"I'm at a panic state because I'm the only person in the household so I will have no income coming in (when my benefits run out)," Victor said.

Congress recently passed the Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009, which provides unemployed people across the country with additional benefits. About 10,000 Missourians are eligible for the benefits.

But the new law doesn't allow states to provide additional benefits of their own. A bureaucratic slowdown means people haven't been able to apply for the new federal benefits, either, because Missouri hasn't received the federal guidelines for distributing the aid.

The state's Labor Department received those guidelines and sent out notices in the mail to 10,000 eligible Missourians on Thursday morning, department director Larry Rebman said.

"As soon as the individuals who are eligible receive the notification we will begin receiving those applications," he said.

The letter in the mail can't come soon enough for Victor. She said she's afraid of losing her home and having to rely on family members.

Communicator with the state's Labor Department hasn't been good, Victor said. She didn't know that she couldn't apply for the state extension until she went online to fill out an application.

"I tried to contact (the department), but the lines are always busy and it says to call back and they hang up," Victor said. Rebman says the department is covering 6,000 calls a day.

Rebman says it will be a matter of weeks before Missourians see the federal benefits.