FOGARTY
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Charles J. Fogarty, the director of the state's Department of Labor and Training, says that the state's unemployment insurance program is unsatisfactory, but that he's working hard to improve things and has made some progress.
The program has drawn criticism from beneficiaries who say the agency's bureaucracy is nearly impenetrable by telephone and not much more accessible by the only available substitute, e-mail.
"We understand the level of frustration" among the unemployed trying to get benefits, he said. "We are well aware of it and it is frustrating to us."
He reviewed the recent history of the program -- the reduction in the federal money that pays the staff followed by the layoff of 51 employees, a third of the unemployment insurance staff, last summer. The department subsequently won grants that restored 22 of those jobs.
The program has other problems, but officials make it clear that a central one is money to pay staff to answer the phones. Frustrated applicants have reported spending hour after hour, day after day, trying to reach a department employee.