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FOX 35 INVESTIGATES: Orange County CARES Act portal experiences technical glitch causing application denials
An Orlando man reached out to FOX 35 News after getting frustrated with the Orange County CARES Act portal and a technical glitch that caused him to be denied assistance. But now, the county is looking into the situation.
ORLANDO, Fla. - An Orlando man reached out to FOX 35 News after getting frustrated with the Orange County CARES Act portal and a technical glitch that caused him to be denied assistance.
But now, the county is looking into the situation.
Brad Hughes says he applied for a $1,000 grant through the Orange CARES Individual and Family Assistance Program, but he says he had problems with the portal and was asked to apply again.
"There was some sort of error they had where it automatically rejected the application. They sent an email saying if you got this automatic rejection, please reapply," he said.
So, Hughes said he tried again and was shocked by the response.
"Then, we reapplied and it came back we were denied because we reapplied because that’s what they told us to," he said.
He called Orange County for answers.
"On the phone and the lady goes, 'Yeah, I don’t know what to tell you.' That was literally her response. I’m more surprised at the reaction to it," Hughes said.
An Orange County spokesperson said Friday morning that officials identified approximately 100 applicants who inadvertently received a denial.
Officials released a statement, saying in part, “Those applicants will not be denied based on duplication and will receive an email today with that information.”
The spokesperson said the portal opened and closed five different times due to high demand.
It's the processing that's taking time.
Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said, "We still have applications in process. Depending on how this turns out for us, I’m optimistic we may be able to open up the portal for individuals and families crisis assistance in the future."
So far, more than $12,000,000 has been paid out to residents.
Officials hope to reopen the portal soon.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson said someone will reach out to the employee who handled Hughes' call.
Hughes realizes mistakes can happen, but says he just wants to pay his bills.
"Ridiculous. These are the things you set up and told us to do, and we followed them, but still are not getting any of the help," he said.
The county isn't sure when it will reopen the portal.
Officials hope to have an update next week.
Stay tuned to Fox35Orlando.com for updates on this story.
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