2023 Connecticut General Statutes › Title 17b - Social Services › Chapter 319s - Financial Assistance › Section 17b-112. - Temporary family assistance program.

(a) The Department of Social Services shall administer a temporary family assistance program under which cash assistance shall be provided to eligible families in accordance with the temporary assistance for needy families program, established pursuant to the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. The Commissioner of Social Services may operate portions of the temporary family assistance program as a solely state-funded program, separate from the federal temporary assistance for needy families program, if the commissioner determines that doing so will enable the state to avoid fiscal penalties under the temporary assistance for needy families program. Families receiving assistance under the solely state-funded portion of the temporary family assistance program shall be subject to the same conditions of eligibility as those receiving assistance under the federal temporary assistance for needy families program. Under the temporary family assistance program, benefits shall be provided to a family for not longer than twenty-one months, except as provided in subsections (b) and (c) of this section. For the purpose of calculating said twenty-one-month time limit, months of assistance received on and after January 1, 1996, pursuant to time limits under the aid to families with dependent children program, shall be included. For purposes of this section, “family” means one or more individuals who apply for or receive assistance together under the temporary family assistance program. If the commissioner determines that federal law allows individuals not otherwise in an eligible covered group for the temporary family assistance program to become covered, such family may also, at the discretion of the commissioner, be composed of (1) a pregnant woman, or (2) a parent, both parents or other caretaker relative and at least one child who is under the age of eighteen, or who is under the age of nineteen and a full-time student in a secondary school or its equivalent. A caretaker relative shall be related to the child or children by blood, marriage or adoption or shall be the legal guardian of such a child or pursuing legal proceedings necessary to achieve guardianship. If the commissioner elects to allow state eligibility consistent with any change in federal law, the commissioner may administratively transfer any qualifying family cases under the cash assistance portion of the state-administered general assistance program to the temporary family assistance program without regard to usual eligibility and enrollment procedures. If such families become an ineligible coverage group under the federal law, the commissioner shall administratively transfer such families back to the cash assistance portion of the state-administered general assistance program without regard to usual eligibility and enrollment procedures to the degree that such families are eligible for the state program.
(b) The Commissioner of Social Services shall exempt a family from such time-limited benefits for circumstances including, but not limited to: (1) A family with a needy caretaker relative who is incapacitated or of an advanced age, as defined by the commissioner, if there is no other nonexempt caretaker relative in the household; (2) a family with a needy caretaker relative who is needed in the home because of the incapacity of another member of the household, if there is no other nonexempt caretaker relative in the household; (3) a family with a caretaker relative who is not legally responsible for the dependent children in the household if such relative's needs are not considered in calculating the amount of the benefit and there is no other nonexempt caretaker relative in the household; (4) a family with a caretaker relative caring for a child who is under one year of age if there is no other nonexempt caretaker relative in the household; (5) a family with a pregnant or postpartum caretaker relative if a physician has indicated that such relative is unable to work and there is no other nonexempt caretaker relative in the household; (6) a family with a caretaker relative determined by the commissioner to be unemployable and there is no other nonexempt caretaker relative in the household; and (7) minor parents attending and satisfactorily completing high school or high school equivalency programs.
(c) A family who is subject to time-limited benefits may petition the Commissioner of Social Services for six-month extensions of such benefits. The commissioner shall grant not more than two extensions to such family who has made a good faith effort to comply with the requirements of the program and despite such effort has a total family income at a level below the payment standard, or has encountered circumstances preventing employment including, but not limited to: (1) Domestic violence or physical harm to such family's children; or (2) other circumstances beyond such family's control. The commissioner shall disregard ninety dollars of earned income in determining applicable family income. The commissioner may grant a subsequent six-month extension if each adult in the family meets one or more of the following criteria: (A) The adult is precluded from engaging in employment activities due to domestic violence or another reason beyond the adult's control; (B) the adult has two or more substantiated barriers to employment including, but not limited to, the lack of available child care, substance abuse or addiction, severe mental or physical health problems, one or more severe learning disabilities, domestic violence or a child who has a serious physical or behavioral health problem; (C) the adult is working thirty-five or more hours per week, is earning at least the minimum wage and continues to earn less than the family's temporary family assistance payment standard; or (D) the adult is employed and works less than thirty-five hours per week due to (i) a documented medical impairment that limits the adult's hours of employment, provided the adult works the maximum number of hours that the medical condition permits, or (ii) the need to care for a disabled member of the adult's household, provided the adult works the maximum number of hours the adult's caregiving responsibilities permit. Families receiving temporary family assistance shall be notified by the department of the right to petition for such extensions. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, the commissioner shall not provide benefits under the state's temporary family assistance program to a family that is subject to the twenty-one month benefit limit and has received benefits beginning on or after October 1, 1996, if such benefits result in that family's receiving more than sixty months of time-limited benefits unless that family experiences domestic violence, as defined in Section 402(a)(7)(B), P.L. 104-193. For the purpose of calculating said sixty-month limit: (I) A month shall count toward the limit if the family receives assistance for any day of the month, provided any months of temporary family assistance received during the public health emergency declared by Governor Ned Lamont related to the COVID-19 pandemic shall not be included, and (II) a month in which a family receives temporary assistance for needy families benefits that are issued from a jurisdiction other than Connecticut shall count toward the limit.
