ORLANDO, Fla. — Every day for the last week and a half, Colleen Radloff has sat down in her home office to try to file for unemployment – so far, without luck.
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For two hours, Radloff attempts to get into the system to check her status and fill in additional information. Most of the time, she barely gets past the home screen.
She said she’s spent 14 hours total doing this, one day after the next.
She demonstrated an attempt Monday, typing in her login information and verification code. The portal barely loaded.
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“This last time was horrendous,” she remarked, before giving up.
Problems with Florida’s reemployment assistance portal, known as Reconnect, are nothing new.
Chronic issues began during the first term of Rick Scott’s administration when the state spent $77 million overhauling the system only to have applicants locked out or waiting a month for assistance. It led to awkward admissions for elected and appointed administrators.
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“For those who are still having trouble… we are acutely aware of their situation… we are frustrated like they are and we are trying to get the answers,” then-Department of Economic Opportunity chief Jesse Panuccio said in 2013.
The issues only continued into the DeSantis administration and were made worse by the pandemic. The system didn’t have the technological or human infrastructure in place to handle the number of calls.
In South Florida, state officials took to handing out paper applications to help people who lost their jobs.
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However, the fact that Radloff is encountering the same issues the state dealt with 10 years ago – at a time of near-record employment levels when the system shouldn’t be getting that many requests – signifies something else to her.
“I think what they do they want it to fail,” Radloff said. “So people get so frustrated, they don’t file.”
Radloff is just temporarily laid off from her work at the Convention Center, which doesn’t hold as many events during the summer season. She will resume her job in September, and while unemployment benefits aren’t a fortune, they help pay the rent.
She’s not just a one-off case, though, Aides for multiple state lawmakers said they’ve noticed an uptick in complaints made to their offices about the unemployment portal. One aide said they get several calls per day, up from one call every few days.
WFTV reached out to the Department of Commerce to find out why this sudden increase in issues has happened. A spokeswoman said she was looking into it.
Radloff sought assistance from Sen. Linda Stewart’s office, which connected her to an actual human being. Her case has been put under review.
“I’m still not certified,” she said. “I still have to wait 72 hours, and then go back in. I hope I complete it by this Friday, because [if it’s not finalized] I have to start all over again.”
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