High rents outpace federal disability payments, leaving many homeless
“If a person applies for federal disability income, they can wait months or even years to get benefits. Thousands go broke or die while waiting for help. A data analysis by the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that from 2014 to 2019, about 48,000 people filed for bankruptcy while trying to get a final decision on a disability appeal. The same report said that from 2008 to 2019 more than 100,000 people died waiting. The situation was made worse during the COVID-19 pandemic because the Social Security Administration closed more than 1,200 field offices across the nation and kept them shuttered for roughly two years.”