New York State Department of Labor receives $9.1M grant to make accessing unemployment services easier

The New York State Department of Labor has received $9.1 million in federal grant funding to improve access to the state’s unemployment insurance (UI) system and reduce barriers for underserved residents.

The funding, which comes from the U.S. Department of Labor and is part of the American Rescue Plan Act, will go toward promoting “equitable access” to the state’s unemployment program, the state Labor Department said Wednesday.

The state agency said it will use the money on its existing accessibility projects to make it “easier for New Yorkers to discover, learn about, and access UI services.” In particular, the state said it wants to address barriers related to race, ethnicity, language proficiency, literacy, disability status, socioeconomic status, geographic locations, and other systemic hurdles.

“This grant will provide critical funding to advance our ongoing efforts to modernize our unemployment insurance system and enhance the customer experience to ensure we break down potential barriers to benefits,” Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon said in a statement.

As part of the improvements, the state plans to review its application instructions for unemployment benefits and simplify  them to reduce confusion and prevent applicants from receiving improper payments.

Additionally, there will be a focus on improving access to the UI program for those who are visually or hearing impaired.

Advocates for underserved communities struggling to secure unemployment benefits said the funding is good news, but questions on implementation  remain.

“How they use this is going to be crucial,” said Ciara Farrell, a volunteer attorney with the New York Legal Assistance Group, a nonprofit providing free civil legal services to low-income New Yorkers.

The state’s unemployment system is more than halfway through a major, four-year technology upgrade to its unemployment filing process, nearly three years after mass pandemic layoffs pushed the system to its breaking point.

And while those changes, coupled with language translation features, are making the online tools easier to use for claimants, Farrell said when it comes to reaching poor, immigrant communities or individuals with disabilities who should qualify for benefits, the state needs to invest more in on-the-ground outreach and services.

“They don’t have a presence in these communities,” Farrell said. “Claimants have to know those services exist.”

The grant was administered through the U.S. Labor Department’s Employment and Training Administration and comes out of the federal agency’s 2021 announcement of up to $260 million in grant funding for states to promote equitable access to UI benefits.