The DEO’s Connect system is up and running again after going offline for the weekend

SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - After a weekend of behind the scenes work, The Department of Economic Opportunity re-opened their CONNECT system Monday morning. It went offline so they process more applications for unemployment benefits.

Some say they still haven't received their benefits and have been waiting for over a month now.

LINK TO APPLY FOR UNEMPLOYMENT

"I’m going to the fifth week and you keep saying monetary status pending. Really I need the money now."

Jill Nugent is a Suncoast furloughed worker, she applied for unemployment benefits over a month ago.

As of Monday morning, The Department of Economic Opportunity has paid over 209,000 claimants and a total of nearly $201 million in unemployment benefits.

This weekend, the reemployment assistance system is working to process as many payments as possible. We are making progress toward our number one goal - paying Floridians in need of assistance, quickly.
— Florida DEO (@FLDEO) April 25, 2020

But Nugent says still hasn't received anything.

“I just can’t believe that it would take five weeks to get my first unemployment paycheck. There can’t be too many excuses for this. They are still not enough people to process them.”

According to the DEO, they have processed about 200,00 paper applications.

100k paper applications have been processed! Huge thanks to the 2k state employee volunteers dedicated to swiftly processing & fulfilling our mission to pay Floridians quickly. Here’s 1 location where our team is practicing social distancing, working quickly & also staying safe! pic.twitter.com/caGWVb0ACg
— Florida DEO (@FLDEO) April 24, 2020

You can now also search claims information by counties, by clicking HERE.

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