Maria Horn

My son and I joined yesterday’s Hearts on Tour Car Parade organized by the Tri-State Chamber of Commerce, visiting Geer Village in North Canaan, Noble Horizons in Salisbury, Salisbury Visiting Nurse Association, Sharon Health Care Center, and Sharon Hospital.  Seeing all of those who working on the frontlines, as well as all of the signs, hearts, and people lining the route was truly powerful.  And a welcome departure from seeing people on computer screens.

And a podcast suggestion.  I don’t listen to quite as many podcasts anymore because I don’t spend as much time in my car, but on this morning’s run I happened to catch Marc Maron’s interview with actor Laura Linney, a NW Corner resident.  Linney is both a wide-ranging talent, and a thoughtful and generous presence in our region. She emphasized the importance of “sitting in your discomfort,” which struck me as particularly timely. There’s also a moment in the interview when she is interrupted by her six-year old.  In response to his question, she describes a door under the stairs, telling him “that’s a closet you can look in.”  That also struck me as an apt metaphor for today as we all try to compartmentalize conflicting parts of our lives. Plus I have a couple of closets that really need cleaning out.
 
Because this is a family newsletter, I’ll leave out the name of Maron’s podcast (which is graphic, but he’s a great interviewer), but you can find it  here.
 

 

I also want to add an addendum to last week’s newsletter.  Ileene Smith also organized a GoFundMe for the workers at LaBonne’s, which also exceeded its goals!  Thanks to the many of you who contributed to the many funds raised for essential workers, to Ileene for her efforts to organize, and to those of you who brought it to my attention. 

 

 

Here’s a list of today’s topics:

• Connecticut Department of Labor begins issuing supplemental $600 stimulus payments for unemployment benefits
• Department of Social Services (DSS) SNAP Benefit Update
• Department of Developmental Services (DDS) creates process for hospital visits of intellectually disabled individuals
• Region One Survey re Connectivity & Distance Learning
• CT Department of Labor launches site to track unemployment data as tool for state and town planning
• Governor urges local governments and community partners to establish long-term recovery committees

 

For several additional graphs and tables containing more data, including a list of cases in every municipality, visit ct.gov/coronavirus.

 

Connecticut Department of Labor begins issuing supplemental $600 stimulus payments for unemployment benefits

The CT Department of Labor has begun issuing the first round of weekly federal stimulus payments to filers receiving state unemployment benefits. The additional $600 weekly payment, known as Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation, was created as part of the emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is retroactive to March 29, 2020 and will be provided through July 25, 2020. For those who already received unemployment benefits for previous weeks – such as April 4, 11, and 18 – the agency will be providing retroactive payments as a lump sum by the end of this week.

Claimants can check their online accounts on the CTDOL website at www.filectui.com and see the deposits were issued over the weekend. Those who receive payments through direct deposit should begin seeing the additional amount appearing in their bank accounts by Tuesday.

The first $600 payments totaled more than $89 million. When combined with nearly $51 million issued in state benefits, the agency provided $140 million in unemployment benefits last weekend.

CTDOL continues to work nonstop to implement the remaining two recently established federal stimulus programs:

·       Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), which provides benefits for self-employed individuals among others, and

·       Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC), a 13-week extension that allows eligible claimants to collect the additional weeks after exhausting the 26 weeks of state benefits.

The agency expects to begin accepting applications for PUA on April 30 and plans to have PEUC in operation by mid-May. Both programs will be retroactive.

Department of Social Services (DSS) SNAP Benefit Update

•  New SNAP food benefits for children in free and reduced-price school lunch program.   Connecticut received federal approval for its plan to provide $72.3 million in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to children eligible for the free and reduced-price meals program. Authorized by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, the new Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer (P-EBT) program is expected to bring food benefits to about 270,000 Connecticut children who are not able to receive meals at school. 
• Additional SNAP benefits for nearly 108,000 households: DSS provided Emergency SNAP benefits to nearly half of Connecticut SNAP participants on April 9 and April 20, 2020.  Authorized by the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act of 2020, the extra food benefits went to nearly 108,000 households not currently receiving the maximum benefits allowed for their household size. DSS is awaiting federal approval to issue emergency benefits in May, too.
• Extension of SNAP eligibility.  The Department of Social Services (DSS) is automatically extending SNAP enrollees’ benefits through September 2020 (if renewal or ‘periodic review form’ was due in March); through October 2020 if due in April; through November 2020 if due in May; and through December 2020 if due in June.
• Suspension of SNAP Interviews for Many Applicants. For SNAP applications received March 1 through May 31, 2020, the Department of Social Services is no longer conducting telephone interviews in many situations. As authorized by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, this change will help speed eligibility determination for SNAP during the COVID-19 emergency.
• Suspension of work requirements and corresponding time limits on eligibility. Work requirements and three-month SNAP time limit for ‘able-bodied adults without dependent children’ are suspended in all towns in Connecticut for the duration of the public health emergency, per Congressional action.
•  Planning for online access to food with SNAP benefits. DSS is working closely with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service and the state’s EBT vendor toward SNAP online purchasing.  When implemented, SNAP enrollees will be able to purchase eligible food items online for delivery or curbside pickup.

