ACT 268 (January 1, 2019: Ohio Works First and Refugee Cash Assistance Cost-of-Living Increase)
Action Change Transmittal Letter No. 268
November 27, 2018
TO: All Cash Assistance Manual Holders
FROM: Cynthia C. Dungey, Director
SUBJECT: January 1, 2019: Ohio Works First and Refugee Cash Assistance Cost-of-Living Increase

Background: Section 5107.04 of the Revised Code requires the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services to increase the Ohio Works First (OWF) payment standard on the first day of each January by the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) that occurs in the previous year. The COLA is announced by the Social Security Administration.

New Payment Standard: On October 11, 2018, the Social Security Administration announced a COLA increase of 2.8 percent. Beginning January 1, 2019, ODJFS will issue the following revised OWF and Refugee Cash Assistance payments, based on assistance group size and reflecting the COLA increase:

Assistance Group Size Payments as of January 1, 2019
1 $297
2 $406
3 $497
4 $613
5 $718
6 $798
7 $892
8 $989
9 $1088
10 $1185
11 $1281
12 $1380
13 $1477
14 $1573
15 $1674
+15 ADD $123

9Implementation: Mass change will run in Ohio Benefits to update the payments; program blocks will be updated on or before December 3, 2018. An exception report will be created for all cases which Ohio Benefits could not update automatically. The eligibility worker will be required to run the Eligibility Determination/Benefit Calculation (ED/BC), then save and accept the results for those cases to implement these changes. Each assistance group affected by this change will receive a notice with the new amount of benefits they will receive.