The Economic Self-Sufficiency Program Office is responsible for all public assistance benefit eligibility services operated by DCF, such as the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), known in Florida as the Food Assistance program; Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), known in Florida as Temporary Cash Assistance; and Medicaid. In addition, the office is responsible for the Homelessness Program, Public Benefits Integrity, and Refugee Assistance Programs.

• The Office of Economic Self Sufficiency (ESS) determines eligibility for programs such as Food Assistance, Temporary Cash Assistance, and Medicaid. Department staff, with the support from a broad statewide network of community partners, provide the following services.
• Food Assistance Program (SNAP) helps low income families meet their household nutritional needs by supplementing their food purchasing power with a monthly benefit allotment based on the number of people in the house hold and how much money is left after countable expenses are subtracted. Families must meet the program's eligibility rules. Food assistance benefits may only be used to purchase groceries; they may not be used to purchase household items such as cleaning supplies, grooming items, tobacco, or alcoholic beverages.
• SNAP Employment and Training (E&T) is jointly administered by DCF, the Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO), and CareerSource Florida. Florida's SNAP E&T program is designed to assist Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWDs) gain skills, training, and/or work experience that will increase their ability to obtain regular employment that leads to economic self-sufficiency. ABAWDs are required to meet federal work requirements in order to maintain Food Assistance eligibility. DCF determines ABAWD status and refers these recipients to DEO for engagement. SNAP E&T participants complete an initial orientation, assessment, and interview with DEO and are then assigned to an E&T activity. SNAP E&T activities include job search, education, vocational training, and work experience. Services are provided by local Career Source centers across the state.
• SNAP Education (SNAP Ed) is nutrition education to address the nutrition concerns and food budget constraints faced by SNAP participants and other low-income individuals who qualify to receive SNAP benefits or other means tested public benefits. SNAP Ed is provided through individual or group-based direct nutrition education, health promotion, and intervention strategies as well as organizational and institutional, and community and public health approaches to improve nutrition.
• SNAP Outreach is informational activities to inform low-income households about the availability, eligibility requirements, application procedures, and the benefits of SNAP. SNAP offers the opportunity for improved nutrition and progress toward economic self-sufficiency for participants who become stronger members of the community. However, some low-income people, especially seniors, working people, and legal immigrants who are eligible for SNAP do not participate, and forego assistance that could stretch their food dollars and help improve their nutrition. DCF partners with community agencies, such as churches, community centers, and food banks, to provide information and application assistance to households that request these activities.
• Temporary Cash Assistance provides cash assistance to families with children under the age of 18, or through age 18 if the 18-year-old is enrolled in high school full time. The program provides time-limited financial assistance and services intended to help families gain economic self-sufficiency. These families must meet the program's technical, income, and asset requirements.
• Non-Relative Caregiver/Relative Program provides monthly cash assistance to non-relatives/relatives who have custody of a non-related/related child under age 18, who has been adjudicated dependent by court order, a home study has been completed and filed with the court, and the caregiver is unable to financially care for the child without the assistance. The monthly cash assistance amount for the non-relative caregiver is higher than a Temporary Cash Assistance grant for one child, but less than the amount paid for a child in the Guardianship Assistance Program (GAP) or foster care program.
• Optional State Supplementation/Personal Needs Allowance (OSS/PNA) is a state-funded public assistance program that provides a monthly cash payment to indigent elderly or disabled individuals who live in special non-institutional, residential living facilities, including assisted living facilities, adult family care homes and mental health treatment facilities. To qualify for OSS/PNA, an individual must need assistance with the activities of daily living due to physical and/or mental conditions.
• Medicaid provides medical coverage to low income individuals and families. While eligibility for Medicaid is determined by ESS, services and payment for services are administered by the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA). ESS determines Medicaid eligibility for children ages 0-20; parents and other caretaker relatives; pregnant women; former foster care children ages 18-25; family planning for women ages 14-55; non-citizens with medical emergencies; and aged and/or disabled individuals not currently receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
• The Customer Call Center serves Florida families who are making general inquiries, seeking information, or need assistance filing their benefit applications. There are three customer call center sites located in Jacksonville, Miami, and Tampa; however, each site provides support statewide through voice and online live chat. An Interactive Voice Response (IVR) System, chatbot technology, and MyAccess account portal provide callers with the most recent information related to their case.
• The Homelessness Program coordinates the resources of various state agencies and programs to serve individuals or families who are homeless based on certain criteria found in 24 CFR 576.2. The program contracts with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-designated Continuum of Care (CoC) lead agencies. Twenty-seven CoC's provide services that fall into the following categories.
• Street Outreach reaches out to unsheltered homeless people, connects them with emergency shelter or housing, and provides urgent, non-facility-based care to those unwilling or unable to access emergency shelter or housing.
• Emergency Shelter serves homeless families or individuals in emergency shelters, renovates buildings to be used as emergency shelters, and may cover costs of operations, rent, security, fuel, equipment, insurance, utilities, food, furnishings, supplies, or hotel/motel vouchers.
• Homelessness Prevention funds may be used to provide housing relocation and stabilization services and short/medium term rental assistance to prevent the need for emergency shelter.
• Rapid Rehousing provides housing relocation and stabilization services, and short/medium term rental assistance to help a homeless individual or family into more permanent housing. 
• Refugee Services programs promote economic self-sufficiency and successful integration into American society after arrival to the U.S. Financial and medical assistance is limited to individuals meeting specific non-citizen criteria not eligible for Florida's Temporary Cash Assistance and Medicaid programs, but who meet the same income eligibility criteria. Benefits are limited to a maximum of twelve months. Refugee services are 100% federally funded through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Refugee Resettlement. DCF enters into contractual agreements with various organizations, typically not for profit community-based organizations and local governments, to promote economic self-sufficiency and assist refugees in integrating into Florida's communities.

