DUA shifting to new schedule as residents claim they haven’t received unemployment funds for months

Over the last few weeks, numerous residents have reached out to Boston 25 News about their concerns regarding delays with unemployment funds.

Paul Fletcher, Tanya Casavant and Eric Cyr are some of the residents who voiced concerns with Boston 25 News Reporter Elly Morillo.

“It’s literally pending-pending-pending-pending,” Fletcher told Boston 25 News.

Casavant, a school bus driver, said it is not uncommon for drivers to file for unemployment once school is out, but she hasn’t been able to meet financial deadlines due to these delays.

“I am literally twice a week, selling my blood plasma for income. I never did that before. I’ve always been a blood donor, just a regular blood donor, but somebody told me they pay you for your blood plasma and it’s disturbing to me that the reason I would go donate my plasma is simply because they’re paying me to do it,” said Casavant.

Boston 25 News reached out to the Department of Unemployment Assistance last week with several questions as part of this investigation.

A spokesperson with the department added Monday that the DUA will launch a three-month pilot program beginning August first that will adjust call center hours to only Monday through Thursday.

Friday will be reserved solely to address items that require adjudication or other administrative tasks.

The new schedule is modeled on a similar program in Oregon, the DUA said. The DUA is in the process of notifying claimants, a department spokesperson said.

“The Department of Unemployment Assistance understands that losing a job is a stressful time for individuals and their families. DUA is working diligently to ensure the agency delivers benefits to eligible claimants while maintaining program integrity. DUA also remains committed to improving response times and communication with claimants, and DUA has, and continues to, implement enhancements to deliver a better customer service experience that claimants deserve,” a department spokesperson said.

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