Community Legal Services of Philadelphia (CLS), one of the largest and most respected legal services programs in the nation, congratulates President-Elect Joseph Biden and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris on their successful election. As President-Elect Biden said in a recent speech: “We must make the promise of the country real for everybody — no matter their…
URGENT UPDATE: Act Quickly to Get a Stimulus Payment in 2020! New Deadline for Social Security, SSI, and Veterans Benefits Recipients with Children! Starting now, SSI and Social Security recipients who haven’t yet gotten their $500 stimulus payments per dependent child have a new chance to get the payments. They will need to fill out the non-filer…
Great news! CLS and Morgan Lewis settled with the USDA, bringing $712 million emergency SNAP (food stamp) benefits to approximately 650,000 of the neediest Pennsylvania households! Click here to find out more. A federal court issued a preliminary injunction today, ruling that more than 700,000 of the poorest Pennsylvanians may be entitled to receive additional…
On July 16, 2020, Community Legal Services of Philadelphia(“CLS”) and Morgan Lewis filed a class action lawsuit against The United States Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) on behalf of Pennsylvanians denied emergency food assistance during the COVID-19 crisis. The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”) included a provision providing for emergency additional SNAP (food stamp) benefits so that low income families could have access to food during the pandemic. Nearly 40% of Pennsylvania SNAP households, including many…
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) was passed by Congress as part of the CARES Act to provide unemployment compensation (UC) benefits to people who have been left out of the unemployment system – including gig workers like ridesharing drivers, self-employed people, independent contractors, and people with limited wage records. This new program was executed by the…
Are you a non-tax filer who receives federal benefits, including SSI, SSDI, RRB or VA benefits? Did you get $500 in stimulus money for your dependent children? If not, we want to hear from you. Were you aware that IRS wanted you to use their web portal to get COVID-19 payments by April 22 (if you receive…
Pennsylvania County Assistance Offices may be able to give families some money to get by while they can’t work because of the coronavirus crisis. Instead of getting ongoing cash assistance, families temporarily out of work may be able to get “diversion” payments. Diversion payments are one, two, or three months’ worth of regular cash assistance,…
The COVID-19 pandemic has upended the U.S. workforce, leading to record levels of unemployment. While some people will return to work in the coming months, many workers with disabilities may remain out of the workforce indefinitely. Older workers with disabilities were thirty percent more likely to lose their jobs during the Great Recession than the…
Following a few days of national outcry, the IRS reversed course on Wednesday, April 1, 2020, and announced that Social Security recipients who do not usually file taxes will receive stimulus payments under the CARES Act automatically. The IRS’s decision should be celebrated, but it doesn’t go far enough. Three million seniors and people with…
Coronavirus affects us all. We all need to be able to get care so that we, our families, and our communities are healthy and strong. It is safe to get Medical Assistance if you qualify so that you can protect your health during this crisis. What is Medical Assistance? Medical Assistance is a free health…
