MARCH 03, 2022
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JUDICIAL WATCH
U.S. Starts Disbursing $260 Mil to Promote Equity in Unemployment Benefits
Months after the Biden administration announced it was dedicating an unprecedented $260 million to promote “equitable access” to government unemployment benefits the money is starting to flow so states can address disparities, increase public awareness of the program and boost the number of applicants. This week the Department of Labor (DOL) announced that three states—Oregon, Pennsylvania and Virginia—and the District of Columbia will split the initial $20 million, described by the agency as first of their kind grants to advance equity in state unemployment insurance. “Throughout the pandemic, disparities in access to benefits affected women, communities of color and other marginalized workers at a higher rate and often delayed delivery of much needed financial support and services,” according to the DOL. “These disparities in access to unemployment insurance exposed serious real-world shortcomings in the outdated systems used to deliver state and territories unemployment insurance benefits.”
Specifically, the DOL seeks to address disparities in the administration and delivery of unemployment benefits by race, ethnicity, language proficiency and disability status. To accomplish it, the agency expects states to use the taxpayer dollars to “support innovative strategies and solutions to promote equitable access” to unemployment compensation. “This includes funding that will increase public awareness of the program so more people apply, improve service delivery so claimants receive their first benefits in a timely manner and develop a better understanding of the equity challenges that need to be addressed,” the DOL writes in this week’s announcement. State officials can also use a portion of their grant to evaluate the effectiveness of programs they create with the federal funds. “To become a more robust safety net and economic stabilizer, our unemployment insurance system must serve all workers fairly and equitably,” Labor Secretary Marty Walsh declared.
https://www.judicialwatch.org/u-s-starts-disbursing-260-mil-to-promote-equity-in-unemployment-benefits/
