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 will be provided directly to individuals. In other cases, it will be provided to programs, so that they can provide services to individuals. Some stimulus money will be automatically distributed to those eligible for it. In other cases, those who think they may be eligible must apply for it.
For more information about stimulus funds available for programs supervised by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, click on the following links:
Stimulus Benefits for Ohio’s Workforce Programs
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:
· It provides $138 million to offer an additional 20,000 adults, youth and dislocated workers job training, job search assistance, youth employment programs and more.
· It provides $15 million for reemployment services, job-matching assistance and other services to be delivered at Ohio’s One-Stop Centers. One-Stop Centers offer free job training and other employment services to Ohioans looking for work, and match job seekers with businesses looking to hire workers.
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.
More information on stimulus-specific workforce programs will be forthcoming.
Stimulus Benefits for Food Assistance (Food Stamp) Recipients
The Recovery Act increases benefits for Food Assistance recipients by 13.6 percent. This amounts to an extra $20-24 per person per month. Those receiving food assistance have automatically gotten this increase since April 1, 2009; they do not need to take any action. In Ohio, these additional funds are added to recipients’ Ohio Direction Cards. The Recovery Act also gives states funding to implement this increase and to administer the program.
For more information about the Recovery Act’s impact on state food assistance programs, visit http://www.fns.usda.gov/fns/recovery/recovery-snap.htm. For more information about Ohio’s food assistance program, see http://jfs.ohio.gov/factsheets/foodstamps.pdf.
To apply for food 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.
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.
Stimulus Benefits for Food Banks
As part of the Recovery Act, Ohio is eligible to receive an additional $3.9 million for the Temporary 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 will be able to purchase about 2.8 million additional pounds of food. The act also gives 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.
Ohio’s food banks participating in TEFAP may begin ordering additional food through the program immediately. For more information, go to http://www.fns.usda.gov/fdd/programs/tefap/. For more information about the Recovery Act and TEFAP, go to http://www.fns.usda.gov/fns/recovery/recovery-tefap.htm.
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.
Stimulus Benefits for Children’s Services Agencies
In order to provide more funds for states’ child welfare systems, the Recovery Act gives children’s services agencies increased federal reimbursement for their Title IV-E foster and Title IV-E adoption assistance expenditures. This reimbursement will be automatic; agencies do not have to take any action. For more information on how the increased reimbursement will be implemented in Ohio, refer to Family, Children and Adult Services Procedure Letter (FCASPL) No. 164, at http://www.odjfs.state.oh.us/lpc/calendar/fileLINKNAME.asp?ID=FCASPL164.
Stimulus Benefits for Early Care and Education Programs
As a result of the Recovery Act, Ohio is slated to receive several streams of funding for its early care and education programming and supports. The Child Care Development Block Grant will allow Ohio to continue to support low-income working families with the cost of child care services while parents are at work, in training or in educational programs.
Families with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level should contact their county department 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.
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.
Stimulus Benefits for the Child Support Program
The federal government awards incentive money to state child support programs that meet or exceed certain performance targets. The more money states earn by reaching these targets, 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.
Based on the incentives it has already spent and reported, Ohio is expected to receive approximately $1.3 million in economic stimulus dollars as a result of this provision. This money will be distributed to county child support enforcement agencies to provide all their usual services, including child support collection, distribution, paternity testing, and financial and medical support-enforcement services.
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.
Stimulus Benefits for the Medicaid Program
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.
Last Updated 11/17/09
.