After a glitch-filled start, sign-ups for in-person unemployment claim assistance have been met with a huge response that has left spots filled through much of August.
State officials are hoping that a newly signed contract with a private vendor will speed up claim processing in July, lessening the need for these in-person appointments.
In less than a week since the online sign-up system was created, all appointments for Frankfort for July have been booked as have the first three weeks of August, leaving those still seeking a slot with a long wait.
In Ashland and Owensboro, the first locations for temporary, regional assistance, appointments were booked for the two days they were in operation, Monday and Tuesday.
Though 91% of eligible new unemployment claims filed since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic have been processed, tens of thousands of claimants are still pressing to be heard and helped.
There are approximately 56,000 claims that haven't been processed from March, April and May, according to state data.
Gov. Andy Beshear said this week it's his goal to have those claims cleared by July 31, with the help of 300 contract employees from Ernst & Young.
'Help is on the way': Beshear announces new unemployment contract
The newly signed $7.4 million contract will significantly boost the state's unemployment staffing, taking the number of workers who can process claims from 100 to 400 by mid-July.
Hiring the vendor will allow the state to immediately tackle outstanding claims without having to spend months on training new employees, Beshear said.
As the state works to catch up on old claims, tens of thousands of people continue to file for unemployment.
There were 30,446 new jobless claims filed in Kentucky for the week ending on June 27, according U.S. Department of Labor data released Thursday.
When Leasia Young, of Fayette County, heard of the opportunity to sign up for in-person help, she jumped at the chance. She's been waiting for unemployment insurance benefits since the first week of April.
She learned at her Monday appointment in Frankfort that she had answered a question wrong in applying for benefits, sending her claim "under investigation."
Her account was being fixed, and within the week, she would have her back payments. On Wednesday night, money hit her bank account.
"Going in person was probably the only thing that would have helped," Young said. "If I hadn’t, I’m sure I’d still be waiting for my benefits."
It's unclear how many people have been helped at each site, as a Kentucky Labor Cabinet spokesperson did not respond to questions about how many people each location could accommodate.
Read this: More than 1 million Kentucky workers have filed over past 15 weeks
Addressing why it took until mid-June to offer in-person unemployment claim help — well after numerous aspects of Kentucky's public and private sectors were allowed to reopen — Beshear has pointed to a lack of staffing due to past administration budget cuts.
These cuts had thinned Kentucky's unemployment system prior to the pandemic hitting, he said. In 2017, budget reductions slashed about half of regional offices and nearly 100 employees.
At the start of 2020, there were just 12 people who could speak with the public in person to help them with their claim, according to the governor.
During a June 26 legislative meeting in Frankfort, Deputy Secretary for the Education and Workforce Development Cabinet Josh Benton explained why the state didn't seek staffing help from an outside vendor sooner.
The state only recently became aware of vendors who could provide staffing to actually help process claims, Benton said. During the early months of the pandemic, outside vendors were only offering help to staff call centers.
"If those vendors existed prior to the last two or three weeks to provide that service, they weren’t ones that we were seeing," Benton said.
Kentucky did enter into contracts with private vendors this spring, adding more than 500 people to answer calls, but these temporary workers weren't able to address most issues, leading to caller frustration.
Earlier: Kentucky staffed up unemployment phone lines, but many can't fix problems
A slow start for sign-ups
In-person help began the week of June 15, when a group of unemployment filers took to Frankfort to protest weekslong and monthslong delays in processing their claims.
They were met with a limited number of unemployment office employees offering to help. The crowds made national headlines. Word spread, and many flocked to Frankfort, waiting hours in the heat for help.
By week's end, some 2,300 people were served.
Soon after, on June 24, Beshear announced there would be an online sign-up system that he hoped would go live the next day.
That did not happen, however, causing confusion among unemployment filers ready to jump on the opportunity to finally receive face-to-face help with their weeks- to months-old claims.
While the unemployment website did have an "in-person UI services" page that told visitors to use "the button below" to sign up, there was no such button until two days later.
When the "schedule an appointment" button did appear on June 26, the website was plagued by error messages that made it difficult to complete the scheduling process.
Related: Savings running low for Kentuckians still waiting on unemployment benefits
By that afternoon, the button had inexplicably disappeared from the website, leaving the public unable to sign up for a spot.
Young was among those who tried signing up but was met with technical difficulties. She waited until 3 a.m. the next day and was able to secure an appointment.
Indeed, come the morning of June 27, the button had returned, and spots quickly filled up over the weekend.
Adam Cornette, of Ashland, said the sign-up process for him was smooth and he was able to secure a Monday slot.
A computer issue caused appointment delays that day, leaving him waiting in the heat for about two hours, though Cornette said once he actually met with an unemployment worker, the process was quick.
While disappointed he wasn't leaving with an assurance of payment, he did walk away with a clearer idea of what has been holding up his mid-April claim — an employer response, in his case, the U.S. Census Bureau. He was told it could take a few more weeks.
"I’m pretty optimistic about getting some type of payment here in the next couple weeks, hopefully," Cornette said.
Melissa Perkinson had more immediate success with her claim on Monday in Frankfort. After getting her temperature checked, a masked Perkinson was in and out of her appointment in under 10 minutes.
Her April 1 claim had been "under investigation" for months, but she didn't know for sure why. Waiting in the phone queue never got her an answer.
"This has been an emotional roller coaster," Perkinson said.
"I’m hoping and praying that my bank, within the next couple days if not by Monday, has a deposit," she said. "I’m not giving up hope.”
Previously: Thousands of March unemployment filers still awaiting payment
Both Cornette and Perkinson said they saw people arriving at their respective locations without an appointment.
Perkinson said the no-appointment line was long but that people were leaving with a future appointment date.
In addition to the Frankfort site, which is scheduling people through the end of August, Beshear said there will be a rotating list of cities across Kentucky open for a few days each week.
For example, appointments will be held in Somerset and Hopkinsville on Tuesday and Wednesday. The state has not released site details beyond next week.
Perkinson said she's hopeful that with the state's new contract with Ernst & Young, older claims like hers will soon be processed, saving people a weekslong wait for an appointment.
"A lot of us just wondered why they didn't do it sooner," she said.
Where to get in-person unemployment help in Kentucky
Frankfort: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Mayo-Underwood building, 500 Mero St. Until further notice, this location will be open for appointments Monday-Friday, except on state holidays.
Hopkinsville: July 7-8, 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Christian County Middle School, 215 Glass Ave.
Somerset: July 7-8, 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., The Center for Rural Development, 2292 S. Highway 27.
Note: All times are local. Additional dates and locations may be added.
Matthew Glowicki’s Reader's Watchdog column helps readers get answers and holds public officials, businesses and individuals to account. Contact him at watchdog@courierjournal.com, 502-582-4989 or on Twitter @mattglo. Support Reader's Watchdog by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/mattg.
"claim" - Google News
July 03, 2020 at 03:17AM
https://ift.tt/3ipwaT3
In-person unemployment claim appointments in Frankfort booked through late August - Courier Journal
"claim" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2FrzzOU
https://ift.tt/2VZxqTS
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "In-person unemployment claim appointments in Frankfort booked through late August - Courier Journal"
Post a Comment