The Economic Services Administration (part of the Department of Social and Health Services) runs the state’s Disaster Cash Assistance Program (DCAP). In declared emergencies, the program provides cash to people who “don’t have the money to meet their basic needs.” These are generally one-time funds, but this year, someone could qualify once if affected by the pandemic and again if affected by wildfires.

During the current emergency, the state has used money from the federal Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) and the budget stabilization account (BSA) to help fund the DCAP. That includes, for example, $11.3 million originally from the BSA (part of the $200 million appropriated by the Legislature in March) and $10.0 million from the CRF.

The Office of Financial Management (OFM) has provided a summary of spending under the program from April through July. According to OFM, 36,961 people have received a total of $11.9 million. (The table below is from OFM.)