LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Nonprofits across Nevada are working to connect people to critical social services amid challenges caused by a state cyberattack, while other organizations are facing delays to get much-needed state funding.
State officials confirmed Thursday that non-profits had not received payments due to the cyberattack, noting that payments cannot go through until the software is deemed safe to use.
“For this week, we have not made payments to nonprofit organizations… they’re fragile organizations, and so we’re reaching out to our nonprofits. I’ve asked staff to provide them a phone number to a live person in our office who can actually help if they are having a difficult situation,” said Richard Whitley of Nevada’s Department of Health and Human Services.
Fortunately, Whitley said thousands of Nevadans who rely on food stamps through SNAP will receive their benefits on time, after work by IT staff to ensure the payments would occur.
The site to apply for SNAP benefits remains down.
With many social service websites still down, Whitley urged people to call 211: folks can be directed to local offices for assistance, or to emergency services for food or other needs.
The Just One Project helps connect people to food and grocery resources, state social services and workforce programs. The nonprofit explains how they have pivoted to help new applicants.
“Clients have to come in and sit with a with a case manager and fill out paperwork the old-fashioned way, so it can slow things down a little bit,” said Mimi Diebold with The Just One Project. Employees are working with state, county and city agencies to connect people to services amid the outage.
The closure of other state agencies, such as the DMV, has a ripple effect on people with critical or urgent needs: they need an I.D. to apply for aid.
“It tends to have a snowball effect, so if you can’t get a driver’s license, you may not be able to get access to other services,” Diebold said.
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