4403-2000 Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children Grant Pmt

For a program of transitional aid to families with dependent children; provided, that the payment standard and need standard in fiscal year 2025 shall be not less than the standards in effect in fiscal year 2024; provided further, that beginning in the month of April 2025 the payment standard for monthly benefits for the program, not including the rental allowance, shall be increased by 10 per cent above the payment standard in effect in fiscal year 2024; provided further, that the need standard shall be equal to the payment standard established under the provisions of this item; provided further, that the payment standard and need standard for fiscal year 2026 shall be not less than the standards set forth in this item; provided further, that the department of transitional assistance shall notify parents under 20 years of age who are receiving benefits from the program of the requirements of clause (2) of subsection (i) of section 110 of chapter 5 of the acts of 1995 or any successor law; provided further, that a $40-per-month rental allowance shall be paid to households incurring a rent or mortgage expense and not residing in public or subsidized housing; provided further, that a nonrecurring children's clothing allowance of $500 shall be provided to each child eligible under this program in September 2024; provided further, that the children's clothing allowance shall be included in the standard of need for the month of September 2024; provided further, that benefits under this program shall not be available to those families in which a child has been removed from the household under a court order after a care and protection hearing held under chapter 119 of the General Laws or to adult recipients otherwise eligible for transitional aid to families with dependent children but for the temporary removal of any dependent children from the home by the department of children and families under department procedures; provided further, that not less than $779,058 shall be expended for transportation benefits for recipients of transitional aid to families with dependent children; provided further, that any person experiencing homelessness, who: (i) has no established place of abode or lives in a temporary emergency shelter; and (ii) is otherwise eligible under this item and chapter 118 of the General Laws, shall receive the same payment rate as recipients who incur shelter costs including, but not limited to, rent or a mortgage; provided further, that the department of transitional assistance shall promulgate or revise any such rules and regulations necessary to implement the preceding provision; provided further, that notwithstanding section 2 of said chapter 118 or any other general or special law to the contrary, the department of transitional assistance shall render aid to pregnant people with no other eligible dependent children only if it has been medically verified that the child is expected to be born within the month the payments are to be made or within the 3-month period after the month of payment and who, if the child had been born and was living with that parent in the month of payment, would be categorically and financially eligible for transitional aid to families with dependent children benefits; provided further, that certain families that suffer a reduction in benefits due to a loss of earned income and participation in retrospective budgeting may receive a supplemental benefit to compensate them for the loss; provided further, that the department of transitional assistance shall, to the extent feasible within the existing appropriation and any funding from other sources, review its disability standards to determine the extent to which such standards reflect the current medical and vocational criteria; provided further, that not less than 75 days before any changes to the disability standards are publicly proposed, the department of transitional assistance shall report to the house and senate committees on ways and means and the joint committee on children, families and persons with disabilities; provided further, that at the time of application and on a semi-annual basis, the department of transitional assistance shall provide oral and written notification to all recipients of their child care benefits; provided further, that the notification shall include the full range of child care options available, including center-based child care, family-based child care and in-home, relative child care; provided further, that the notification shall detail available child care benefits for current and former recipients, including employment and training benefits and transitional benefits; provided further, that the notice shall also advise recipients of the availability of supplemental nutrition assistance program benefits; provided further, that in promulgating, amending or rescinding its regulations relative to eligibility for, or levels of, benefits under the program, the department of transitional assistance shall take into account the amounts available to it for expenditure from this item so as not to exceed this appropriation; provided further, that not less than $1,000,000 shall be expended for cash and transportation benefits for newly-employed transitional aid to families with dependent children clients for a period not to exceed 12 months to assist such clients with short-term self-sufficiency; provided further, that notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the department of transitional assistance shall calculate benefits provided under this item in the same manner as it calculated said benefits in the previous fiscal year; provided further, that the department of transitional assistance's calculation of benefits shall not preclude the department of transitional assistance from making eligibility or benefit changes that lead to an increase in eligibility or benefits; provided further, that not less than 75 days before adopting eligibility or benefit changes, the department of transitional assistance shall submit a report on said changes to the house and senate committees on ways and means, the joint committee on children, families and persons with disabilities and the clerks of the house of representatives and senate; provided further, that the report shall include the text of, basis for and reasons for the proposed changes; and provided further, that not later than January 1, 2025 the department of transitional assistance shall submit a report to house and senate committees on ways and means that shall include but not be limited to: (a) the number of participants in the program, including available demographic information; (b) the average benefit amount including the methodology for determining an individual's benefit amount; (c) the number of participants in the program who also receive benefits under items 7004-0101, 7004-0108, 7004-9024 or 7004-9316