Maryland Temporary Disability Assistance Program (TDAP)

The Temporary Disability Assistance Program, TDAP, is Maryland's own cash help for low-income disabled adults, specifically those without dependent children. Families with children apply for Temporary Cash Assistance instead. The maximum monthly benefit for a person with no income is $339, effective January 2025, which corrects a widely repeated older figure of about $185.

Understand what TDAP really is: a bridge to federal disability benefits. Applicants disabled for 12 months or more must also file for federal Supplemental Security Income, and TDAP acts as interim cash while that SSI claim is pending. If you are waiting on SSI, this is the program to hold you over.

A medical report is required. A licensed medical practitioner must complete it to verify the disability, so line up your provider early, because the application does not move without it.

There is a time limit with an important exception. Assistance is generally limited to 12 months out of a 36-month period, unless you are actively pursuing SSI. Since most long-term-disabled applicants must pursue SSI anyway, staying in that process is what keeps the help flowing.

TDAP targets very low income adults awaiting federal disability approval, matching the 200 percent of poverty income context used across Maryland's cash programs. Apply online at MarylandBenefits.gov, or through your local department of social services in person, by mail, fax, or electronically.

TDAP's cash is modest, so stack the rest. The same MarylandBenefits.gov application reaches the Food Supplement Program and Medicaid, both on friendlier income rules, and 2-1-1 tracks local funds while the SSI claim grinds through.