The Los Angeles Wildfires that started on 7th January 2025 have been devastating. At the point of publishing this guide, 10 people have lost their lives, over 10,000 homes and other structures have been destroyed, and millions of people have had their lives disrupted.

Compounding this disaster, hourly workers across the region that depend on predictable wages have had shifts reduced or cancelled, resulting in lost wages that are required to keep finances afloat.

This has also impacted school staff. Many school staff are paid on salary, but others - including many paraprofessional teaching aides and support staff, are paid by the hours they work. And there have been thousands of school closures across the region due to these wildfires, meaning thousands of hourly-paid educators and school staff will not be earning wages (For the updated official list of closed school districts in the region please refer to the Los Angeles County Office of Education website).

Zen Educate is an app that enables schools to connect directly with educators who live nearby, giving flexible employment to educators. Educators working with Zen Educate are paid hourly, so with the thousands of school closures across Los Angeles due to wildfires, many of our team have had their hours reduced.

However, when President Joe Biden declared a major disaster in the state of California on January 8th, this opened up the availability of many federally funded programs for Californians impacted by the wildfires. This may help some educators receive compensation for work hours missed due to the disaster.

Financial Relief Options

Below is a list of resources for ways to receive Financial Relief if you have experienced a loss in working hours and wages due to the ongoing disaster. This is a fast evolving situation and we will seek to update this article as we learn more. This is for informational purposes only and is not legal, financial, or tax advice.

Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA)

Who is eligible for DUA?

During a period of declared disaster, DUA is generally available to any worker who lives, works or is scheduled to work within the disaster area that cannot work directly because of the disaster. This includes educators who are not able to work due to school closures.

More specifically, you may be eligible for DUA if any of the following apply:

You can no longer work due to the disaster destroying or closing your workplace; or, making it impossible to reach your workplace.
You cannot work due to an injury caused by the disaster, and you don’t qualify for Disability Insurance.
You cannot work due to the disaster, but, for any number of reasons, do not qualify for regular unemployment benefits.
You became the head of their household because of a death caused by the disaster.

Please note that to be eligible for DUA you must submit your application within 30 days of the disaster being officially declared by the President of the United States.

What kind of financial relief does DUA provide?

DUA provides wage replacement for wages lost directly because of the disaster. DUA only covers periods of unemployment that occurred during the disaster period declared by the President of the United States. If you become or remain unemployed after the official disaster period ends you may be eligible for regular state unemployment benefits.

How much income replacement you are able to receive is decided by the Employee Development Department of California and is based on your pre-disaster earnings.

What documentation do you need to provide to apply for DUA?

To apply for DUA you should be prepared to provide the following information or documentation:

Proof of identity (e.g., driver’s license, Social Security number).
Documentation of employment or self-employment (e.g., tax returns, pay stubs, or other records showing income prior to the disaster).
Proof that you are unable to work due to the disaster
You may also be asked to provide your most recent tax return.

If you are a Zen Educate employee you can reach out to your account manager or the Zen support team if you need help accessing employment and payment information. You should be prepared to provide the name and location of the closed School during your application.

Is DUA active yet in Los Angeles?

At the time of writing this article on 10th January 2025, the California Employment Development Department (EDD) has not yet started approving DUA applications for the January 2025 Los Angeles Fires. However in speaking with support staff at the EDD, the department is encouraging applications to be made online, stating that these applications will be kept on hold until later in the process.

To see if DUA has started approving applications, see the table towards the middle of the EDD’s Disaster-Related Services page.

How do you apply for DUA?

To start your application for DUA you can visit the Education Development Department of California’s UI online portal. Please note that this is the same portal you would use to apply for regular unemployment assistance.

For additional information, you can refer to the following California Fact Sheet. For readers looking for more broad information on DUA, please refer to the Federal Government Fact Sheet.

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Disaster Assistance

If you have incurred other expenses directly due to a natural disaster you may also be eligible to receive a variety of different financial support options through FEMA.

Who is eligible for FEMA disaster assistance?

Generally speaking any US citizen or resident in a declared disaster area who experiences financial damages directly due to the disaster and cannot recover these damages through other means is eligible for financial support through FEMA.

What kind of financial relief does FEMA provide?

FEMA can provide financial relief options for a wide variety of disaster related expenses. This may include financial relief for:

House repair, house replacement or temporary housing
Loss or destruction of personal property
Disaster related medical or dental expenses
Funeral expenses
Childcare expenses
Miscellaneous expenses related to a disaster event

Please note that this list is not exhaustive of all possible financial relief options through FEMA.

What documentation is needed to apply for FEMA?

To apply for FEMA you should be prepared to provide the following information or documentation:

Home, mailing, and email addresses
phone number
Social Security number (SSN)
banking and insurance information

You can also use this FEMA checklist to further understand what kind of information you will need to provide in an application.

How do you apply for FEMA?

You can start your application for financial relief here through the FEMA website. For more information on how to apply for Fema programs you can also visit their FAQ page.

How Zen Educate Can Help

In an effort to support educators impacted by the Los Angeles wildfires we at Zen will continue to update this article as we learn more about available financial assistance options.

If you are a current Zen Educate employee located in Los Angeles, please make sure you are reaching out to your Zen Account Manager or the Zen Support Team to discuss your employment and support needs during this difficult time.