Sec. 31-51aaa. Individual Development Account Reserve Fund: Use and administration. - Connecticut Statutes

      Sec. 31-51aaa. Individual Development Account Reserve Fund: Use and administration. (a) Funds from the Individual Development Account Reserve Fund shall be used to provide grants to community-based organizations that are operating certified state IDA programs for the purpose of providing matching funds for the individual development accounts in their programs, to assist the organizations to provide training, counseling and case management for program participants and for program administration purposes. Funds may also be used to pay for the evaluation required pursuant to section 31-51ccc, the operation of the clearinghouse, and the department's administrative expenses for the Connecticut IDA Initiative. The department shall determine what proportion of the funds in the Individual Development Account Reserve Fund shall be used for each of these purposes.

      (b) The Individual Development Account Reserve Fund shall be administered as follows:

      (1) No new grant shall be approved by the department unless there is sufficient funding in the Individual Development Account Reserve Fund, as determined by the department, to meet all existing funding obligations including the maximum amount of state matching funds that would be required if each account holder in these certified programs met the savings goal in such account holder's approved plan.

      (2) Any funds remaining in the Individual Development Account Reserve Fund at the end of each fiscal year, and the interest thereon, shall be retained in said fund and used in the next succeeding fiscal year for expenditures set forth in subsection (a) of this section.

      (c) Grants received by the community-based organization from the Individual Development Account Reserve Fund for matching funds shall be held in the organization's local reserve fund. This fund shall be an account separate from account holders' individual development accounts, and its funds shall be disbursed in accordance with subsections (e) and (f) of this section pursuant to regulations adopted pursuant to section 31-51ddd. Grants from the Individual Development Account Reserve Fund for matching funds to certified state IDA programs shall be made on behalf of each individual account holder in the maximum amount of two dollars for every one dollar deposited in the individual development account by the account holder, not to exceed one thousand dollars of such matching funds per account holder for any calendar year and three thousand dollars per account holder for the duration of the account holder's participation in the program.

      (d) The department and the community-based organizations, separately or cooperatively, may solicit grants and private contributions for the Individual Development Account Reserve Fund and for the local reserve funds of community-based organizations operating certified state IDA programs.

      (e) If moneys are withdrawn from an individual development account by an account holder due to the account holder's decision to leave the certified state IDA program, all matching funds designated for said moneys shall be forfeited by the account holder and not later than December thirty-first of each year, the matching funds from the Individual Development Account Reserve Fund shall be returned by the community-based organization to the department for redeposit into the Individual Development Account Reserve Fund; except that, if the withdrawal is an emergency withdrawal, as defined in regulations adopted pursuant to section 31-51ddd, or is a withdrawal due to circumstances other than an account holder's decision to leave the certified state IDA program, the community-based organization may retain the matching funds for the account holder in its local reserve fund until such account holder redeposits the withdrawn funds or leaves the certified state IDA program, in accordance with such regulations.

      (f) When the account holder has made sufficient deposits to such account holder's individual development account to achieve the savings goal set forth in such account holder's approved plan, the community-based organization shall pay such sum together with the matching funds from the organization's local reserve account that are attributed to this individual development account, directly to the person or entity providing the goods or services. Where matching funds from the Individual Development Account Reserve Fund have not been paid out by the community-based organization for an eligible purpose within five years after the opening of an individual development account due to an account holder not making contributions as provided in the approved plan, the matching funds from the Individual Development Account Reserve Fund shall be returned to the department for deposit in the Individual Development Account Reserve Fund, except that the community-based organization may grant a leave of absence or extension of time to an account holder for a period not to exceed two years, within such five-year period in accordance with regulations adopted pursuant to section 31-51ddd.

      (P.A. 00-192, S. 5, 102.)

      History: P.A. 00-192 effective January 1, 2001.