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STATE OF CONNECTICUT TEMPORARY ASSISTANCE FOR NEEDY FAMILIES (TANF) STATE PLAN 2021-2023

EFFECTIVE DATE 10/1/20 – 9/30/23  Initial Submission 12/29/20  Revision Page 19 TANF Purpose # 1: Provide assistance to needy families so that children may be cared for in their own homes or the homes of relatives. Funding: Segregated Federal TANF funds

D. 5. Employment Services – Department of Labor The state provides employment services to recipients of Temporary Family Assistance (TFA). Employment services are also provided to those who are participating in an employment service activity authorized by their employment plan at the time of becoming ineligible for TFA until they complete that activity. The state refers to these employment services as Jobs First Employment Services (JFES). The Connecticut Department of Labor (DOL) administers JFES through the American Job Centers. The American Job Centers are a partnership of the CT Department of Labor, the five Workforce Investment Boards (WIB's), and other state and local agencies, including the Department of Social Services. Jobs First Employment Services are provided to adults or minor parents in families applying for or receiving Temporary Family Assistance funded by TANF, and to Two- Parent families funded as a solely state funded program. All TFA applicants and recipients, including Two-Parent families, are eligible for employment services even if they are not required to participate by the regulations governing the TFA program. If a TANF funded TFA recipient is in an employment service activity authorized by the employment plan at the time of becoming ineligible for TFA, employment services continue until completion of that activity, provided the individual remains part of a needy family with income less than seventy-five percent (75%) of the state's median income level. Similarly, services to participants in two-parent families who become ineligible for TFA while in an authorized activity will continue until the completion of that activity. The goals of the Jobs First Employment Services program are as follows: 1. Enable TFA participants, through employment, to become independent from cash assistance by the end of the 21-month time limit established by state law; 2. Enable TFA participants who become independent from cash assistance to remain employed and independent of TFA; and 3. Ensure that federally established participation rates are met through employment of TFA participants and engagement in other countable TANF work activities deemed appropriate based on assessments of clients’ needs.