to Nepal Earthquake Relief through Project HOPE. The following month, Manos de Cristo, a Maximus Foundation grantee, provided back-to-school supplies to more than 2,000 low-income children in the Austin, Texas area. The agency provided the children with new clothing, socks, and a brand-new backpack with school supplies. Maximus announced that it donated $20,000 to the Charleston Shooting victims memorial fund. Half of the proceeds came from employees and was matched by the company for $20,000 total. The fund will direct the funds toward youth development, healthcare access and economic opportunity. The Maximus Foundation helped fund the work of four high school students at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia, to develop Atheia, a new technology developed during the COVID-19 pandemic to assist those with vision problems. Criticism November 1997- The Hartford Courant reported that Maximus "gets minimal results" when it was hired by the State of Connecticut to manage a child care program for recipients of welfare. According to the Record-Journal, Maximus "hired too few people, installed an inadequate phone system and fell weeks or months behind in making payments to day care providers." The Connecticut Department of Social Services (DSS) asked Maximus to meet improvement goals and by December, DSS Commissioner Joyce A. Thomas noted improvements on several fronts commenting, "The good news for Connecticut's child care providers and the families we all serve is that the situation is rapidly improving. Maximus has come a long way, and we are confident that current efforts are paving the way to long-term improvements." December 1998- The Sarasota Herald Tribune reported that the State of Florida had paid Maximus $4.5 Million for a Child Support Recovery contract. Maximus was only able to collect $162,000. "On average taxpayers paid Maximus $25 for every 3 cents collected." 1999 - Then-mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani held his first meetings in May 1999 introducing the city's welfare reform programs which would require adult welfare recipients to either work or train for work. Mid-June was set as the deadline for the competition for the contracts. However, the Giuliani administration began to consult with Maxiumus executives on how the company could "reshape, consolidate and run" the programs, as early as January 1999. Starting in January, Maximus was awarded contracts worth $500 million, which represented the "largest share" to assess and train as many as 200,000 welfare recipients and to provide job placement.