“It’s only for $211, but I desperately need it,” said Deborah Collins, of Summerfield, just north of The Villages, who’s been trying to get benefits since mid-February, when the Aunt Fannie’s restaurant in Belleview where she worked as a server shut down after a fire.
“We’re completely broke. I have some medication I can’t even pick up,” Collins said. “I’ve got one pill left for today, and then I’m going to have to borrow the money, I guess from somebody, and go get that medication.”
Florida’s CONNECT system, which manages jobless benefits, was difficult to access even before much of economic life was shut down in mid-March and social distancing measures put in place to slow the spread of the virus. But with the inundation in claims, some people trying to apply for benefits say the system’s dysfunction makes it nearly impossible to get paid.
Gov. Ron DeSantis and administration officials have cited progress in accepting more claims after making upgrades to the system, creating a new website, accepting paper applications, adding more servers and adding more workers to take calls on the helpline.
At a news conference in Jacksonville on Friday, DeSantis said there were 225,755 initial claims filed this week so far, compared with the 170,000 last week and the 228,000 for the week ending March 27. DEO also received 12,000 paper applications.
DEO executive director Ken Lawson on Monday cited a goal of processing 80,000 claims this week, despite having a backlog of more than 560,000 claims. Lawson said this would be a “test week” for the system and the administration’s improvements.
But it’s hard to assess just how far behind the state is in getting out payments. A DEO spokeswoman did not answer repeated requests for data this week on the amount of daily calls, the number and amount of claims paid or the average claim amount paid.
Nationwide, there were 6.6 million unemployment claims last week, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
“This is a shock like we’ve never seen before so we’re shifting as many resources to this as we can to be able to meet this real crushing demand,” DeSantis said.
But even with system improvements and increased capacity, the delays are likely to continue for thousands of applicants. Even after getting a claim filed, it must be reviewed, processed and approved. And even then, problems can occur.
After being initially approved, Collins said her check is being held up because she didn’t meet the work search requirements, even though DeSantis’ administration has waived that requirement until May 1. That delay has consequences. She and her husband have paid their bills and bought groceries, but she’s waiting on the unemployment benefits to buy the medication she needs for her rheumatoid arthritis.
Calling the DEO’s helpline hasn’t helped, she said. After a series of menu options is given and buttons pressed in an attempt to get an operator, she receives an automated message saying all lines are busy and to check DEO’s website for more information.
DEO signed a contract with a call center to add 250 people to take calls. That contract showed that in one recent week DEO answered less than 2 percent of calls, and while some were able to be helped by the automated system, 90 percent of callers were disconnected or gave up waiting on hold.
“At the beginning yes, I tried the number and it wouldn’t even ring,” said Scott Fox, who worked at the Pio Pio restaurant off Kirkman Road in Orlando until he was indefinitely furloughed on March 19. “I tried a few times the first couple of days and that was it.”
When Fox has tried the CONNECT system, he hasn’t gotten very far. And the job search requirement is still tripping up the application process, despite being waived.
“I’ve gotten six pages in and then it would kick me back to the beginning,” Fox said. “I had to lie and say I was looking for a job. It won’t let you go any further unless you fill out that information.”
If Pio Pio is able to get a business loan through the Paycheck Protection Program designed to help small businesses make payroll and hires Fox back, he said he’ll be able to stop filing for unemployment. Fox said he’s also counting on relief from the $1,200 stimulus payment that is supposed to arrive in the coming days. But until then, the uncertainty over the loss of income is gnawing at him.
“I haven’t had any income for three weeks, so I would really just like to get the first round of benefits,” Fox said. “I had a month of income in my savings account, so I’m going to be okay. But it’s stressful.”
Other delays, at least for the $600 in extra weekly benefits as part of the federal stimulus package known as the CARES Act, have been out of the state’s hands. That money hasn’t been given to Florida or other states yet to even administer.
But the never-ending string of requirements continues to jam the system. Even those who have received a payment previously have to re-file every two weeks.
“You click submit and it grinds away for a minute or so and then kicks you back out, puts you back to the home screen,” said Phil Dunkle, a technical director for the Orlando Magic. He was paid until this week but has been unable to get through on the system.
The new website didn’t work either and while he said he’ll be fine financially, he worries about fellow out-of-work colleagues two weeks from now if the system continues to sputter.
As the frustration builds, hope remains among some that the state will be up to the challenge.
But worries persist about those in dire financial conditions.
“Everything that they’re trying is moving at the speed of dark. But I have faith that they’ll get the kinks worked out and people will be okay,” Fox said. “I’m going to be fine. I don’t have kids or anything, but there are other people with kids, and they have to feed their kids. … Those are the ones I feel bad for.”
©2020 Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
