Participants will have access to coaching via online video calls, phone calls, or texts and can receive help for up to four months.

In an example of how states are casting for ways to spend the federal influx, Indiana's budget negotiators wrote in $75 million for the Career Accelerator Program -- nearly triple the $27 million going to a 2 percent increase for the state's higher education system.

The Indiana Supreme Court this past week turned down an emergency petition filed by advocates for low-income families.

The package provides schools with a direct line to roughly four times the amount of money than the original CARES Act. Many plan to use the funding to address learning loss and other ongoing needs exacerbated by the pandemic.

Throughout the pandemic, Indiana paid out all of the money it had -- a little less than $1 billion -- in a rainy day fund meant for unemployed workers. To continue paying unemployment benefits, the state began borrowing money from the federal government.

Without an extension the money must be spent on expenses directly related to the pandemic incurred by the end of December.

When Indiana depleted a trust fund that pays unemployment benefits earlier this year, it started getting advances from the federal government to continue payments.

Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill and four dozen other attorneys general from around the country want Congress to extend the deadline to use federal COVID-19 relief dollars.

Indianapolis activated its winter plan to give more help to people experiencing homelessness during the pandemic.

Carlette Duffy is the Director of Re-entry for the City of Indianapolis and the Office of Public Health and Safety (OPHS), and she spoke with WFYI's Terri Dee about a pilot program that offers some formerly incarcerated people financial coaching to get on their feet.