For Fiscal Year 2021-22, the number of Florida citizens who received services as a result of the program's eligibility determination efforts is shown below. 

The program is funded as part of the Economic Self-Sufficiency Program budget entity.

EBT Innovation. ESS continues to work with FNS to expand online purchasing availability for SNAP customers by including Mt. Plymouth IGA, Freshfields Farm, Hitchcock's Market, and Wholefoods in 2022.

The Work Number and Unemployment (DEO) Automation. To help streamline the application review and information verification process, The Work Number and Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) Connect were integrated with the self-service portal to automatically retrieve income information and update the Access Management Portal (AMS) and FLORIDA systems when an individual applies for benefits through the self-service portal. Eligibility workers will no longer need to manually check The Work Number and DEO Connect for applications received through the self-service portal.

Other Reports
The Auditor General reports on department operations are located on its website
The Department of Children and Families' Office of the Inspector General reports are available on its website
The Department of Children and Families' Office on Homelessness publishes the Council on Homelessness' annual reports on its website
Hunger and Homelessness: Funding Distribution for Key Programs, U.S. Government Accountability Office, GAO-23-105458, June 27, 2023
Experts' Proposed Reform Options to Better Serve Workers Experiencing Economic Disruption, U.S. Government Accountability Office, GAO-21-324, April 19, 2021
Use of Data to Verify Eligibility Varies Among Selected Programs and Opportunities Exist to Promote Additional Use, U.S. Government Accountability Office, GAO-21-183, March 29, 2021
Data Completeness and Accuracy Have Improved, Though Not All Standards Have Been Met, U.S. Government Accountability Office, GAO-21-196, January 14, 2021

Websites of Interest
Department of Children and Families, Local Community Partners Agencies
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Family Assistance
Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., Nutrition Policy Research
Florida Coalition to End Homelessness 
National Alliance to End Homelessness
United States Interagency Council on Homelessness
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Refugee Resettlement
U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration

Performance Information
Performance measures and standards for the department may be found in its Long Range Program Plan.
Planning and Performance Measures report the department's performance on external and internal measures for its various programs. The measures allow the user to view performance at both a statewide and geographic region level.

ACCESS Florida, 850-300-4323
Website

Office on Homelessness, 850-922-4691
Website

Refugee Assistance
Tallahassee Headquarters, 850-488-3791
DCF ACCESS, 850-300-4323
Website

Hope Florida - A Pathway to Prosperity, 850-300-HOPE
Website