Benefits Program: COVID-19 Assistance
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A state-by-state breakdown of failures in unemployment systems across the US during the pandemic
Business Insider rounded up 35 states that struggled with giving out unemployment benefits during the pandemic. Issues included backlogs, delayed payments, payments sent to fraudsters, and poor communication between the agency and laid-off workers. In alphabetical order by state, they provide a roundup of many states' struggles to give unemployment benefits to jobless Americans.Â
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Policy Analysis COVID-19’s Impact on the Social Safety Net
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.
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States Are Using Much-Needed Temporary Flexibility in SNAP to Respond to COVID-19 Challenges
Since March 2020, states have been using temporary SNAP (food stamps) flexibility to provide emergency benefit supplements, and ease program administration during the pandemic. These options have allowed states to deliver more food assistance to struggling families, help manage intense administrative demands, and ensure that participants maintain much-needed benefits.
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Diversity, Equity + Inclusion Near Real Time COVID-19 Income and Poverty Dashboard
A real-time dashboard displaying COVID-19 income and poverty levels.
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ACCESS NYC
ACCESS NYC is an online public screening tool that residents can use to determine the City, State, and Federal health and human service benefit programs for which they are eligible.
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Communications Accessible Benefits Information: Reducing Administrative Burden and Improving Equitable Access through Clear Communication About Safety Net Benefits
Complex benefits information creates unnecessary barriers for people trying to understand what’s relevant to them so that they can take immediate action to receive the benefits they need. As part of the Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation’s series on documenting best practices in social safety net benefits access and delivery, this guide to Accessible Benefits Information offers case studies that show how groups in Michigan, New York City, and San José use plain language, multilingual translation, co-creation and testing with residents, and technology tools to provide better information about benefits.Â
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Resources to Support State Outreach to Non-Filers Eligible for Stimulus Payments
About 12 million Americans risk missing out on stimulus payments provided through the CARES Act. State outreach efforts are critical to connect people to the $1,200 stimulus payments, and the CBPP lists various resources to assist in state outreach efforts on this webpage.
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CARES Act Stimulus Payments Have Reached 160 Million Households — But Could Reach Millions More
Though the CARES Act provided much-needed relief to millions of Americans, around 5-10 million of the most vulnerable American households have not yet received their full payment. This report lays out a set of technical fixes regarding the delivery of the first stimulus payments, a set of fixes to address other critical tax credits, and several medium-term reforms to increase earned income tax credit (EITC) access for low-income families.
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Aggressive State Outreach Can Help Reach the 12 Million Non-Filers Eligible for Stimulus Payments
Aggressive outreach by states is necessary to ensure that 12 million Americans do not risk missing out on the stimulus payments provided by the CARES Act.
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Who Did Not Get the Economic Impact Payments by Mid-to-Late May, and Why?
A study by the Urban Institute assessing why around 12 million individuals were at risk of not getting stimulus check payments as provided by the CARES Act.