For a more detailed draft version of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Weatherization Assistance Program Connecticut State Plan & Application,
follow this link (6,067 KB). (Please note, this version of the plan is the same as the above plan, with more detail on procedures, measures and specific guidance.)
Upon completion of the Public Hearings, updated draft plans have been submitted to the federal Department of Energy for approval. To get more information on these plans, as well as transcripts and testimony from the public hearings, please follow the links below:
The Weatherization Assistance Program is administered by the State of Connecticut, Department of Social Services (DSS). Funding is provided by the U.S. Department of Energy. In Connecticut, the State contracts with the community action agency (CAA) network to operate the program, which shares a single application process with the Connecticut Energy Assistance Program (CEAP). For more information on the Weatherization program,
please follow this link.
The state has prepared a comprehensive child care plan to access federal funds, including the new child care stimulus funds for programs and services over the next two years. The Connecticut Department of Social Services (DSS) Family Services & Child Care Team*, in collaboration with the State Child Day Care Council has held three public hearings and received written comments from Connecticut residents and advocates.
DSS contracts with Connecticut Food Bank, Inc. and Foodshare, Inc. to distribute United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) commodities to eligible food banks, food pantries, shelters and soup kitchens that serve meals and provide household distribution. These commodities include items such as canned vegetables, fruits, meat, cereals, etc. For more information on USDA nutrition programs follow link:
http://www.fns.usda.gov/fns/ . For more information on Nutritional Assistance Programs,
please follow this link.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as Food Stamps, helps low-income people and families afford the cost of food at the supermarket or grocery store. Based on 127,544 beginning of month issuances at $38 in additional benefits per issuance, we can attribute $4,846,672 in additional SNAP (Food Stamp) benefits to the ARRA thus far. For more information on SNAP,
please follow this link.
The goal of the Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Program is to assist individuals with significant physical and mental disabilities to prepare for, obtain and maintain employment. Through the provision of individualized services, persons with disabilities who are eligible for vocational rehabilitation are supported in planning for and achieving their job goals. For more information about Vocational Rehabilitation,
please follow this link.
Connecticut's independent living centers (ILCs) promote empowerment and self-reliance for persons with disabilities.ILCs assist the individual in identifying and accessing services and supports, benefits, assistive technology, housing, personal assistance services, or any other resources to enhance independent living.
For more information on Independent Living services,
please follow this link.
The goal of the Child Support Enforcement Program is to improve the self-sufficiency of families through increased financial and medical support and to establish paternity for children born out of wedlock. This program locates absent parents, establishes paternity, establishes and modifies orders of support, and collects and distributes child support payments. Child support services are available to both custodial and non-custodial parents, regardless of their income. For more information on Child Support Enforcement,
please follow this link.
Three Public Hearings were held May 6-8 to receive comments on the draft Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing (HPRP) 2nd substantial amendment. The state of Connecticut submitted its 2nd substantial amendment to the 2005-09 Consolidated Plan for Housing and Community Development 2008 Action Plan for HPRP to the Department of Housing and Urban Development after input from these hearings.
The
HPRP substantial amendment is for the utilization of approximately $10,818,309 of funding under Title XII of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The purpose of the HPRP funding is to provide financial assistance and services to either prevent individuals and families from becoming homeless or help those who are experiencing homelessness to be quickly re-housed and stabilized. The state’s HPRP funds will be administered by the Department of Social Services. The Department of Economic and Community Development acts as the lead for the state’s Consolidated Plan and annual Action Plans.
The State of Connecticut Department of Social Services has issued a request for proposals to provide temporary financial assistance and housing relocation and stabilization services to individuals and families who are homeless or would be homeless but for this assistance.
The Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness (CCEH) and DSS will host an informational bidder's conference on Tuesday, June 2, 2009 from 1:00-3:00pm at the Lyceum Conference Center, 227 Lawrence Street, Hartford, CT 06106.
10.2.09
Governor M. Jodi Rell today announced that the state has directed $10.8 million in federal stimulus funds to prevent homelessness through a community-based program that provides assistance for rent and utility bills intervenes during evictions and offers emergency lodging and other services aimed at keeping Connecticut families and individuals from losing their homes.
