Florida TCA Recertification — NECP Notice, 12-Month Review and Deadline Rules

What Triggers the Recertification

Florida's child-only Temporary Cash Assistance runs on a 12-month certification period. Before that period ends, DCF mails a Notice of Expiration of Certification Period — the NECP — to the address on file. The letter states the date your current benefits expire and tells you to complete a review through the MyACCESS portal or your local DCF Economic Self-Sufficiency office.

If you moved and didn't update your address through MyACCESS, the NECP goes to the old address. Missing the review deadline can interrupt benefits.

What DCF Checks During the 12-Month Review

The review re-verifies the same eligibility factors that got the child approved in the first place:

• The child still lives with you. A school enrollment record, pediatrician visit, or even a signed third-party statement from a neighbor or landlord showing the child's current address satisfies this.
• The child's own income and assets. If the child now receives Social Security survivor benefits, child support, or trust income, those amounts are counted. The child's countable liquid assets still cannot exceed $2,000. Your retirement, pension, or wage income remains completely excluded on a child-only case.
• Age and school enrollment. The child must still be under 18 — or under 19 and enrolled full-time in high school or an equivalent vocational program.
• Child support cooperation. DCF confirms you're still cooperating with the Department of Revenue on child support enforcement, or that your Good Cause exemption (Form CF-ES 2641) is still active.

Nothing about the 12-month review changes the core child-only TCA rule: only the child's finances matter. If your own income changed — you started working again, your pension increased — that has no effect on the child's grant.

How to Complete the Recertification

Log into MyACCESS at myaccess.myflfamilies.com and follow the review prompts. Provide the requested updated verification — typically a current school enrollment letter if the child changed schools, or updated bank statements for any account in the child's name. The caregiver's finances remain excluded from the child-only TCA eligibility calculation.

If you don't have portal access, call the DCF customer call center or visit your local ESS service center in person. Bring the NECP letter and the same core documents: the child's ID, proof of co-residence, and any child income documentation.

The NECP Deadline and What Happens If You Miss It

The NECP gives a specific expiration date. Submit the review materials by that date to help prevent an interruption. Missing the review can interrupt TCA and related coverage.

You can reapply after a closure, but there is a processing gap. DCF has up to 30 days to process a new application. During that window the child has no cash benefit and may temporarily lose Medicaid coverage until the new case is approved.

There's one safeguard worth knowing: if DCF terminates or reduces your benefits and you believe the closure was wrong — say you submitted your recertification on time but DCF didn't process it — you can request a fair hearing within 90 calendar days of the mailing date on the DCF Notice of Case Action. If you file within 10 calendar days of that notice's mailing date, you can request Aid Paid Pending, which keeps benefits flowing at the old amount while the hearing is decided.

A Simple Recertification Checklist

Keep these ready before your certification period ends:

1. The NECP letter itself — it has your case number and the exact expiration date
2. Current proof of the child's address (school record, medical visit, or third-party statement)
3. Updated child income documentation if anything changed (new SSA award letter, child support order, bank statements)
4. Confirmation that your Good Cause exemption is active, or current child support cooperation status from DOR
5. The child's current school enrollment verification if they changed schools

Set a calendar reminder for 11 months after your last approval date. Don't wait for the NECP to arrive — it can get lost in the mail.

When Recertification Leads to a Grant Change

Child-only TCA payment standards are $242 per month for ages 0–5, $249 for ages 6–12, and $298 for ages 13–17. If the child's age has moved into a new band, ask DCF how it will apply the updated standard to the case.

If the child started receiving income — say, survivor benefits kicked in — the grant decreases dollar-for-dollar by the child's countable unearned income. A child receiving $100 per month in Social Security survivor benefits and falling in the 6–12 age band would see the grant drop from $249 to $149.

Our Florida kinship financial help guide walks through every benefit the child may qualify for alongside TCA — SNAP, Medicaid, childcare subsidies, and the Relative Caregiver Program — with the exact documents and portal steps for each. It also includes a renewal deadline tracker so recertification dates don't slip past you.

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