LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The struggle faced by those who lost their jobs during the pandemic was mirrored by the struggling state agency responsible for helping the unemployed. Buried under an unprecedented mountain of claims, DETR didn't always get it right.
New numbers came to light this week from DETR's new director, Christopher Sewell. He's the fourth person to head the agency in less than three years.
In a legislative committee meeting, he told lawmakers how much money they'll need in their budget but he also detailed the staggering amount they lost to fraudsters and their own mistakes.
"During the pandemic, we paid out over $12 billion in benefits. Now the bad part. We paid out $1.4 billion in improper payments," Sewell explained to lawmakers. "Of that, $644 million was fraud. The remaining balance of $784 million were improper payments."
Sewell explained the various reasons behind some over-payments like a claimant misunderstanding a question to paid vacation time not being reported.
However, as 13 Investigates has reported, there are also people on the hook for DETR's mistakes.
We spoke to Brittany Evans last May when her DETR dashboard showed she had to pay the state back nearly $15,000. She said she never saw that money.
"I didn't get the funds," Evans said. "So whom did the funds go to at that point because Brittany Evans didn't get the funds."
She said it didn't go well when she tried to explain the situation to a DETR rep on the phone.
"They don't want to listen," she said. "They don't have any supervisors and they're no help at all"
Staffing shortages led to clogged phone lines and long wait times.
"I'm still waiting for the appeals department," Evans said. "They keep telling me they're backed up six, seven months."
That was last spring. As of Tuesday, Sewell told lawmakers there's a current backlog of about 33,000 appeals cases. He hopes that will be eliminated by the end of the year.
The current adjudication backlog is just over 13,000 cases. DETR hopes that will be caught up in 4 to 6 months.
There is some good news for about 10,000 claimants who received overpayment notices that were sent out last Friday. DETR expects that batch will actually be waived, adding up to $4.5 million that will not have to be paid back. DETR says the claimants in that batch should get confirmation in their portals this week.
For all others, click here to learn about options including payment plans or appeals.
