Stalled jobless benefits could resume with help from National Guard

SEATTLE – The National Guard will soon be deployed in an effort to help thousands of people in our state get badly needed unemployment benefits.

They will help sift through jobless claims that have been held-up due to massive fraud issues.

The state’s Employment Security Department said identity thieves may have gotten away with $650 million meant to help those forced out of work due to the pandemic.

Some families desperate for relief told Q13 News they have been waiting for ten weeks or even longer. One man said he now is homeless as assistance stopped flowing and families worried some bills may have to go unpaid before benefits come through.

The agency announced Thursday that 300 staffers began helping verify claims, but time is running out quickly for many depending on the funds.

“Honestly people should be losing their jobs,” said Joseph Fensil who said he’s waited far too long to receive benefits he needs.

Fensil said he has been sending any and all documentation ESD required to verify his identity, but now that it's been much delayed, he worries he’s only running on fumes.

“If I can’t replace the income by August I won’t have enough to pay any bills,” he said.

“We are pulling out all the stops so those who are eligible will be paid as soon as possible,” said ESD commissioner Suzan LeVine.

She said the addition of hundreds of people working to ensure claims get to real people should speed up identity verifications instead of finding a way to fraudsters who so far scammed the agency out of more than half a billion dollars.

“We are getting more surgical,” said LeVine. so now it’s a higher concentration of fraudulent claims than legitimate claims and we are also working to do that verification more quickly.

New jobless claims are decreasing and the agency says it has recovered more than $330 million in fraudulent claims. What’s worse, state senate republicans worry the actual loss to fraud could be closer to $1 billion, but LeVine disagrees.

“That does not align with what we have seen and what we’ve shared,” she said.

The state auditor is now reviewing what may have gone wrong.

Due to the massive fraud the agency halted payment for thousands. Private lawyers have also asked the state supreme court to decide if the agency was allowed to freeze benefits in the first place.

The delays means tens of thousands in our state are still waiting for relief while family after family inches closer to crisis.

“You just sit at home and you don’t dare spend any money,” said Fensil.

The National Guard may begin helping process claims by next week.