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Reach Up Annual Report 2020 19 Caseload Reduction Credit (CRC)

All Families 2-Parent Families Rate submitted to ACF20 43.5% 62.0%

Applying the CRC to the participation rates results in an 89.8 percent All Families rate and a 100 percent Two-Parent rate. Vermont is on-track to meet the 2019 Work Participation Rate for both All- Families and Two-Parent rates.

The Work Participation Rate is only one part of measuring participants’ journeys to financial stability. A large part of this progress involves addressing multiple, complex barriers to employment which are not recognized by the federal government in Work Participation Rates. For example, the federal requirements around activities that may be included in the Work Participation Rate do not include education in most circumstances. They also do not include addressing other major barriers to participation such as lack of childcare, transportation, or housing.

Section 7: Basic Needs, Housing Allowances, and Maximum Grants

Basic Needs and Housing Allowances The Department calculates a basic needs standard that includes certain requirements considered essential to all individuals. These needs include food, shelter, clothing, fuel, utilities, personal incidentals, core services, and special housing needs. This standard of combined basic needs increases according to household size from $585 per month for a household of one, to $2,012 per month for a household of eight. Each year the Department reports the current basic needs standard and budget which is adjusted to reflect an annual cost-of-living increase. DCF makes the annual cost-of-living increase calculation by running the basic needs standard and housing allowance through a computer program that recalculates these numbers based on changes in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and housing costs reported by families participating in the Reach Up program living inside and outside Chittenden County. The revised needs standard and housing allowance are run through a simulation of the Reach Up population to estimate the fiscal impact of making cost-of-living adjustments. The simulation is run against the amount budgeted for Reach Up to determine the percentage of total needs the department can pay with existing funds. Consistent with 33 V.S.A. §101(4), DCF currently pays 49.6% of the total needs determined as of 2008.

The charts below illustrate the current basic needs for families of one to eight members; basic needs if adjusted in December 2019 for the cost-of-living increase; current housing costs; and housing costs if adjusted.

20 The caseload reduction rates are submitted to ACF in December 2019; Vermont is waiting for confirmation of the caseload reduction rates.