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DOA responds to legislative audit showing $21.2 million was overpaid in unemployment benefits

Posted at 4:49 PM, Jul 16, 2020
and last updated 2020-11-13 15:37:15-05

On July 15, the Legislative Audit Bureau released its detailed review of the Department of Workforce Development's overpayment mistake which happened in April.

The audit reveals the agency may have overpaid an estimated $21.2 million in program benefits over two days. The DWD points to a programming error as the cause.

To read the LAB audit and the DWD's letter of response and plans for correctionclick here.

TMJ4 News interviewed Secretary Joel Brennan with the Department of Administration, which supports the state agency and its programs.

Below is a Q & A between reporter Kristin Byrne and Secretary Brennan about the error.

Kristin Byrne: Was it human error or was it a computer glitch that caused this?
Secretary Brennan: There are certainly technology challenges those have been widely reported and those go back several years within the Department of Workforce Development and there are also many people who are working on this and there is a manual entry so I think on this issue, it was a combination of factors.

Kristin Byrne: Has this overpayment issue created delays in getting people their pay?
Secretary Brennan: I believe really those are two separate issues. The main reasons for delays and the reason why this has taken a long time are really unprecedented numbers. There are also issues surrounding technology.

Kristin Byrne: What is the state doing to make sure that this doesn't happen again?
Secretary Brennan: The Department of Administration, the Controller's Office, did a thorough review of all the processes at the Department of Workforce Development. There were suggestions that were made, process changes that were suggested by that review, process changes that were implemented by the Department of Workforce Development. (See above link for response letter from DWD detailing plans of correction on pg. 15-16.)

Kristin Byrne: What do you want to say to those people who were underpaid because of this mistake?
Secretary Brennan: Clearly I think anytime there is a mistake, the things that need to happen are it needs to be found out immediately. It needs to be corrected as quickly as possible and there needs to be the steps taken to ensure that it doesn't happen again.

Kristin Byrne: Just in talking with people. That level of frustration has reached a whole new level. They are angry. What do you have to say to them? Do you think you owe them an apology? Does DWD owe them an apology?
Secretary Brennan: I think what we owe them is the best possible service that we can give them.
Kristin Byrne: But at this point, sir, you're not giving them the best service.
Secretary Brennan: I think we have not been able to address every claim and there is a responsibility for that, but the best way to deal with that is to ensure that we are making the investments in whether it is in people, technology, or outside vendors to ensure that people get those resources as quickly as possible."

On July 16, DOA announced it will be reassigning state workers to help the DWD process the unprecedented amount of unemployment insurance claims. Click here to read more.

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