The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
(Economic Stimulus Package)
On February 17, President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, to jumpstart the economy, create and save millions of jobs, provide assistance to workers hurt by the downturn and protect vital services for Americans. The Recovery Act provides significant help for Ohio and Ohioans: everything from additional benefits for unemployed workers to increased funds for cash and food assistance and significant dollars for a variety of employment and training programs.
In some cases, stimulus money is provided directly to individuals. In other cases, it is provided to programs, so that they can provide services to individuals. Some stimulus money is automatically distributed to those eligible for it. In other cases, those who think they may be eligible must apply for it.
Stimulus Benefits for Ohio’s Workforce Programs
Stimulus Benefits for Unemployment Compensation
Stimulus Benefits for Food Assistance (Food Stamp) Recipients
Stimulus Benefits for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program
Stimulus Benefits for Food Banks
Stimulus Benefits for the Emergency Food and Shelter Program
Stimulus Benefits for Children’s Services Agencies
Stimulus Benefits for Early Care and Education Programs
Stimulus Benefits for the Child Support Program
Stimulus Benefits for the Medicaid Program
Related Links
For specifics on how the Recovery Act will benefit Ohio, go to http://transparency.cit.nih.gov/RecoveryGrants/grantstate.cfm?state=oh and http://recovery.ohio.gov/.
For more information about how the Recovery Act will benefit the nation, visit http://www.recovery.gov/.
For more information about how the Recovery Act will benefit U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services programs, go to http://www.hhs.gov/recovery/.
For more information about how the Recovery Act will benefit U.S. Dept. of Labor programs, visit http://www.doleta.gov/recovery/.
Stimulus Benefits for Ohio’s Workforce Programs
The Recovery Act makes significant investments in Ohio’s workforce programs. For example:
Ohio is using $20.7 million in ARRA funds made available to Workforce Investment Act (WIA) programs to create four new initiatives: Urban Youth Works, Recovery Conservation Corps, Constructing Futures and Project HIRE. These programs are expanding employment opportunities for urban and rural youth and traditionally underserved adults, broadening access to apprenticeship programs, and providing an enhanced job-matching program for employers and job seekers. For more information, see http://jfs.ohio.gov/RELEASES/WorkforceDevelopmentPrograms.pdf.
Ohio has also received a stimulus-funded National Emergency Grant to offer WIA employment, training and supportive services to dislocated auto workers. For more information, see http://jfs.ohio.gov/RELEASES/AutoWorkerStimulus.pdf.
Organizations interested in applying for stimulus funds for employment and training programs may submit proposals to http://recovery.ohio.gov or contact their local workforce investment boards. For a map of Ohio’s workforce boards and their contact information, go to http://jfs.ohio.gov/workforce/localboard/index.stm.
Job seekers interested in learning more about their eligibility for employment and training programs – and employers looking to connect with workers – should call or visit their local One-Stop Centers. For a map of Ohio’s One-Stop Centers and their contact information, visit http://jfs.ohio.gov/workforce/jobseekers/onestopmap.stm.
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Stimulus Benefits for the Unemployment Compensation
The Recovery Act had several provisions impacting recipients of unemployment compensation (UC):
Eligible individuals automatically received an adjustment reflective of the increased benefit amount. Those who established regular UC claims prior to December 26, 2009, were allowed to receive the additional $25 payment through the week of July 3, 2010.
The Recovery Act suspended the first $2,400 paid in unemployment benefits from federal income tax for tax year 2009. The Recovery Act also provided Ohio with three special grants to assist it in managing and maintaining its unemployment compensation program. This included funds to improve outreach to claimants, to implement the FAC, and to maintain and enhance various components of the UC system during a time of dramatically rising caseloads.
From FFY 2008 to FFY 2009, the number of workers receiving first-time unemployment benefits in Ohio rose by more than 77 percent. Despite this fact, Ohio has continued to be a national leader in the timely issuance (within 14 days) of these first benefit payments. During the quarter ending September 2009, Ohio ranked fourth in the nation, performing at 94.6 percent in the timely issuance of first benefit payments.
