Discrimination Financial Assistance Program Applications To Be Accepted Through Jan. 17, 2024

WASHINGTON, Jan. 14, 2024 – Due to a number of circumstances on Saturday, January 13, 2024, including severe winter weather in the Midwest that may have prevented some applicants from reaching local program offices as well as a brief outage of the e-filing platform in the evening, the Discrimination Financial Assistance Program will accept applications through Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024. In the six months that the application period has been open, tens of thousands of applications have been received by mail, through the e-filing portal, and via in-person delivery at local Discrimination Financial Assistance Program offices nationwide. USDA and the program administrators want to be sure that all remaining applicants have full ability to submit their applications, and therefore will continue to accept submissions for two full business days after the Martin Luther King, Jr. Federal Holiday.

There are three ways to submit an application, by the following deadlines:

• Applications submitted by mail (including overnight mail) must be postmarked no later than January 17, 2024.
• Applications submitted in person at a local Discrimination Financial Assistance Program office must be received by 8 p.m. local time on January 17, 2024.
• Applications submitted online must be submitted (not merely started) by midnight PST on January 17, 2024 / 3 a.m. EST on January 18, 2024. Online submissions must use the website portal—applications and supporting documentation received by email are not able to be considered.

All deadlines are firm. The full list of offices and their operating hours, as well as FAQs and other program information, can be found at 22007apply.gov. There is no cost to apply for this program and free technical assistance is available. The program’s call center, available at 1-800-721-0970, will be open from 8 a.m. EST to 8 p.m. PST on Sunday, January 14, and on Tuesday, January 16; it will be closed on Monday, January 15, due to the Federal holiday. On Wednesday, January 17, the call center will have extended hours from 8 a.m. EST to midnight PST, to support online application filings.

Consistent with previous plans, the program’s call center will remain open until after program payments are made, from 8 a.m. EST to 8 p.m. PST, with English- and Spanish- speaking agents available, seven days per week (except Federal holidays) for the next several weeks, and weekdays after February 18, 2024. All customer offices will be closed starting January 18, 2024.

As a reminder, for the purposes of this program, a claim of discrimination may be based on different treatment you experienced because of race, national origin or ethnicity (including status as a member of a Native American Tribe), sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, age, marital status, disability, or in reprisal/retaliation for prior civil rights activity. The information submitted through the application form is the only application requirement for this program. Incomplete applications will be evaluated on the basis of the information that is included. There will not be any hearings, appeals, or other processes to apply to this program. Potential applicants are encouraged to apply in advance of the deadline to allow time to resolve any questions on the application.