
- The food assistance group may not be in receipt of Ohio Works First cash benefits.
- The food assistance group must include a minor child and the biological or adoptive parents, or a pregnant woman, with no other children who is at least in her sixth month of pregnancy.
- The assistance group must contain an adult or minor head of household parent who would be considered work eligible and be employed a specific number of hours per month depending on the family size and age of the children.
