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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 6353
January Session, 2021
LCO No. 1700
Referred to Committee on AGING
Introduced by:
(AGE)
AN ACT INCREASING FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE F OR
GRANDPARENTS AND OTH ER NONPARENT RELATIVES RAISING
CERTAIN 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 1
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2
2021): 3
(a) (1) The Department of Social Services shall administer a 4
temporary family assistance program under which cash assistance shall 5
be provided to eligible families in accordance with the temporary 6
assistance for needy families program, established pursuant to the 7
Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 8
1996. The Commissioner of Social Services may operate portions of the 9
temporary family assistance program as a solely state-funded program, 10
separate from the federal temporary assistance for needy families 11
program, if the commissioner determines that doing so will enable the 12
state to avoid fiscal penalties under the temporary assistance for needy 13
families program. Families receiving assistance under the solely state-14 Raised Bill No. 6353
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funded portion of the temporary family assistance program shall be 15
subject to the same conditions of eligibility as those receiving assistance 16
under the federal temporary assistance for needy families program. 17
Under the temporary family assistance program, benefits shall be 18
provided to a family for not longer than twenty-one months, except as 19
provided in subsections (b) and (c) of this section. For the purpose of 20
calculating said twenty-one-month time limit, months of assistance 21
received on and after January 1, 1996, pursuant to time limits under the 22
aid to families with dependent children program, shall be included. For 23
purposes of this section, "family" means one or more individuals who 24
apply for or receive assistance together under the temporary family 25
assistance program. If the commissioner determines that federal law 26
allows individuals not otherwise in an eligible covered group for the 27
temporary family assistance program to become covered, such family 28
may also, at the discretion of the commissioner, be composed of [(1)] (A) 29
a pregnant woman, or [(2)] (B) a parent, both parents or other caretaker 30
relative and at least one child who is under the age of eighteen, or who 31
is under the age of nineteen and a full-time student in a secondary 32
school or its equivalent. A caretaker relative shall be related to the child 33
or children by blood, marriage or adoption or shall be the legal guardian 34
of such a child or pursuing legal proceedings necessary to achieve 35
guardianship. If the commissioner elects to allow state eligibility 36
consistent with any change in federal law, the commissioner may 37
administratively transfer any qualifying family cases under the cash 38
assistance portion of the state-administered general assistance program 39
to the temporary family assistance program without regard to usual 40
eligibility and enrollment procedures. If such families become an 41
ineligible coverage group under the federal law, the commissioner shall 42
administratively transfer such families back to the cash assistance 43
portion of the state-administered general assistance program without 44
regard to usual eligibility and enrollment procedures to the degree that 45
such families are eligible for the state program. 46
(2) To the extent permissible under federal law, the payment 47
standard for a family that receives benefits under the temporary family 48 Raised Bill No. 6353
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assistance program, and in which the head of the household is a 49
nonparent caretaker relative and the legal guardian of a child, shall be 50
equal to seventy-five per cent of the prevailing monthly foster care rate 51
per child, based on the child's age and medical condition, paid by the 52
Department of Children and Families. 53
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2021 17b-112(a)
Statement of Purpose:
To reduce the financial burdens on grandparents and other nonparent
relatives raising certain children.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]