Reddit's unemployment forums have become vital support networks during the pandemic, offering advice, emotional support, and a sense of community to those navigating job loss and financial hardship.
This article examines how outdated state unemployment insurance (UI) systems struggled during the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to delays, technical failures, and widespread frustration for job seekers.
This article details California's Disaster Relief Assistance for Immigrants (DRAI) program, which provided $500 in cash aid to undocumented adults affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the collaborative efforts between the state, community-based organizations (CBOs), and Code for America to distribute $75 million to 150,000 individuals.
California’s SNAP program faced record application volume due to the COVID-19 crisis, and other states must anticipate similar demand. This post summarizes key takeaways from GetCalFresh’s real-time data and client communications, and offers recommendations for how other states can implement effective responses.
Code for America describes its work building the P-EBT online application and the consulting it provided to 10 states regarding implementing the program in a quick, effective, and human-centered way. Despite herculean efforts among human services and education agencies to get P-EBT off the ground, there were a few key technological, operational, and logistical barriers that consistently got in the way and hampered a smooth rollout of the program across the country.
Approximately 12 million low-income individuals risk missing out on federal stimulus payments due to non-filing status, prompting the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) to recommend targeted state outreach to connect eligible non-filers with their Economic Impact Payments (EIPs).
The FileYourStateTaxes pilot successfully integrated state tax filing with the IRS Direct File program, improving taxpayer experience and reducing filing burdens.
This report discusses the financial resilience strategies families used to manage gaps before benefits arrived, in addition to providing recommendations for how benefits can be better designed in the future to fit the financial lives of lower-income households.
