Project: Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP)
Client: USDA’s Farm Service Agency and FBC
USDA’s Farm Service Agency and FBC was tasked with automating the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP). This intensely time-sensitive program was authorized by Congress and the President under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act of 2020, which was signed into law on March 27, 2020. Our Team adapted its standard agile software development life cycle (SDLC) to accommodate the urgent need for distributing agricultural financial relief. The delivered custom software solution enabled CFAP benefit processing to be automated – from customer application submission, approval, obligation to payment processing. Team CITI’s delivery was fast and accurate. Within 6 weeks, the CFAP application launched nationwide, bug-free on May 26, 2020; ensuring FBC was able to quickly request payments from the authorized $16 billion of CFAP funding for an estimated 780,000 producers of agricultural commodities who suffered income loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a testament to its success, Team CITI was engaged to develop a separate system for a second round of CFAP benefits in the fall of 2020 (CFAP 2), that provides producers with financial assistance that gives them the ability to absorb some of the increased marketing costs associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Team CITI successfully developed, tested, and deployed this second phase that surpassed quality and schedule expectations. Millions of agricultural producers affected by the pandemic so far.
To view the CFAP 1 dashboard visit: Coronavirus Food Assistance Program 1 Data | Farmers.gov
To view the CFAP 2 dashboard visit: Coronavirus Food Assistance Program 2 Data | Farmers.gov