Department of Developmental Services (DDS) creates process for hospital visits of intellectually disabled individuals

In response to advocacy from legislators and others, DDS has created a process that will allow family members to accompany individuals with intellectual disabilities during hospital visits.  DDS issued a letter (click here to access) to families and guardians with information and guidance related to this matter.

DDS worked in collaboration with the Department of Public Health (DPH) and the Connecticut Hospital Association (CHA) to create a process that meets the needs of those individuals they support while providing the hospitals with the safeguards necessary to maintain the health and safety of their frontline staff and all the patients within the hospital. CHA’s membership includes every acute care hospital. 

For individuals that may not need a physical presence with them at a visit, the hospitals have made virtual communication options available for the family and loved ones of all hospital patients. This option should be utilized when the physical presence of a support person is not necessary for the care of an individual. We ask that families think through when a support person is truly a necessity and how virtual communication options may be a suitable alternative.

Region One Survey re Connectivity & Distance Learning

With school-age children all now studying from home, access to the internet is critical for every family.  We already knew, thanks to work by local nonprofit Northwest ConneCT and others, that many throughout the district have no connection at all, and many more do not have access to the speeds necessary to meet educational, business, and healthcare needs.  With everyone at home, these deficiencies, and their impact on our children and our economy, are clearer than ever.

As an outgrowth of conversations with Region One school administrators and others, we would like to find a way to determine the current quality of internet service in Region One.  To do that, the district has created a survey (already in use in Sharon).  If you have children in Region One, you should already have received an email with a link to the survey: please don’t complete the survey more than once!

Click here for the link.

CT Department of Labor launches site to track unemployment data as tool for state and town planning

The Connecticut Department of Labor launched a website that further breaks down unemployment claims by age, industry, gender and town that will offer valuable insight for planning and budgeting purposes, and for developing responsible strategies for re-opening the state during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The site, (was developed by the agency’s Office of Research in an effort to track unemployment data from January 2015 through April 2020. Due to the large number of unemployment claims being processed since businesses began to shutdown to help combat the spread of the virus, April 2020 data is preliminary only.

Those utilizing the site will be able to access spreadsheets that show processed claims by age, industry, gender and town. The site notes that the initial claims are applications for unemployment insurance and are preliminary since some applications may not result in benefits if an individual does not qualify. More analyses may be added as the Office of Research is able to produce them.

Pandemic-related claims, which are being filed at historically unprecedented levels, resulted in a backlog that was initially up to five weeks, so there may be time lags with some data. Those using data from the site are advised to check back on a regular basis since claim data for the most recent weeks will change as the backlog is addressed. Also, counts will not always match final initial claim counts because of duplications or disqualifying factors based on eligibility criteria.

The site also notes that unemployment claims represent only one component of the unemployed. Claims do not account for those not covered under the unemployment system, such as federal workers, railroad workers or religious workers, Connecticut residents who have lost their jobs in other states, or the unemployed self-employed.

Governor urges local governments and community partners to establish long-term recovery committees

Governor Lamont is urging community stakeholders throughout the State of Connecticut – including municipal officials, community-based organizations, nonprofit providers, and philanthropic partners – to establish local long-term recovery committees that will help meet urgent needs, accelerate recovery, and expedite coordination with the state’s emergency management structure in the ongoing response and recovery efforts from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The governor explained the local long-term recovery committees are needed to ensure the needs of Connecticut’s residents of every background are met, not just during the height of this crisis, but for the long term.

Local long-term recovery committees should be comprised of nonprofit, government, and private-sector partners that have an in-depth knowledge of the communities they serve. Community stakeholders are urged to work through their regional planning emergency teams on the development of these committees. The Office of the Governor, the Connecticut Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security (DEMHS), and the Connecticut Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (CT VOAD) are in the process of reaching out to stakeholders in support of the development of these local coordination structures. Some communities have already coordinated much of these efforts, and others are urged to strengthen their work so that the state and its communities can have one coordinated approach. Information on building these local long-term recovery committees can be found at ctrecovers.ct.gov.

Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz will take a leading role in this coordination effort and will be participating in organizational meetings the state is holding for these local communities.

Governor Lamont encourages residents to sign up for the state’s CTAlert notification system

Governor Lamont is encouraging Connecticut residents to sign up for CTAlert, the state’s emergency alert system, which provides text message notifications to users. To subscribe, text the keyword COVIDCT to 888-777.

Providing information to Connecticut residents

For the most up-to-date information from the State of Connecticut on COVID-19, including an FAQ and other guidance and resources, residents are encouraged to visit ct.gov/coronavirus.

Individuals who have general questions that are not answered on the website can also call 2-1-1 for assistance. The hotline is available 24 hours a day and has multilingual assistance and TDD/TTY access. It intended to be used by individuals who are not experiencing symptoms but may have general questions related to COVID-19. Anyone experiencing symptoms is strongly urged to contact their medical provider.