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6. Survivor's benefits. The interim final rule included an enumerated eligible use for <br />survivor's benefits to surviving family members of individuals who have died from COVID-19, <br />including cash assistance to widows, widowers, or dependents. <br />Public Comment: Treasury did not receive any comments on the inclusion of survivor's <br />benefits as an enumerated use for impacted households in the interim final rule. <br />Treasury Response: This use of funds remains eligible under the final rule. Consistent <br />with the general reorganization noted above, the final rule organizes survivor's benefits under <br />assistance to households to clarify that households are the intended beneficiaries of survivor's <br />benefits. <br />7. Assistance accessing or applying for public benefits or services. Recognizing that <br />eligible households often face barriers to accessing public benefits or services that improve <br />health and economic outcomes, the interim final rule included as an enumerated eligible use in <br />disproportionately impacted communities, public benefits navigators to assist community <br />members with navigating and applying for available federal, state, and local public benefits or <br />services. Treasury also clarified in subsequent guidance after the interim final rule that this <br />eligible use category would include outreach efforts to increase uptake of the Child Tax Credit. <br />Background: The under -enrollment of eligible households in social assistance programs <br />is a well -recognized and persistent challenge. There are many reasons why a household may not <br />be receiving a particular benefit even though they are eligible. For many federal programs, <br />enrollment processes vary from state -to -state. Sometimes, households are simply unaware that <br />they are eligible for a particular benefit.124 For example, despite having one of the highest rates <br />124 Amy Finkelstein & Matthew J Notowidigdo, Take -Up and Targeting: Experimental Evidence from SNAP, The <br />Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol 134(3), pages 1505-1556 (2019), https://www.nber.org/papers/w24652. <br />92 <br />