For more information about changes to unemployment compensation because of the Recovery Act, click here.
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Stimulus Benefits for Food Assistance (Food Stamp) Recipients
As part of the Recovery Act, Ohio received an additional $3.9 million for The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), which provides food and federal administrative funds to states to distribute to food banks. As a result, Ohio's food banks were able to purchase about 2.8 million additional pounds of food. The act also gave Ohio an additional $998,000 in federal fiscal year (FFY) 2009 and approximately the same amount for FFY 2010 to store and distribute this food.
In FFY 2010, Ohio TEFAP will receive $976,841 for the storage and distribution of FFY 2009 food purchases arriving in FFY 2010. States with a balance of FFY 2009 food purchase funds (due to the lack of product availability) will be able to expend those funds on food in FFY 2010. For Ohio, the amount is approximately $92,000.
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Stimulus Benefits for the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families Program
Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) is the federal government’s primary cash assistance program for very low-income families. The Recovery Act gives states more money for their TANF programs by offering TANF Emergency Contingency Funds to states that have experienced increased TANF caseloads. Ohio qualifies to receive these funds and will use them to support its existing TANF programs. All existing TANF requirements, including work participation requirements and time limits, apply.
To view questions and answers about the TANF Emergency Contingency Fund, go to http://www.hhs.gov/recovery/programs/tanf/tanf-faq.html. For more information about the TANF program, go to http://www.hhs.gov/recovery/programs/tanf/tanf-overview.html. For more information about Ohio’s TANF State Plan, visit http://jfs.ohio.gov/owf/plan_new.stm.
To apply for TANF cash assistance, fill out a “Request for Cash, Food Stamp and Medical Assistance” form and submit it to your local county department of job and family services. You can obtain the form online, at http://jfs.ohio.gov/ofam/cmandfsa.stm, or by calling or visiting your county agency. For a list of county agencies with contact information, click on http://jfs.ohio.gov/County/cntydir.stm.
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Stimulus Benefits for Food Banks
As part of the Recovery Act, Ohio received an additional $3.9 million for The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), which provides food and federal administrative funds to states to distribute to food banks. As a result, Ohio's food banks were able to purchase about 2.8 million additional pounds of food. The act also gave Ohio an additional $998,000 in federal fiscal year (FFY) 2009 and approximately the same amount for FFY 2010 to store and distribute this food.
In FFY 2010, Ohio TEFAP will receive $976,841 for the storage and distribution of FFY 2009 food purchases arriving in FFY 2010. States with a balance of FFY 2009 food purchase funds (due to the lack of product availability) will be able to expend those funds on food in FFY 2010. For Ohio, the amount is approximately $92,000.
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Stimulus Benefits for the Emergency Food and Shelter Program
The Recovery Act makes an additional $100 million available for the Emergency Food and Shelter program, which provides money to local nonprofit and faith-based organizations to supplement their emergency food and shelter programs. The National Emergency Food and Shelter Board selects jurisdictions to receive awards based on a formula using unemployment statistics, and it also sets aside an amount for state boards to distribute at their discretion based on criteria set by the national board. Jurisdictions that do not qualify under the formula may still receive funds through the state set-aside process, and jurisdictions that do qualify may receive additional funding the same way.
The Ohio United Way serves as the chair and fiscal agent for the Ohio State Set-Aside Committee. ODJFS is a member of the committee; other members include nonprofit organizations and other state agencies that are committed to serving low-income Ohioans. For more information, call Ohio United Way at (614) 224-8146, visit http://www.ouw.org/ or go to http://www.ouw.org/files/13/General_Documents/StateSet_AsidePressReleaseMay09.doc. Information about the National Emergency Food and Shelter Program can be found at http://www.efsp.unitedway.org/ and http://www.efsp.unitedway.org/efsp/pages/about.htm.
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Stimulus Benefits for Children’s Services Agencies
In order to provide more funds for states’ child welfare systems, the Recovery Act gives Title IV-E agencies – including children’s services agencies, 33 juvenile courts and the Department of Youth Services – increased federal reimbursement for their Title IV-E foster and Title IV-E adoption assistance expenditures.
