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Chaffee County DHS outlines benefits, child-care and TANF funding challenges
Summary
County DHS supervisor Mandy Jackson reviewed SNAP, Employment First, Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) and other assistance programs, and described statewide TANF reserve rules that threaten local funding stability and may force creative county-level swaps.
Mandy Jackson, supervisor of the Chaffee Benefits Team in the county Department of Human Services, gave a detailed overview of public-assistance programs the county administers and highlighted state-level funding rules that could squeeze local services.
Jackson listed major programs: SNAP (food assistance) with associated local initiatives such as Double Your Bucks at the farmers market and Summer EBT for students; Employment First (voluntary work-based supports for SNAP recipients, including supportive-service payments and training); Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) and its income-eligibility rules; Colorado Works cash assistance for families with children; Low Income Energy Assistance Program (LEAP); and several Medicaid categories including the Working Adults with Disabilities buy-in program.
Nut graf — why it matters: Jackson said Chaffee County serves roughly 6,500 unduplicated clients across programs and that many households combine multiple benefits. She cautioned that shifts in state policy and federal guidance could reduce county funding. In particular, she described a state rule that compels counties to exhaust TANF reserves before accessing balance-of-state TANF support; because Chaffee County has little or no TANF reserve, that rule places small counties at a disadvantage and risks shifting costs locally. Jackson said staff are exploring county-to-county “swaps” of funding (selling CCAP or other allocations) to cover shortfalls, but those swaps carry the risk of reducing future allocations for the selling county.
Operational notes and next steps: Jackson said the county is managing CCAP wait lists to control spending and is meeting with county attorneys and directors to determine next steps regarding CCAP and TANF funding (she referenced a meeting on Feb. 20). She also described a Bezos/CHA basis grant of about $750,000 over 2½ years to help homeless families in partnership with the housing authority and other programs supporting homelessness response.
Ending: Jackson said staff will continue negotiations with state and neighboring counties and will report back to commissioners as outcomes develop; she encouraged commissioners to remain involved in advocacy in Denver.
