Funding Increases:

• The Mass Rental Voucher Program (MRVP) offers rental subsidies to eligible low-income families and individuals. We do not yet know if there will be any new vouchers.

• The Workforce Competitiveness Trust Fund and the Learn to Earn Initiative (LTE) provide job training to low-income families in good paying, high-demand occupations. The LTE pilots are exploring ways to minimize cliff effects (loss of public benefits as income rises) for workers with children.

• The Secure Jobs Initiative helps currently and formerly homeless families access the training, job search and support services they need to move forward.

• The SNAP Gap is the difference between the number of low-income Massachusetts residents receiving MassHealth who are likely eligible for SNAP (food stamps) and the number of people actually receiving SNAP. This pilot will allow low-income households to file a SNAP application at the same time as their application or renewal for MassHealth or the Medicare Savings Program.

TAFDC and Family Shelter Improvements:

Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children (TAFDC) provides cash assistance to families.

• Family cap repealed: Families with “capped” children will now receive benefits to cover all of the children in the family. Benefits are retroactive to January 2019.

• The reduction in TAFDC grants for families in Emergency Assistance (EA) family shelter was eliminated. Until now, DTA reduced TAFDC grants for families in shelter by $148.50 a month (or $129.90 a month for families who pay for a phone), making it harder for families to meet their expenses and still save enough to get out of shelter.

• One vehicle will not count towards assets when determining TAFDC eligibility. Not counting a vehicle is a good step forward as was the Administration’s initiative last year to raise the limit for countable assets from $2,500 to $5,000.

• Funding was continued for Transitional Support Services (TSS). TSS is for families who leave TAFDC for employment. This support is available for four months after a family leaves shelter.

• The state will now approve childcare for kids receiving TAFDC who are living with relative caregivers who do not receive TAFDC. The caregiver has to be working at minimum wage or higher.

Emergency Assistance (EA) is the shelter system for families in MA.

• Families already in shelter can now have incomes up to 200% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) before becoming ineligible. This change will help reduce cliff effects for those with earned income. This was a new priority for EMPath based on feedback from staff and families.

• The FY20 budget includes language to allow otherwise eligible families who are at risk of sleeping somewhere not meant for human habitation to access EA family shelter. Families will no longer have to sleep in cars, train stations, abandoned buildings, etc. in order to prove they are homeless. This has been seven years in the making and was a top priority for staff and families!