AN ACT CONCERNING FAMILY PROSPERITY AND THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE CHILD POVERTY AND PREVENTION COUNCIL.

AN ACT CONCERNING FAMILY PROSPERITY AND THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE CHILD POVERTY AND PREVENTION COUNCIL.

This bill requires the Department of Social Services (DSS), in conjunction with the Child Poverty and Prevention Council and within appropriations, to establish and administer a competitive grant program for municipalities with priority school districts. (For 2007-08, these are: Ansonia, Bloomfield, Bridgeport, Bristol, Danbury, East Hartford, Hartford, Meriden, New Britain, New Haven, New London, Norwich, Norwalk, Stamford, Waterbury, and Windham. ) The grants are for establishing local pilot programs to implement research-based strategies to reverse child poverty. The state has a statutory goal of reducing child poverty by 50% by 2014.

The bill directs DSS to seek to maximize state participation in the federal Food Stamp Employment and Training Program for the purposes of the grant program the bill creates. It also requires the department to file annual reports from January 1, 2009 through January 1, 2014 with the Appropriations, Education, and Human Services committees. These reports must include the pilot programs' progress in reducing poverty among their target populations by 50%.

Once they receive a grant, recipients must work with community representatives and regional partners, including regional community-technical colleges, nonprofit social services agencies, and regional workforce development boards, to (1) develop and implement a comprehensive child poverty reduction plan and (2) develop research-based and intergenerational strategies that assist children and parents.

1. focus on research-based strategies that include homeless diversion programs; quality child care; and workforce development, including literacy, adult education, postsecondary education, vocational training, and job placement;

2. target one or more of the following: (a) adolescent parents, (b) older adolescents and young adults, (c) poor working families, and (d) early childhood;

3. identify existing programs and resources that serve their target populations;

4. identify state, federal, and local resources and benefits for their populations, including federal earned income tax credits and federal social service programs;

5. identify (a) areas where resources can be aligned and (b) strategies to better coordinate and leverage resources;

6. include interventions that focus on (a) family income and earning potential; (b) literacy, education, and vocational training; (c) income safety net services; and (d) family structure and support, including programs to reduce adolescent pregnancy and improve fathers' earning potentials;

7. identify community partners;

8. identify methods of tracking progress on the number of families who have reached economic self sufficiency; and

9. include an implementation budget and evaluation process that uses results-based accountability.

The bill requires grant recipients to submit their plans to DSS, in collaboration with the members of the Child Poverty and Prevention Council, for approval and implementation. The council must convene an interagency committee to work with the local pilot programs and deploy resources through results-based accountability. DSS and the Commission on Children council members serve as co-chairpersons of the committee.

1. the eight towns with the largest populations, based on the last census;

2. in the first year of each biennium, the 11 towns with the most children on welfare plus the most children scoring below the remedial level on the state mastery tests; and

3. in the first year of each biennium, the 11 towns that rank highest in number of children on welfare divided by grant mastery percentage; and

The grant mastery percentage is the number of mastery tests on which students in the district score below the remedial level divided by the total number of tests taken in the district (CGS § 10-266p (a)).

The Food Stamp Employment and Training (FSE&T), created by the 1985 federal Food Security Act requires each state to implement an FSE&T program to help food stamp recipients gain skills, training, or experience to increase their ability to obtain regular employment. Funding for the program traditionally focused on able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs), whose food stamp benefits became subject to time limits under the 1996 federal welfare reform legislation. These adults, with some exceptions, can receive food stamps only three months out of each three-year period except in months when they work at least 80 hours or participate in an FSE&T activity. A 2002 change in the food stamp law eliminated the requirement that states spend 80% of the FSE&T funds on ABAWDs, giving states greater flexibility in how they use the funds.

sSB 660, reported favorably by the Human Services Committee, requires DSS to maximize its use of the FSE&T program's 100% federal administrative grants and optional 50% federal matching funds components for employment and training activities, support services, and other programs and services for food stamp recipients.