A measure of relief is being extended to households that have become more financially strapped as a result of pandemic-related employment or income challenges.

The Connecticut Department of Labor, Eversource, and Aquarion Water Company all issued notices September 9 that could help families that may have already benefited from either added economic stimulus premiums or moratoriums on utility shutoffs as COVID-19 cases and related deaths across the state continue to trend up incrementally.

After more than a month with no changes, Newtown saw another virus-related death since last week, bringing the total number of residents lost to 45. The state is also reporting the total count of positive COVID-19 cases in town at 278 — an increase of three since last week’s report.

As of September 8, at 8:30 pm, the total of COVID-19 cases reported among Connecticut residents is 53,871, including 51,666 laboratory-confirmed and 2,205 probable cases. At that time, 57 patients were hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19, and 4,474 COVID-19-associated deaths had been logged.

On September 9, Connecticut Department of Labor Commissioner Kurt Westby announced that Connecticut has been approved for an additional two weeks of Lost Wages Assistance supplemental benefits. Lost Wages Assistance is the new federal program funded by $44 billion in Stafford Act disaster relief. It will provide an additional $300 per week for any claimant who has a weekly benefit of at least $100 (including the dependency allowance).

Commissioner Westby said, “This program will be a significant help to a lot of Connecticut residents who need assistance. With five weeks of benefits available, Lost Wages Assistance can take some financial pressure off claimants, but it is only a temporary program and expires when the FEMA funding is exhausted. I join Governor Lamont and our Congressional delegation in urging a more permanent solution for the workforce which is still reeling from COVID-19.”

Existing Pandemic Unemployment Assistance claimants have already self-certified and do not need to do anything to receive the additional benefit. New unemployment claimants and existing state and extended benefits claimants who are required to self-certify are notified by letter or e-mail that they are eligible and may self-certify when the program is open.

The agency is currently testing self-certification and opening the program to small groups of people over the course of the next few days. Payments will be disbursed in mid-September when the self-certification testing is complete and widely available to all.

To self-certify, claimants log in to their unemployment account, where the account main page offers a new button, “Certify For Lost Wages Assistance.” Once a claimant has clicked on the button, a new screen will ask them to certify that their unemployment or underemployment is due to COVID-19; the claimant then confirms their submission and has completed the process.

Lost Wages Assistance is available to an individual who:

*Is payable for Unemployment Insurance benefits for weeks beginning August 1, 2020;

*Is unemployed or partially unemployed due to disruptions caused by COVID-19;

*Has a weekly benefit amount of at least $100 in one of the following programs: regular unemployment compensation, Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, Extended Benefits, Shared Work Compensation, or Trade Readjustment Allowances.

A total of five weeks of Lost Wages Assistance will be paid in addition to regular unemployment weekly benefits and will be retroactive to the claim week beginning July 26. It will also be available for claim weeks beginning August 2, 9, 16, and 23, 2020.

Claimants will receive the supplemental benefit in several payments; the first payment of $300 is issued mid-September with the remainder of retroactive payments following in two or three separate payments.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will terminate the program once available federal funding is exhausted or if the federal government passes legislation that replaces the program. The program is expected to provide $375M additional unemployment benefits to Connecticut claimants.

The agency estimates that about 250,000 claimants will be eligible for funding. The Department of Labor will continue to release updates on its website as they become available; those interested can also sign up for e-mail updates on the agency website.

Utility Relief & Assistance

Per the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA), the suspension of water service disconnections will end on October 1. Aquarion Water Company encourages customers with unpaid balances to promptly contact its customer service center to determine a payment solution that best meets their needs.

Aquarion continues to offer flexible, extended payment plans for any past due amount as well as a customer assistance program to help eligible customers who are having difficulty paying their water bill.

Payment plans allow customers to pay past due balances over a period of up to 24 months and guarantees no service disconnection as long as the approved payment amount is made for the duration of the plan. With a payment plan, customers are not required to make a down payment, and will avoid fees and interest charges for the duration of the plan.