(d) Under said program, no family shall be eligible that has total gross earnings exceeding the federal poverty level, however, in the calculation of the benefit amount for eligible families and previously eligible families that become ineligible temporarily because of receipt of workers' compensation benefits by a family member who subsequently returns to work immediately after the period of receipt of such benefits, earned income shall be disregarded up to the federal poverty level. Except when determining eligibility for a six-month extension of benefits pursuant to subsection (c) of this section, the commissioner shall disregard the first fifty dollars per month of income attributable to current child support that a family receives in determining eligibility and benefit levels for temporary family assistance. Any current child support in excess of fifty dollars per month collected by the department on behalf of an eligible child shall be considered in determining eligibility but shall not be considered when calculating benefits and shall be taken as reimbursement for assistance paid under this section, except that when the current child support collected exceeds the family's monthly award of temporary family assistance benefits plus fifty dollars, the current child support shall be paid to the family and shall be considered when calculating benefits.
(e) A family receiving assistance under said program shall cooperate with child support enforcement, under title IV-D of the Social Security Act. A family shall be ineligible for benefits for failure to cooperate with child support enforcement.
(f) A family leaving assistance at the end of (1) said twenty-one-month time limit, including a family with income above the payment standard, or (2) the sixty-month limit shall have an interview for the purpose of being informed of services that may continue to be available to such family, including employment services available through the Labor Department. Such interview shall include (A) a determination of benefits available to the family provided by the Department of Social Services; and (B) a determination of whether such family is eligible for supplemental nutrition assistance or Medicaid. Information and referrals shall be made to such a family for services and benefits including, but not limited to, the earned income tax credit, rental subsidies emergency housing, employment services and energy assistance.
(g) Notwithstanding section 17b-104, commencing on July 1, 2023, the Commissioner of Social Services shall provide an annual cost-of-living adjustment in temporary family assistance benefits equal to the most recent percentage increase in the consumer price index for urban consumers whenever funds appropriated for temporary family assistance lapse at the close of any fiscal year and such adjustment has not otherwise been included in the budget for the assistance program, provided the increase would not create a budget deficiency in succeeding years. The commissioner shall provide a prorated benefit increase from such available lapsed funds in any fiscal year when such funds are not sufficient to cover a cost-of-living adjustment in accordance with this subsection.
(h) An applicant or recipient of temporary family assistance who is adversely affected by a decision of the Commissioner of Social Services may request and shall be provided a hearing in accordance with section 17b-60.
(P.A. 93-262, S. 1, 87; 93-418, S. 16, 41; 93-435, S. 59, 95; P.A. 95-194, S. 1, 33; 95-351, S. 1, 30; P.A. 96-262, S. 2, 11; 96-268, S. 1, 34; P.A. 97-295, S. 20, 25; June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-2, S. 1, 165; P.A. 98-262, S. 14, 22; P.A. 99-279, S. 8; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 01-2, S. 12, 15, 61, 69; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 01-9, S. 125, 129, 131; P.A. 03-2, S. 13; 03-28, S. 1; 03-268, S. 5; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-3, S. 80; P.A. 04-16, S. 2; 04-258, S. 27; P.A. 07-160, S. 1; P.A. 09-9, S. 22; P.A. 10-179, S. 79; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 21-2, S. 327.)