Need more information? Follow this link:
The Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will be used for projects in the communities that support people with lower incomes attain self-sufficiency, such as:
- Employment services
- Income management services
- Housing assistance services
- Emergency services
- Nutrition services
- Health Services
These projects, under the ARRA, are meant to provide wide range of innovative employment-related services and activities tailored to specific needs of their community; use funds in a manner that meets short-term and long-term economic and employment needs of individuals, families and communities; and make meaningful and measurable progress toward reform goals of the Recovery Act with special attention to creating and sustaining economic growth and employment opportunities
The Department of Social Services held a public hearing on May 21 on the proposed CSBG ARRA 2009 Plan (draft). The draft plan has now been sent to the federal Department of Health and Human Services. See below to view the Draft CSBG/ARRA plan.
These funds, under the ARRA, are to provide meals to seniors in need of food. They will restore nutrition services that have been cut, as well as positions which may have been eliminated or reduced. Additional jobs may be created. This funding must be expended by December 30, 2010.
- $775,759 is available for congregate meals. Congregate meals are provided daily in group settings such as senior centers. Participants in the congregate meal program have the opportunity to socialize while enjoying nutritionally-balanced meals.
- $381,912 is available for home delivered meals. Meals are delivered to homebound or otherwise isolated older persons. Often evening and/or weekend meals are served, especially to homebound clients.
This program enhances employment opportunities for older Americans and promotes them as a solution for business seeking trained, qualified, and reliable employees. Older workers are a valuable resource for the 21st century workforce, and SCSEP is committed to providing high-quality job training and employment assistance to participants.
The Department of Social Services, under the ARRA, has been awarded $259,468, which will provide funding for 25 additional participants in the program. A full application was submitted to the federal Department of Labor, outlining plans to deliver intensive job training and development services to program participants with the goals of securing meaningful employment. This will include both classroom training to learn marketable skills along with on-the-job training at a local non-profit or public agency.
The purpose of the funds is to extend the Qualified Individuals (QI) program. The QI program pays the Medicare Part B premiums of low-income Medicare beneficiaries with incomes between 120 and 135 percent of the Federal poverty level. States receive 100 percent Federal funding for the QI program. Connecticut exceeds the QI payment due to elimination of asset test for low-income elderly and people with disabilities. Funding has been extended from September 30, 2009 to December 31, 2010.
The Workforce Investment Act mandates coordination among a range of federal job training programs, including the Employment Service, adult education and literacy programs, welfare-to-work, vocational education and vocational rehabilitation. WIA’s goal is to provide workforce development services to employers and workers through a universally accessible, information-driven, one-stop career center system. The Department of Social Services, Bureau of Rehabilitation Services is working with the Workforce Investment Act partners, focusing on job placement and tracking for people with disabilities, especially youth 17-24 years old. For more information, visit the
Department of Labor’s recovery website.
Connecticut has been allotted $242,913 (total for the 2 year period) to improve and expand Independent Living services, serve additional consumers, especially underserved populations and maximize employment opportunities and economic benefits to individuals with significant disabilities. This work will likely be done through the existing Independent Living Centers.
This provision of the Recovery Act provides low-income families with the ability to maintain their Medicaid health care coverage as they transition into employment and increase their earnings. Connecticut already provided an additional 12 month transition period to families and the Federal match only applied to the first six months prior to Recovery Act. The Recovery Act extended the Federal Match for the entire 12 month period.
TANF is a block grant program to help move recipients into work and turn welfare into a program of temporary assistance. Under the welfare reform legislation of 1996, TANF replaced the old welfare programs known as the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program, the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS) program, and the Emergency Assistance (EA) program. Awards for the TANF stimulus funds are based on caseload increase. Connecticut has not drawn down stimulus funding for this program as our TANF caseload count change has not meet the requirements for additional funding.
Medicaid is a federal/state partnership program that provides health benefits to certain low-income Americans. FMAP provides funding by percentages based on the state’s relative wealth. Prior to the Recovery Act, Connecticut received 50% reimbursement from the Federal government for Medicaid. The Recovery Act provided an increase to the Federal match for the recovery period (from October 1, 2008 through December 31, 2010.) The amount of increase is based upon the most recent unemployment rate compared to the lowest base rate for the period from January 1, 2006 through February 28, 2009. The increased Federal matching rate for the first three quarters of the recovery period ending June 30, 2009 was 60.19 percent. This rate increased on July 1, 2009 to 61.59 percent. The Federal match is deposited to General Fund revenue in Connecticut.
Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) adjustment payments provide additional help to those hospitals that serve a significantly disproportionate number of low-income patients; eligible hospitals are referred to as DSH hospitals. States receive an annual DSH allotment to cover the costs of DSH hospitals that provide care to low-income patients that are not paid by other payers, such as Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) or other health insurance. Connecticut not currently eligible for additional funding – there has been no increase in population served.
