**Public Assistance** Benefits, like money or food stamps, to help people or families in need. Information on people that apply for certain kinds of public assistance (like Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, TANF) is automatically sent to the state IV-D agency to identify and locate the noncustodial parent, establish parentage, and/or obtain child support payments. This lets the state get back some or part of the money it pays to people as public assistance. (See also IV-D.)