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STATE OF CONNECTICUT TEMPORARY ASSISTANCE FOR NEEDY FAMILIES (TANF) STATE PLAN 2024-2026

Effective Date: 10/1/23 – 9/30/26 ☐ Initial Submission Date: 12/31/2023 ☒ Revision Date: 04/15/2024 Page: 29

Services are provided to families with income at or below the TFA income limits.

TANF Purpose # 1: Provide assistance to needy families so that children may be cared for in their own homes or the homes of relatives.

TANF Purpose #2: End the dependence of needy parents on government benefits by promoting job preparation, work, and marriage.

Funding: Commingled funds that use state maintenance of effort funds.

D. 10. Outreach - Department of Social Services

Outreach services include costs associated with the administration of the Help for People in Need program. Help for People in Need is an informational brochure provided to all recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) with income less than 200% of the federal poverty level. The brochure contains information on how to access benefits and services such as the School Breakfast and School Lunch programs; Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); HUSKY health care coverage; Care 4 Kids childcare assistance; the state’s Fatherhood Initiative; family planning and pregnancy prevention services; domestic violence services; energy assistance; free tax preparation services; and housing services. This service helps households by facilitating “broad-based categorical eligibility” for SNAP and ensuring that families are able to access critical supportive services. The “Help for People in Need” brochure’s costs are allocated as TANF MOE reported under TANF DSS administrative costs.

TANF Purpose #3: Prevent and reduce the incidence of out-of-wedlock pregnancies. TANF Purpose #4: Encourage the formation and maintenance of two-parent families.

Funding: Segregated Federal TANF funds

D. 11. Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative (TPPI) - Department of Social Services

The Department of Social Services (DSS) operates a statewide teen pregnancy prevention initiative comprised of individual programs run by not-for profit organizations and municipalities in eleven (11) Connecticut towns and cities. The communities served are Bridgeport, East Hartford, Hartford, Killingly, Meriden, New Britain, New Haven, New London, Norwich, Waterbury, and Willimantic. The programs in these areas serve five-hundred fifty (550) participants.

The implemented programs use the Teen Outreach Program (TOP), a service-learning model, where participants engage in, reflect on, and learn from community service projects. TOP is a science- based model that has been evaluated and has shown evidence that it is among the most effective