People who waited in line 10 hours for KY unemployment help turned away at door.
A group of around 20 people who had waited in line all day at the Kentucky Capitol to speak to someone about their unemployment benefits Tuesday were turned away after waiting in line for around 10 hours.
“Maybe, maybe 25 people left to be seen and they turn us away,” said Deborah McLaughlin, 47, who was sunburned and crying. “And they turn us away.”
The group — who were among the last in the line that was told they’d be able to speak with someone who works for unemployment and who had made it into the doors of the Capitol Education Center where the state has set up an impromptu unemployment office over the past two days — was told that the computer system shuts down at 7 p.m. and so the state wouldn’t be able to process their claims.
It caused an outburst of anger that was squelched by Kentucky State Police.
“Where the f*** is Andy?” Courtney See, 27, stood up in the hallway and yelled, in a video taken by McLaughlin. “Go get him now. He lives right there.”
Gov. Andy Beshear said in a press conference earlier Wednesday that the system’s technology is antiquated and it had been difficult to handle the nearly 1 million people who have filed for unemployment.
“Our communication has not been good,” Beshear said. “It has not.”
The line of people who were hoping for the chance to speak with someone in the unemployment office had wrapped around the Capitol complex, with See and McLaughlin among the group in the very back of the line. They are some of the thousands of Kentuckians who filed claims in March, April or May but still have not received all of their money.
Over the course of 10 hours, they moved step by step in the hot sun, buoyed by the hope that they would finally be able to talk to a person and resolve the issues with their claims.
Instead, they were told the same thing hundreds of people who showed up after the line had been cut off were told — that they could leave their names and someone would call them back the next morning. Some had been told the same thing when they showed up too late Tuesday. They had yet to receive a call.
“Who can trust that they’re going to call us back?” said Adriene Whittaker, 25, who had driven from Bowling Green. “People have been waiting months, weeks for a call back.”
While police officers handed out water to the people in line, most went without food. Some people pulled old buckets from a dumpster in order to have a place to sit while they were in line.
“They served us hot water,” Whittaker said. “No chairs, no nothing.”
McLaughlin had two chicken nuggets that someone gave her and she gave her last power bar to McKenzie Reed, 20, of Frankfort who had been waiting in line with her.
Reed said she has sent emails and made phone calls for months and had yet to be able to find out why she wasn’t receiving her money, even though she was told her claim was approved.
“They have put a notice on our door and asked us to leave because we can’t pay rent,” Reed said. “Now I’m at a loss.”
Emeion Jackson, 20, said he’s been skipping meals to make sure Reed eats.
“You can’t help but feel hopeless in this situation,” Reed said. “You can’t help but feel that there’s no light at the end of the tunnel.”
Reed and Jackson live in Frankfort and plan on going to the Cabinet for Health and Family Services building, where the makeshift unemployment office is moving tomorrow. Whittaker said she’d also be there, once again making the two and half hour drive from Bowling Green.
“It’s just a really trying time,” Whitaker said. “It’s just the absolute worst.”
The state will see people at 275 E. Main St. in Frankfort Thursday and Friday between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. There will be a special line Thursday for people who filed claims in March and still haven’t received a payment.
This story was originally published June 17, 2020 at 8:43 PM.
