When emergency relief programs launch at scale, the ability to move quickly depends on more than funding alone. It depends on whether agencies can turn large volumes of application data into timely, reliable decisions. During the 2020 pandemic, that challenge became especially urgent as states were tasked with delivering housing support to vulnerable households under the Emergency Rental Assistance Program.
Karma Advisory helped a state-level agency strengthen that capability at a critical moment.
The agency had been tasked with distributing ERAP funding as part of a nationwide initiative totaling approximately $46.5 billion. Within its own program, the reporting analytics team needed to analyze data tied to more than 100,000 applications and approximately $1.25 billion in funding. But the team was overwhelmed by data dumps, fragmented processes, and inconsistent ways of briefing leadership on pre-payment and fraud-related statuses. Karma was brought in to help create a more centralized and effective reporting process—one that would support faster payment determinations, clearer communication, and more consistent execution across the agency.
The Challenge
The client was operating in a high-pressure environment where speed, consistency, and clarity were essential.
The reporting analytics team needed to analyze thousands of applications to determine payment eligibility, but it lacked a clearly structured, centralized data environment. As a result, team members were spending too much time managing system user data manually and too little time producing decision-useful insight. Reporting processes were fragmented, leadership briefings were delayed, and pre-payment determination workflows were harder to manage than they needed to be.
This was not simply a reporting issue. It was affecting the agency’s ability to move funds efficiently, monitor fraud-related concerns, and maintain a consistent operational rhythm during a time of extraordinary demand.
The agency needed a more effective way to structure reporting, align teams, and build internal capacity so that critical payment decisions could be made in a timely and reliable manner.
The Approach
Karma worked across several targeted areas to strengthen reporting operations and improve how the agency managed application data, internal coordination, and team capability.
We began by conducting a current-state assessment of reporting activities and working directly with reporting teams to gather detailed requirements for a range of reports. From there, Karma created and maintained daily reporting outputs to support pre-payment quality checks and payment determinations, helping the agency move from raw data overload to more actionable operational reporting.
At the same time, we helped improve internal communication by standardizing check-in structures, agendas, notes, escalation pathways, and action tracking. This created more consistency around project progress, performance expectations, and shared accountability across the agency.
To make the improvements sustainable, Karma also led cross-functional training and regular system demos so staff could better understand how to generate and refresh reports and make fuller use of technical system capabilities. We also developed a more structured way for project management to prioritize and implement business requirements for operational teams.
What Karma Delivered
Karma delivered reporting and operational support designed to help the agency manage ERAP application data with greater speed, consistency, and structure.
This included:
- A current-state assessment of the reporting environment
- Detailed requirements gathering with reporting teams
- Daily reports supporting pre-payment quality checks and payment determinations
- Standardized internal check-ins, agendas, notes, escalations, and action tracking
- Cross-functional training on report generation and refresh processes
- Regular demos to improve understanding of system capabilities
- A structured approach for prioritizing and implementing business requirements
The Outcome
The engagement helped the agency create a more timely, concise, and consistent reporting process during a period of intense operational demand.
By improving how data was structured, reported, and communicated, Karma helped the client strengthen pre-payment determination workflows and provide leadership with clearer visibility into payment eligibility and fraud-related statuses. The work also reduced inefficiencies caused by fragmented reporting practices and helped establish a more repeatable operating rhythm for the reporting team.
Just as importantly, the training and process improvements helped build internal capability, enabling staff to perform critical reporting activities more effectively and with greater confidence. What had previously been an overwhelmed reporting environment became a more organized and decision-supportive function within the broader emergency assistance program.
Why It Mattered
In large-scale public assistance programs, reporting quality directly affects service delivery quality.
By helping the agency improve its reporting processes, communication structure, and team readiness, Karma enabled more than operational cleanup. The engagement helped create a stronger foundation for timely payment decisions, more reliable leadership insight, and better execution in a program serving households at risk of homelessness and housing instability.
Closing Perspective
Karma Advisory helps organizations bring structure and clarity to high-volume, high-stakes operations. In this case, that meant helping a state agency improve how it managed ERAP reporting and decision support—strengthening the processes, communication, and internal capabilities needed to deliver emergency housing assistance more effectively when it mattered most.
