work two-column
Work Supports are government assistance programs that help people achieve self-sufficiency. Community Action Partnership of Utah does policy analysis, advocacy and lobbying on issues that affect low-income Utahns. We monitor the funding, administration, programs and policy decisions around the following Utah Work Supports Programs:
Family Employment Program (FEP) - Utah's name for the federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program. This program provides cash assistance to low-income parents who participate in statutorily proscribed work activities. It has a lifetime limit of three-years in Utah and is primarily funded with federal dollars, though it does require the state to put up Maintenance of Effort (MOE) funds.
General Assistance (GA) - A state-funded program that provides $261 per month to singles without children and $362 to couples without children who need temporary financial assistance for people that are:
1. Short-term unemployable (60 days to one-year), while a medically-verified physical or mental condition that prevents work is resolved.
2. Suffering from a longer-term disability (over one-year), while they wait for approval of an application for Social Security disability benefits (usually Supplemental Security Income (SSI)).
The GA program has received dramatic funding cuts from the Utah Legislature over the past few years and was recently redesigned in order to operate under the significantly smaller budget.
Child Care Subsidies - A federal- and state-funded program that assists low-income single- and two-parent families with reimbursable childcare if they are working or in an education program. Utah has recently expanded the program to provide child care reimbursements to parents who are seeking work if they are recently unemployed. This new program will be short-term as it is funded with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) dollars.
Unemployment Insurance - A federal-state partnership designed to mitigate the ripple effect of economic downturns on businesses, communities, and workers by increasing consumption in communities affected by job loss. The UI program is funded by a combination of taxes on businesses and workers, and by penalties on businesses that incur successful unemployment insurance claims against them by former workers. Utah has one of the lowest utilization rates (i.e. the percentage of unemployed workers receiving Unemployment Insurance) in the nation and needs to modernize its Unemployment Insurance Provisions in order to maintain a strong economy and help Utah workers.
You can track our policy and advocacy on work supports issues through our legislative update, legislative agenda and fact sheets. Contact Melissa Smith if you have any questions or suggests.
Work Supports are government assistance programs that help people achieve self-sufficiency.