Qualifying Aquarion customers may also be eligible to receive a one-time assistance voucher in the amount of $50 to $250. Customers can learn more about these programs by contacting Aquarion customer service at 800-732-9678, Monday through Friday, between 8:00 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., or by visiting aquarionwater.com/assistance.

Eversource continues working with customers on ways to help them save energy and money as well as providing support to low-income customers facing additional financial hardship during the pandemic.

As part of those efforts, the energy company will not move forward with collections activity such as disconnections for residential customers when the state’s moratorium expires on October 1, and will work with state regulators and other stakeholders to evaluate when disconnections for nonpayment should resume.

Eversource is also continuing to offer a special COVID-19 Payment Program for all residential customers and enhancing assistance for low-income customers.

“Extending the moratorium on service disconnections for non-payment gives customers breathing room during this uncertain time, and we will continue to suspend all residential customer disconnects as well as waive late payment charges beyond the moratorium’s expiration in October,” said Eversource Senior Vice President and Chief Customer Officer Penni Conner. “If you are having difficulty paying your utility bill, we encourage you to contact us even if you’ve never done so before. We can work one-on-one with you to identify plans or options to help — including the special COVID-19 Payment Program.”

The COVID-19 Payment Program is available to any residential customer who requests financial assistance during the pandemic and enrolls before November 1, 2020.

*Customers can pay past-due balances in flexible payment plans for up to 24 months.

*No down payment, fees, or interest will be charged through the end of the payment plan.

*Once a payment plan has been arranged, the account will be protected from service disconnection for its duration — regardless of the status of the state’s moratorium on electric service disconnections.

Additionally, Eversource is enhancing assistance for low-income customers through a number of additional programs:

*The energy company is working with customers through a special arrearage forgiveness process approved by PURA to apply all deposits paid by delinquent customers to their arrearage.

*Low-income heating customers can take advantage of a specialized matching payment program with payments as low as $75.

*The New Start program, which forgives overdue balances as current bill payments are made, is available to qualifying customers, and former participants can now re-enroll without having to make a “good faith payment.”

Customers can learn more about payment programs and enroll online at eversource.com or by calling 800-286-2828.

SNAP & FEMA Programs

FEMA has approved a 30-day extension of the non-congregate sheltering authorization under the FEMA Public Assistance program through October 1.

This program, which was initially approved in March, provides non-congregate housing to certain high-risk individuals, including those who have COVID-19 or have been in contact with individuals who have the virus. It provides the state and its municipalities with a 75 percent reimbursement of all eligible costs associated with this housing.

The program covers non-congregate housing for:

*Those at high risk of exposure in public service;

*Individuals in at-risk facilities, such as group homes, nursing homes, long-term care sites, and alternative care facilities;

*First responders and health care workers who have been exposed and cannot return home;

*Homeless individuals in congregate shelters; and

*Individuals in domestic violence shelters.

Connecticut’s implementation of this program has been highlighted as a best practice by the National Low-Income Housing Coalition.

The Connecticut Department of Social Services will provide over $16.5 million in Emergency Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (SNAP) benefits to nearly half of Connecticut’s SNAP participants on Thursday, September 17 — adding to the $100.6 million in emergency benefits disbursed in April, May, June, July, and August.

Authorized by the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act of 2020, the extra food benefits will go to nearly 109,600 households that are not currently receiving the maximum benefits allowed for their household size. This means that all households enrolled in SNAP will receive the maximum food benefit allowable for their household size, even if they are not usually eligible for the maximum benefit.

Specifically:

*The Department of Social Services reports that nearly 109,600 of 222,119 SNAP-participating households statewide will receive the emergency benefits in September.

*With this additional $16.5 million allocation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service, emergency benefits are totaling over $117.4 million in additional SNAP assistance statewide during April, May, June, July, August, and September with commensurate spending in the food economy.

*The average emergency benefit amount a household will see on its electronic benefits transfer card on September 17 is $153.

*All participating households received normal SNAP benefits on the first three days of each month.

For additional information about SNAP, visit ct.gov/snap.