Shoes and Clothes for Kids seeks $500,000 in TANF funds to expand direct service program

Monica Lloyd, executive director of Shoes and Clothes for Kids, told the House Children and Human Services Committee that her nonprofit is asking lawmakers to continue and increase a temporary-assistance-for-needy-families (TANF) allocation included in the House operating budget.

Lloyd said the nonprofit provided 313,655 new items valued at $2.7 million to 28,548 students in 2024 and that, in its recent move to the Greater Cleveland Food Bank’s Community Resource Center, the group added a free-store direct service that in its inaugural year served 668 families and 1,641 students with 19,930 items. She said the House version of the operating budget includes a TANF allocation for the nonprofit and that Shoes and Clothes for Kids requests $500,000 per year — $200,000 more than the prior biennium allocation of $300,000.

Lloyd said the Classroom Guarantee program, funded by the state previously, provided classroom-level distributions that improved attendance; she urged preservation and expansion of the TANF allocation (noted in testimony as being included in HB33 as introduced). She offered to answer committee questions and clarified that the current proposed budget includes the request but said she would follow up to confirm and provide any needed amendment language.

Committee members asked quick clarifying questions about whether the appropriation was in the introduced budget; Lloyd confirmed her understanding that it was and said she would follow up with staff.

No committee vote or formal action occurred during the hearing.