Bill Text: CT HB05224 | 2014 | General Assembly | Comm Sub

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Bill Title: An Act Increasing Public Assistance To Grandparents And Other Relatives Raising Children.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-04-04 - Referred by House to Committee on Appropriations [HB05224 Detail]

Download: Connecticut-2014-HB05224-Comm_Sub.html

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General Assembly		Raised Bill No. 5224
February Session, 2014		LCO No. 1261
		*_____HB05224AGE___031114____*
Referred to Committee on AGING
Introduced by:
(AGE)

AN ACT INCREASING PUBLIC ASSISTANCE TO GRANDPARENTS AND OTHER RELATIVES RAISING CHILDREN.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Subsection (a) of section 17b-112 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2014):

(a) (1) 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) a pregnant woman, or [(2)] (B) 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.

(2) To the extent permissible under federal law, the payment standard for a family receiving temporary family assistance pursuant to this section in which the head of the household is a nonparent caretaker relative and the legal guardian of a child shall be equal to seventy-five per cent of the prevailing monthly foster care rate paid by the Department of Children and Families for the equivalent number of children.

This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1	July 1, 2014	17b-112(a)

AGE

Joint Favorable