Issue Brief 09-48 Majority of States Have Accessed TANF Emergency Funds, December 10, 2009

Issue Brief 09-44 House Health Care Reform Bill Includes ARRA FMAP Extension, November 6, 2009

Issue Brief 09-19 TANF Emergency Fund Details Released, April 23, 2009

Issue Brief 09-18 ARRA Restores Federal Match for Child Support Incentive Payments,
April 15, 2009

October 2009: HHS Releases Reporting Tool The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a Recovery Act Recipient Reporting Readiness Tool that provides grant-specific information to assist recipients prepare for data reporting: http://taggs.hhs.gov/ReadinessTool/

HHS supplemental jobs guidance and sample reports are available at: http://www.hhs.gov/recovery/reports/reportingassistance.html#supplemental

March 18, 2009: HHS Funding HHS Acting Secretary Charles Johnson has sent a letter to governors outlining the HHS funding available to states under ARRA. A copy of the letter is attached. 

Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG)

January 2010: CCDF Specific Guidance for ARRA Section 1512 Reporting The Child Care Bureau released ARRA guidance for the Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) to provide lead agencies with information to assist them in meeting the reporting guidance. To view the information, go to: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ccb/initiatives/arra/1512/index.htm

October 29, 2009: CCDF Financial Reporting Forms The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) released a program instruction that provides the Child Care Development Fund Financial Form (ACF-696) for FY 2009 and guidance on the changes related to ARRA funding. To view the program instruction, go to:
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ccb/law/guidance/current/pi2009-08/pi2009-08.htm

June 2, 2009: CCDBG Guidance The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) released an Information Memorandum that provides guidance on the flexibility within the Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG). The guidance is intended to be a reference tool for states in implementing the additional funding under ARRA and developing their Child Care Development Fund plans.
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ccb/law/guidance/current/im2009-01/im2009-01.

CCDBG Allocations and Guidance
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ccb/initiatives/arra/index.htm

Child Support Enforcement

For up-to-date funding information, go to: http://www.hhs.gov/recovery/programs/cse/incentivesimpact.html

March 26, 2009: Child Support Enforcement Information on incentive payments:  http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cse/pol/AT/2009/at-09-02.htm 

Community Services Block Grant (CSBG)

Program information and allocations: http://www.hhs.gov/recovery/programs/acf/csbg.html

August 18, 2009 ACF released an Information Memorandum on the Risk Assessment and Risk Mitigation Process for FY 2009 Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) ARRA Funds:
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ocs/csbg/guidance/im112.html

April 10, 2009 HHS announced plans to make $1 billion available for the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) program: http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2009pres/04/20090410a.html.

Early Childhood Grants

December 24, 2009: Head Start ARRA Guidance on Enrollment ACF released a program instruction (ACF-PI-HS-09-11) on ARRA program information and enrollment reporting. To view the guidance, go to: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ohs/policy/pi2009/acfpihs_09_11.html

November 19, 2009: Change to ARRA Reporting for Head Start Program The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) informed Head Start and Early Head Start grantees who receive cost of living increases that the use of these funds will no longer be reported as jobs retained: http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/What's%20New/2009_whatsnew.html

May 11, 2009: Early Childhood Grants HHS sent letters to governors that detail Early Childhood Advisory Council state allocation amounts under ARRA and provide guidance for application of the startup grant awards. The application deadline is August 1, 2010. Attached are a copy of the letter that went to governors and the guidance. 

April 2, 2009: Head Start, Early Head Start Funding  HHS announced that Head Start and Early Head Start programs will receive funding and be eligible to apply for grants worth $2.1 billion under ARRA. Head Start will receive $1 billion, while $1.1 billion will benefit Early Head Start. Head Start will also receive a separate $235 million increase for FY 2009, bringing the total funding increase for Head Start and Early Head Start to more than $2.3 billion. 

The Head Start and Early Head Start press release can be found at http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2009pres/04/20090402a.html.