History: P.A. 93-418 effective July 1, 1993 (Revisor's note: P.A. 93-262 and 93-435 authorized substitution of commissioner and department of social services for commissioner and department of income maintenance, effective July 1, 1993); P.A. 95-194 added Subsec. (b) authorizing the department to seek waivers to modify existing research and demonstration programs, effective June 29, 1995; P.A. 95-351 made a technical change in Subsec. (b)(11), effective June 29, 1995; P.A. 96-262 amended Subsec. (b) to add a provision allowing the commissioner to encourage a recipient to undertake employment in preschool child care programs, child day care centers, group day care homes and family day care homes, effective July 1, 1996, and applicable to income years commencing on or after January 1, 1997; P.A. 96-268 made a technical correction in Subsec. (b)(7), effective July 1, 1996; P.A. 97-295 deleted Subsec. (b)(11) re opportunity certificates, effective July 8, 1997, and applicable to tax returns filed for income years commencing on or after January 1, 1997; June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-2 deleted obsolete provisions of the research and programs designed to support self-sufficiency and family unity for recipients of aid to families with dependent children, inserted new Subsecs. (a) to (k), inclusive, establishing the temporary family assistance program providing cash assistance to eligible families in accordance with the temporary assistance for needy families program established pursuant to the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, effective July 1, 1997; P.A. 98-262 revised effective date of P.A. 97-295, but without affecting this section; P.A. 99-279 amended Subsec. (e)(1) to provide that earned income shall be disregarded up to the federal poverty level in the calculation of the benefit amount for “previously eligible families that become ineligible temporarily because of receipt of workers' compensation benefits by a family member who subsequently returns to work immediately after the period of receipt of such benefits” and to make a technical change; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 01-2 amended Subsec. (c) to limit 6-month benefit extensions to not more than three, and add provisions re conditions under which commissioner may grant a fourth or a subsequent 6-month extension, limiting benefits for certain families to 60 months and calculating 60-month limit and amended Subsec. (e) to add provision re $50 per month disregard, effective October 1, 2001, and amended Subsec. (g) to add two Subdiv. designators and to require family leaving assistance at end of the 60-month limit to have an interview, effective July 1, 2001; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 01-9 made technical changes in Subsec. (c), effective July 1, 2001, and revised effective date of June Sp. Sess. P.A. 01-2 but without affecting this section; P.A. 03-2 amended Subsec. (c) by reducing the number of 6-month benefit extensions that the commissioner may grant from three to two and deleting “a fourth or” re commissioner's authority to grant subsequent benefit extensions, effective July 1, 2003; P.A. 03-28 amended Subsec. (c)(2)(D)(ii)(II) by replacing “temporary family assistance benefits” with “temporary assistance for needy families benefits”, deleted former Subsec. (d) re transitional Medicaid eligibility, redesignated existing Subsecs. (e) to (h) as Subsecs. (d) to (g), deleted former Subsec. (i) re “Reach for Jobs First” demonstration waiver and utilization of control group, and deleted former Subsec. (k) re regulations to be adopted by November 15, 1997; P.A. 03-268 deleted former Subsec. (j) re annual report of commissioner to human services and appropriations committees on funding required to support programs funded by the temporary assistance to needy families block grant; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-3 amended Subsec. (a) to add provisions allowing the commissioner to administratively transfer certain families qualifying for state-administered general assistance cash benefits into a temporary family assistance coverage group should the commissioner determine that changes in federal law permit such families not previously eligible to become covered, effective August 20, 2003; P.A. 04-16 made a technical change in Subsec. (a); P.A. 04-258 amended Subsec. (d) by changing “child support” to “current child support” re income disregard and adding provision re treatment of current child support received in excess of $50 per month as relates to eligibility and calculation of benefits, effective June 1, 2004; P.A. 07-160 amended Subsec. (a) by permitting commissioner to operate portions of temporary family assistance program as a solely state-funded program, separate from federal temporary assistance for needy families program, if commissioner determines that doing so will enable the state to avoid federal fiscal penalties and by providing that families receiving assistance under a solely state-funded program shall be subject to same eligibility conditions as those receiving assistance under federal program, effective July 1, 2007; P.A. 09-9 amended Subsec. (f) to replace “food stamps” with “supplemental nutrition assistance”, effective May 4, 2009; P.A. 10-179 deleted former Subsec. (d)(3) re establishment of disqualification penalty, effective May 7, 2010; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 21-2 amended Subsec. (b)(4) by eliminating requirement child be born not more than 10 months after family enrollment, amended Subsec. (c)(2)(D)(ii)(I) by exempting assistance provided during COVID-19 public health emergency, amended Subsec. (d) by deleting former Subdiv. (2) re cap on benefits for family with infant born more than 10 months after enrollment and deleting Subdiv. (1) designator, made technical changes and added Subpara. designators in Subsec. (f), added new Subsec. (g) re cost-of-living adjustment and redesignated existing Subsec. (g) as Subsec. (h), effective November 1, 2021.