For foster care, a total of $6,375,111.53 was distributed to Ohio’s Title IV-E agencies in the form of retroactive payments for the time period from October 2008 through April 2009. An additional $1,571,486.34 was distributed for May and June 2009. Through June 2009, a total of $7,946,597.87 was distributed across the state.
For Adoption Assistance, a total of $1,808,364.67 was distributed to Ohio’s counties in the form of retroactive payments for the time period from October 2008 through April 2009. An additional $1,105,465.52 was distributed for May and June 2009. Through June 2009, a total of $2,913,830.19 was distributed across the state.
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Stimulus Benefits for Early Care and Education Programs
As a result of the Recovery Act, Ohio has received a total of $68,140,840 for its early care and education programs. Of that, $59,245,395 is being used to stabilize the subsidized child care system; $5,633,125 is being used to provide a per-child subsidy enhancement for children in Step Up To Quality two- and three-star rated programs; and $3,262,319 is being used to support statewide infant and toddler initiatives.
Families with incomes of up to 150 percent of the federal poverty level should contact their county departments of job and family services for an application, eligibility criteria and information. A list of county agencies with contact information can be found at http://jfs.ohio.gov/County/cntydir.stm. For specifics on poverty levels, please visit http://jfs.ohio.gov/ocomm/FPL.stm.
Information for early care and education programs interested in becoming star-rated can be found at www.stepuptoquality.org.
In addition, the Recovery Act will allow more children to enroll in the Early Head Start and Head Start programs, which promote school readiness by enhancing the social and cognitive development of children through the provision of educational, health, nutritional, social and other services. Slots will be awarded through the Office of Head Start (http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ohs/index.html) directly to qualified local early care and education programs through a competitive bid process.
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Stimulus Benefits for the Child Support Program
The federal government awards incentive money to state child support programs based on five performance categories. The more money states earn by achieving performance goals, the more money they have to provide child support services for children and families. Under a provision of the Recovery Act, the federal government will temporarily allow state child support programs to use their federal incentive dollars as a match to draw down additional federal reimbursement funds.
During the two years that this provision will be in effect, it is expected that Ohio will earn approximately $55 million in federal child support incentive money. With the federal match, that $55 million effectively becomes $161 million, which the county child support enforcement agencies (CSEAs) can use to provide all their usual services, including child support collection, distribution, paternity testing, and financial and medical support-enforcement services.
These additional funds will provide relief for Ohio’s CSEAs as they continue to deliver critical child support program services. It will also help the state and CSEAs continue to operate cost-effectively while maximizing performance.
For more information about how the Recovery Act will benefit state child support programs, visit http://www.hhs.gov/recovery/programs/cse/incentivesimpact.html. For more information about Ohio’s Child Support Program, go to http://jfs.ohio.gov/families/child_support/index.stm.
Medicaid is the federally funded, state-administered program that reimburses providers such as doctors, dentists, optometrists, home health care aides and health care facilities for providing medically necessary health care services to eligible low-income individuals. Medicaid also provides assistance with durable medical equipment such as wheelchairs and oxygen. The Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) is the federal share of the state’s Medicaid expenditures.
The Recovery Act increases the FMAP by using a formula that takes into account states’ unemployment rates. This temporary program – known as eFMAP, for Enhanced Federal Medical Assistance Percentage – will bring approximately $2.9 billion to Ohio through calendar year 2010.
For more information about Ohio’s Medicaid programs, visit http://jfs.ohio.gov/OHP/bcps/FactSheets/. To apply for Medicaid, fill out a “Request for Cash, Food Stamp and Medical Assistance” form and submit it to your local county department of job and family services. You can obtain the form online, at http://jfs.ohio.gov/ofam/cmandfsa.stm, or by calling or visiting your county agency. For a list of county agencies with contact information, go to http://jfs.ohio.gov/County/cntydir.stm.
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Last Updated 12/07/09