BOSTON (WHDH) – Hundreds of unemployed Massachusetts residents spent the summer on hold.
“The waiting is terrible by itself, never mind how long you are waiting, and you don’t know what you are going to do next,” said Danielle Robinson, who unexpectedly lost her job in May. “I would sit on hold for 30-40 minutes to reach somebody sometimes.”
The minutes turned into hours and the wait for payment went from weeks to months.
“I began to get anxious. This can’t be. There is no communication. No, nothing – just pending – waiting,” said Taeminn Song, who also lost his job in May.
Both Song and Robinson said their claims for unemployment sat ‘pending’ for months.
“We shouldn’t be here all this time later. None of these people should be,” Robinson said.
The latest federal data reveals that the Bay State has paid less than half of its first payments within three weeks, a timeframe the federal government expects the majority of payments to be made by. The percentage ranks the state the worst in the country for paying out initial claims within 21 days.
“We have constituents who, while they have been waiting, have received eviction notices, overdue bill notices, things that this safety net was supposed to be there to make sure they didn’t have to incur,” said State Senator Michael Moore.
Unable to get answers or action from the state’s unemployment office, many have turned to state leaders for help. Moore said the number of calls to his office about unemployment has tripled in the last few months. Many of the cases his office is assisting with involve people waiting 12-14 weeks, which is four times longer than the federal standard.
In June, the state paid only 39 percent of initial claims in three weeks, making it one of the worst months on record for the state since 1997.
“Why does the government get away with not paying you? It makes no sense,” Song said.
The number of cases with issues related to eligibility has also increased throughout the summer, as has the time it is taking to clear them, according to federal data.
While Danielle was waiting for answers, her car broke down and she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
“It is very defeating,” Robinson admitted. “You start to lose a little faith in other things that you don’t ever have to question in your life.”
The Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance (DUA) partially blames these delays on the launch of a new system in May.
The system aimed to modernize the process and make it more user-friendly. However, the learning curve for staff and users has increased the number of pending claims.
“The implementation, I should say, of the program has not worked out in the way we all thought. Hopefully, in the long term, it will and it will reduce and make this all easier, but I do think there are still some oversight remedies that could be implemented,” Moore said.
Moore said DUA is working to improve the process, but he isn’t sure how quickly things will improve.
“I wish I had confidence that it was going to get resolved next week,” Moore said.
The department launched a pilot program in August that reduced the number of hours people could call. The change aimed to free up workers to spend more time processing pending claims. The DUA said so far, this effort has reduced open claims by 25 percent.
“DUA continues to make progress in its efforts to improve operations and communication with workers and employers,” said a DUA spokesperson.
The department has also hired more field staff to host in-person office hours and utilized technology to streamline the process for people with program integrity issues. A rise in unemployment fraud nationally has also increased the time needed to process claims due to added identity verification steps.
“DUA will continue to explore all options to improve claims processing and strengthen outcomes for all our constituents,” a spokesperson told 7 Investigates.
The waiting finally paid off for Song, who approved and received payment three months after applying.
Danielle said she waited three months only to be denied.
“I said, ‘I waited four months for this?’” she said.
Her patience is wearing thin as she waits again for an answer while she appeals the decision. It’s a process more than 9,000 other people are in, according to the latest federal data.
“I have to fight for four months’ wages so I don’t lose my house,” she said. “I really can’t wait another month or two. It’s me here by myself.”
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