Elderly Nutrition

April 4, 2009: Elderly Nutrition Guidance: http://www.aoa.gov/AoAroot/Press_Room/News/2009/DOCS/ARRA_NutritionFAQFIN.doc

March 18, 2009: State Allocations: http://www.hhs.gov/recovery/programs/aoa/arra.html

Foster Care/Adoption Assistance

Foster Care/Adoption For recent information on the FMAP increase for foster care and adoption assistance: http://www.hhs.gov/recovery/programs/acf/adoption-foster.html

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)

February 4, 2010: ACF Guidance on Make Work Pay Tax Credit Disregard for TANF ACF posted a new Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program Instruction advising jurisdictions they must disregard the Making Work Pay tax credit as income and as a resource in the month of receipt and the two following months. Jurisdictions may choose to disregard the tax credit for a longer period, e.g. 12 months, and may take a similar approach for other refundable tax credits and tax refunds to increase administrative simplicity. The complete guidance can be found at: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ofa/policy/pi-ofa/2010/pi201002.htm

January 6, 2010: New Information on the Use of TANF Emergency Funds for Older Youths The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) has recently updated its questions and answers on ARRA Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) emergency funds. The new update relates to using TANF emergency funds for older youths. For more information, see: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ofa/recovery/tanf-faq.htm#_serving_older_youth

December 30, 2009: Updated TANF Emergency Fund Chart The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) has updated information regarding approved Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) emergency fund applications by category. To view the state-specific information, see: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ofa/tanf/apprTANFemerfund.html

December 1, 2009: ACF Updates Information on TANF Emergency Funds The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) updated its question and answers document on ARRA TANF Emergency Funds. In addition, it released information on approved TANF Emergency Fund applications by category. To view the information, go to: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ofa/

October 27, 2009: OFA Q&A Posted The Office of Family Assistance (OFA) at HHS has posted a series of questions and answers on administrative costs, use of third-party expenditures, and use of gift cards in TANF Emergency Contingency Funds. OFA has also posted more detail on approved TANF Emergency Contingency Fund applications. TANF Emergency Contingency Funds were authorized and appropriated under ARRA (see FFIS Issue Brief 09-19). In order to be eligible to receive resources from the Emergency Fund, a state must demonstrate an increase in the number of families receiving assistance from the TANF program or an increase in expenditures on employment subsidies or short-term, one-time benefits in at least one quarter during FY 2009 or FY 2010. HHS announced the availability of these funds on April 3, 2009, see the HHS press release at: http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2009pres/04/20090403a.htm

The Questions and Answers can be found at:  http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ofa/recovery/tanf-faq.htm

Details on approved TANF Emergency Contingency Fund applications can be found under Data and Reports at: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ofa/data-reports/index.htm

Program information: http://www.hhs.gov/recovery/programs/tanf/index.html 

July 20, 2009: TANF Emergency Contingency Funds The Office of Family Assistance at the Department of Health and Human Services issued a program notice that instructs jurisdictions to use form OFA-100 when applying for TANF Emergency Contingency funds. A jurisdiction should not resubmit any applications it made prior to the issuance of the July 20, 2009, guidance, but must use form OFA-100 to update and revise data it has already submitted as part of an earlier application.  The form and instructions can be found at: 
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ofa/policy/pi-ofa/2009/200905/PI200905.htm

April 3, 2009: Recovery Act Provides $5 Billion to Assist Needy Families HHS announced the availability of up to an additional $5 billion in emergency funding for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. This new Emergency Fund, established by ARRA, will help states serve more families seeking employment opportunities and other forms of assistance during the economic downturn. http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2009pres/04/20090403a.html

April 3, 2009: Policy Announcement and State Allocations: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ofa/policy/pa-ofa/2009/pa200901.htm

Other Programs

September 30, 2009: HHS Awards Funds Under New ARRA Program HHS awarded $46 million to 84 grantees under a new program created by ARRA, the Strengthening Communities Fund. Under the State, Local, and Tribal Capacity Building Program, entities in 29 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rice, and territories received awards. Under the Nonprofit Capacity Building Program, 35 applicants received awards. A list of grants by state is available at: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/news/press/2009/scf_chart.html