Families First Columbia

Families First is a temporary assistance program that supports work, training, and personal responsibility. Services include cash assistance, child care, transportation, education, job training, and employment support.

Families First Eligibility

To be eligible for the program, participants must meet technical and financial eligibility standards and must agree to follow a Personal Responsibility Plan (PRP). As part of the PRP, the participants agree to cooperate with child support services and, if not exempt, to participate in work and/or training for at least 30 hours per week. 

Current Families First recipients can find information on their Families First case in the One DHS Customer Portal.

If you do not already have a One DHS Account you will need to create one to access services. View our All of DHS in One Place webpage for details on setting up an account.

Families First cash assistance benefits are issued and accessed electronically using Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards. Tennessee customers who participate in Families First or other TDHS-administered assistance programs can use the ebtEDGE Cardholder Portal or ebtEDGE Mobile App to check their EBT balance, monitor transactions, freeze their accounts, and stop out-of-state card activity.