Communication issues surrounding the Maryland unemployment line

POINT SIX MILLION UNEMPLOYMENTCLAIMS WERE FILED IN MARYLAND.WITH EVERY ONE OF THOSE CASESA PERSON IS TRYING TO GET WHATTHEY NEED TO SURVIVE, AND FORA LOT OF PEOPLE IT'S BEENDIFFICULT TO IMPOSSIBLE DUE TOA LACK OF COMMUNICATION.

WMAR2NEWSINVESTIGATES THE COMMUNICATIONISSUES AND WHAT THE STATE ISDOING TO HELP PEOPLE.Eddie look live Around 28,000people call the Marylandunemployment line a day.

Tomeet that demand the staadded 989 new staff membersincluding 675 new call centeremployees.

The department ofLabor says theyaround 95 percent of claimsand that only around 5 percentare pending.

The people Italked to say those effortshavendifference because they stillareresolved.

Take pkg Wayne KnoUnemployment CLAIMANT2:28-2:33“ I have CCDeverybody in the state that Ipossibly know could look intothis expect god” From May tomid- December Wayne Knott wason a Pandemic Unemploymentassistance claim getting halfof what he originally receivedwhen he lost his job in March.In the beginning he couldneven get through on the phone.2:52-3:05“You call multipletimes you get through finallyor you get a call back and youpour out about whathappening thinking thesepeople can actually dosomething when in reality theyca”He is one of the many peoplewho have overpayment statuseHis online profile says he'sover by $17,000.

On top of hisown issues, he was sentanother person's information.4:23-4:41“There is a breachin the DLL security becausethey sent another personsinformation to me.

It hasnothing to do with her claim.Yet I have her full name, hersocial security number, herclaimant ID.

I have everythingthat pertains to how much shegets per week and how much heroverpayment is” Gary Beachhas been unemployed sinceNovember.

He says it took himtwo weeks to get through tounemployment on the phone.:45-:56“They said I have atwo week wait before I got aphone interview and thatwasnand finally got through againand they said I was still onthe waiting list” He sahedropped and even startedemailing Governor Hogan dailywith how many times he wasdropped in that day.

Hefinally got a person assignedto his casehad a phone interview.6:00-:6:14“Governor Hogan didemail me back.

He also copiedin Tiffany Robinson whosecretary of Labor for thestate of Maryland” PriscillaLogaJuly ú5th.

Shepassport and there is nothingon the beacon for her to do.She has 7 claims that shewaiting for a response on.Prescilla Logan Unemploymentclaimant 1:39-2:02“Icalled on the regular just tosee if I could talk to anyoneand I never get an answer Ialways get the machine.

Orthey want you to do it onvirtual, I got to type stuffbut they canbecause itthat I want answered” EddieTag Everyone I talked to saysthedelegates and senators and inmany cases that has helpedleast get a little morecommunication.

While theircases are on the right peoplesradars, they are still lookingfor answers.

If you are havingsimilar issues reach out tomyself at eddie@wmar.com orMallory Sofastaii atMallory@wmar.com.

Reportingfor WMAR2 News IKadhim.SOME SCAMMERS ARE