Carrie Roth, the head of a state agency tasked with handling unemployment benefits, presented a state legislative committee this week with good news.
She said the Virginia Employment Commission has eliminated its claims adjudication backlog and reduced the backlog for first level appeals by 33%.
The progress is welcome, especially given the commission was at the center of a class-action lawsuit in 2021 alleging “gross failures” in providing residents with unemployment benefits throughout the pandemic. A judge issued an order directing the agency to make various changes and closed the case last year after seeing improvements.
But while updates this week focused on continued progress, several legal aid organizations say many claimants still face serious communication barriers with the agency, as well as one of the lengthiest wait times in the nation for an appeal.
“There is still a ton of work to be done,” said Pat Levy-Lavelle, senior attorney with the Legal Aid Justice Center. “Even now, more than three years after the pandemic started, people are still having challenges.”
Levy-Lavelle said the justice center continues to hear from claimants who can’t log into the online self-service portal. They say they’re stuck in an infuriating loop: The online portal denies them access, so they turn to the commission’s call center for help but are then directed back to the portal.
Customer service is a priority, Roth said to the committee.
“It’s very important that everybody...
Albert Manifold claims he was ‘removed without warning or explanation’ Former BP chairman Albert Manifold has strongly rejected what he described as “false allegations” about his conduct following ...