Orange County CARES Act portal for individual and family assistance to open again next week

Orange County government will reopen the CARES Act portal for individual and family assistance for yet another round of applications next week, in a measure of good news for Orange County residents.

The portal will reopen on Monday, Nov. 16, at 8 a.m., and accept 15,000 applications total before closing again.

Applicants are eligible for "a one-time payment of $1,000 per household for residents affected by COVID-19." To be eligible for this program you must be an Orange County resident, rent property or reside in the county, and have had your wages or work hours adversely impacted by the pandemic. If you have already received a payout from this particular CARES program, you are sadly not eligible again. 

One important adjustment that has been made to eligibility criteria is that new applicants in the same household can apply for direct assistance.

The portal can be found here. It is recommended that you start early, as applications are processed on a first-come, first-served basis, and previous application periods have ended in an hour or less. The word is that once you are in, you can continue to fill out your application without fear of being kicked out when the portal closes.


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