As the pandemic moves into its eight month, unemployment insurance continues to be a vital financial resource for many D.C.-area residents. More than 154,000 claims for benefits have been filed in D.C. since the pandemic began, with more than 2 million filed in Maryland and Virginia combined, according to employment officials for each jurisdiction. Yet for scores of applicants, benefits have been reduced, exhausted or inordinately challenging to get.

Between the various extensions of benefits and the alphabet soup of federal programs, there’s a lot to navigate when it comes to applying for and receiving assistance. Here are the details on what options are currently available in D.C., Maryland and Virginia.

What benefits are available and am I eligible for them?

The CARES Act expanded access to unemployment insurance in several ways, including adding 13 extra weeks of benefits for traditional unemployment insurance recipients through a program called Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC). Individuals who work in D.C., Maryland and Virginia are generally eligible for traditional unemployment if they are:

• Out of work or have had hours reduced through no fault of their own
• Able and available to work, barring a COVID-19-related quarantine or isolation order
• The requirement to continue active job searches has been suspended in D.C., Maryland and Virginia during the state of emergency. But there are wage requirements in each jurisdiction — D.C., Virginia, Maryland.

What about gig workers? 

Individuals who are not eligible for traditional unemployment — such as gig workers, independent contractors and those without sufficient work history — may be eligible for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), another program created under the CARES Act. Those who cannot work because of COVID-19 (more details on this here) may receive up to 39 weeks of benefits (46 in D.C.) between Jan. 27 and Dec. 31. To get PUA, applicants must first apply for traditional unemployment insurance.

As of Dec. 7, D.C. residents who were approved for PUA benefits before Nov. 30 are also eligible for a $1,200 one-time stimulus payment from the D.C. government. PUA beneficiaries don’t need to apply separately for the stimulus, and the city’s unemployment office says it will begin issuing payments on a rolling basis in December. The additional relief is paid for by federal funds.

How much money can I receive each week?

Weekly benefits max out at $444 per week in D.C., $430 in Maryland and $378 in Virginia. A now-expired CARES Act program, Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC), added $600 to weekly UI and PUA benefits from March 29 to July 31. In its place, there’s the Lost Wages Assistance (LWA) program, funded with disaster relief funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. LWA offers unemployment recipients an extra $300 per week for an additional six weeks, Aug.1 to Sept. 5. Here’s how to apply for LWA in D.C.

Can benefits apply retroactively?

Yes, you can receive benefits for the period in which you were not working, based on the dates of full or partial unemployment. Here are the starting and end dates for each emergency program:

PUA: Jan. 27 to Dec. 31, 2020 for a maximum of 39 weeks (46 in D.C.)

FPUC: March 29 to July 31, 2020 for all eligible weeks in that period

LWA: Aug. 1 to Sept. 5 for a maximum of six weeks

I may be close to exhausting my benefits. Are extensions are available?

D.C. unemployment benefits have been extended in the District in a few ways. In non-pandemic times, recipients could only get unemployment for 26 weeks. PEUC extends that period by an additional 13 weeks. The Federal-State Extended Benefits (EB) program, which predates COVID-19, offers an additional 13 weeks for those who have exhausted the 39 weeks of coverage afforded under regular UI and PEUC.

Last week, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser signed legislation introduced by At-Large Councilmember Elissa Silverman that adds seven more weeks of coverage for both traditional UI and PUA coverage. Add it all up, and now, UI recipients in D.C. can receive benefits for up to 59 weeks and PUA recipients can receive up to 46 weeks.

Workers in Maryland and Virginia may receive up to 52 weeks of UI benefits (26 weeks of coverage plus PEUC and EB), while PUA benefits extend through 39 weeks.

Individuals who are eligible for extended benefits in D.C., Maryland or Virginia need to file a claim. Extended benefits will not be disbursed automatically.

I’m having trouble getting through to the unemployment office. What are all the methods I can try?

Many workers in the region still have not received their full benefits, due to overwhelmed and outdated intake systems and other challenges. Applicants may file claims online or via the phone. And some applicants have reported success in reaching unemployment offices after connecting with local officials, such as ANC commissioners or legislators.

What about undocumented workers, returning citizens, day laborers and others in the informal economy? What financial assistance is available?

More than 25,000 undocumented residents in the District and hundreds of thousands of undocumented Virginians and Marylanders are ineligible for unemployment insurance, as eligibility requirements generally include having work authorization and a Social Security Number. There are also many other workers who can’t receive UI or PUA, such as day laborers, sex workers and some returning citizens.

“We also have to be thinking about these workers, too, when we talk about recovery, and that’s something that D.C. has unique oversight over,” says Doni Crawford, a policy analyst with the DC Fiscal Policy Institute.

Some assistance has arrived for these workers, including $14 million through the newly created DC Cares program, which includes $5 million for undocumented workers and $9 million for a broader pool of excluded workers. But advocates say that’s not enough.

“There’s more excluded workers than there’s money available, so we definitely should be funding that fund at at least $30 million,” Crawford says. During D.C. budget season, DC Jobs With Justice, the Latino Economic Development Center and other social justice organizations advocated that the D.C. Council invest $30 million in relief funds for these workers.

What other relief, federally and locally, might be on the way?

A new round of federal relief could further extend and expand benefits. The second edition of the Heroes Act, which passed the U.S. House last month, would continue emergency federal unemployment programs, including the extra $600 in federal benefits from Sept. 5 through Jan. 31., 2021. The White House relief proposal also includes funds for additional federal benefits, $400 per week. Negotiations will likely continue after the Senate reconvenes Nov. 9.

Just how long individuals should continue receiving unemployment should align with the unemployment rates in a particular area, says Michele Evermore, senior researcher and policy analyst with the National Employment Law Project.

“We think that the duration of unemployment should be as long as people need it for,” Evermore says. “So the higher the unemployment rate, the more weeks should be available.”

Councilmember Silverman, who chairs the D.C. Council’s Labor Committee, is “optimistic” that a potential change in White House leadership might yield a substantial federal relief package in the coming months, and says she hopes that D.C. is treated as a state when it comes to the amount of funding.

“For workers in certain industries in our city this is a very dire situation,” says Silverman, who adds that her committee has been discussing how the city might employ those potential funds. “[We’re] coming up with some big ideas, big and small ideas, about how we can use those funds to further help stabilize those families, as well as thinking about how we create employment at a time when certain of our industries are shut down.”

If you have more questions or if you’re having trouble receiving initial benefits or continuing benefits, let us know.

This post has been updated with information about D.C.’s stimulus check for gig workers.