Background
With the passage of Amended Substitute House Bill 119 of the 127th General Assembly, Section 5107.04 of the Revised Code was amended to provide for an increase in the Ohio Works First (OWF) payment standard on January 1, 2009, and the first day of each January thereafter by the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) that occurs in the previous year. The COLA is announced by the Social Security Administration in mid-October.
New Payment Standard
On October 19, 2011 the COLA increase of 3.6% was announced. The OWF payment standards have been updated based upon this increase. The standards for the Refugee Cash Assistance (RCA) program follow OWF and will be increased accordingly.
Below are the new payment standards for OWF and RCA for January 1, 2012:
| AG Size | 01/12 |
|---|
| 1 | 268 |
| 2 | 368 |
| 3 | 450 |
| 4 | 555 |
| 5 | 650 |
| 6 | 723 |
| 7 | 808 |
| 8 | 895 |
| 9 | 985 |
| 10 | 1074 |
| 11 | 1160 |
| 12 | 1250 |
| 13 | 1339 |
| 14 | 1425 |
| 15 | 1515 |
| +15 ADD | 112 |
CRIS-E Changes
A mass change is scheduled to run in CRIS-E over the Thanksgiving weekend to increase the OWF and RCA payment standards. Table TOWF has been updated with the new grant amounts effective January 1, 2012. A CLVB will be issued with the details of the system changes.