COLUMBUS – Ohio’s human services chief says the state faced an unprecedented surge in unemployment claims almost overnight as the COVID-19 pandemic led to widespread business shutdowns, crippling the state’s system for processing benefits and causing aggravating delays.
Individuals are encouraged to file their claims online, if possible.
Those without internet access can call 1-877-644-6562 (OHIO-JOB) from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. weekdays, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturdays and from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Sundays.
In testimony before the House and Ways Committee on Wednesday, Ohio Department of Job and Family Services director Kimberly Hall said the speed of the shutdown left the state no time to retool its call center and website to respond.
“We still have only been able to answer fewer than 40 percent of calls. This is unacceptable to all of us,” she said.
The department reported 42,082 initial jobless claims to the U.S. Dept. of Labor for the week ending May 23, bringing the number of initial jobless claims filed in Ohio over the last 10 weeks to over 1.25 million, more than the total of the last three years combined.
Between March 14 and 16, when health director Dr. Amy Acton and Gov. Mike DeWine ordered schools, bars and restaurants closed, the number of unemployment claims jumped from less than 800 to 36,000, Hall testified.
Over the next week, the department experienced a nearly 2,700% claims increase as more employers closed and laid off workers, to more than 196,000, a number that kept rising and finally reached its current level last week, Hall said. That does not include the $647 million paid out in payments to more than 109,000 claimants through the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, which provides benefits to many who historically have not qualified for them, such as self-employed workers, 1099 tax filers, part-time workers, and those who lack sufficient work history.
The deluge overwhelmed a 16-year-old system that left calls unanswered and website crashes as thousands of workers tried to apply for benefits.
“The antiquated technology of our benefit system and call center have been our greatest challenge and disadvantage as a state. Our benefit system…was implemented in 2004. It was never built for the claims volume it is now handling,” Hall told the committee.
The agency has distributed more than $3.1 billion in payments to more than 644,000 workers, processing nearly 93% of the applications it has received, according to data released Thursday morning.
The department contracted with in 2018 with Sagitec for an $86 million upgrade to a cloud-based system, which Hall said would be ready in 2022.
State officials in at least two other states, Arkansas and Wisconsin, were also expected to respond to similar complaints in legislative testimony Wednesday. Lawmakers have fielded similar complaints in several other states.
Even as states were swamped by traditional jobless claims, the federal government passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security – or CARES — Act, which was signed on March 27 and created three new programs providing an additional $600 per week to existing benefits, extending the period when Ohioans could collect benefits by up to 13 weeks after their state benefits expired, and creating the PUA program.
After the law was enacted, Hall says questions about how states should design their delivery systems remained unanswered for several weeks.
Roughly 2.1 million people applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week, a sign that companies are still slashing jobs.
About 41 million people have now applied for aid since the virus outbreak intensified in March. The national jobless rate was 14.7% in April, the highest since the Great Depression.
The state on Thursday reported 33,439 confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 2,044 deaths.
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The Columbus Association for the Performing Arts has announced the cancelation of Festival Latino 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Instead of the festival, previously scheduled for August 8-9 at Genoa Park, CAPA is offering a week-long, online experience called Viva Festival Latino! during the week of August 3-9.
Viva Festival Latino! will offer a series of online cultural events and activities that highlight some of the favorite features of the festival, including music, food, dance, visual artists, children’s activities, fashion, and community and health and wellness resources.