CONNECT

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed the change at the company's annual Connect event on Oct. 28. Facebook's social media platform will keep its current name.

The Department of Economic Opportunity starts the first wave of PIN reset instructions to claimants stuck in the PIN reset loop.

The Department of Economic Opportunity says there was a data security incident involving potentially fraudulent activity connected to claimant accounts within the Reemployment Assistance Claims and Benefits Information System, commonly known as CONNECT.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida’s unemployment website Connect will be unavailable Friday to process claims, according to the state Department of Economic Opportunity. The DEO announced Thursday afternoon the reemployment assistance customer service center and the Connect portal would be down for all of Friday, March 26. The website will be down as the DEO works to process pandemic unemployment assistance benefits made available through the most recent federal coronavirus relief bill. It is the first time that weekly applications for jobless aid have fallen below 700,000 since mid-March of last year. Since last March, the Florida DEO has processed more than 5 million claims seeking unemployment benefits and paid out more than $24 billion to claimants, much of that from federal funding.

The proposal also initially called for a “cloud-based system” to replace the CONNECT system, as Eagle has recommended. The office would be created within the Department of Economic Opportunity.The proposal doesn’t address the amount or weeks of benefits out-of-work Floridian can receive. But modernizing the underlying policy is also critical,” Woodall, who is with the Florida Center for Fiscal and Economic Policy, said. Ron DeSantis called the system, among other things, a “jalopy” after it repeatedly crashed last year when hundreds of thousands of unemployment claims were filed as businesses shut down.Eagle said Monday a goal of the change is to craft a system that can be updated annually, noting the modernization of the unemployment system “froze” after being set up in 2013. The system was budgeted at $12 million a year.

click to enlarge AdobeJudge Cooper flatly denied the plaintiffs’ arguments and dismissed the lawsuit. A Leon County circuit judge on Monday dismissed a potential class-action lawsuit against the state and Deloitte Consulting stemming from problems with Florida’s online unemployment compensation system during the COVID-19 pandemic. After dismissing the case in September, Cooper allowed the plaintiffs to file a revised version. It sought damages and raised several arguments, including that the department and Deloitte were negligent and breached a fiduciary duty. This document is critically important for the court’s consideration of the pending motions to dismiss.”But in a pair of orders dismissing the case, Cooper flatly denied the plaintiffs’ arguments.

Ron DeSantis’ office.The 95-page draft report by Chief Inspector General Melinda Miguel focused on the Department of Economic Opportunity’s CONNECT unemployment system, which cost $78 million and began operating in 2013. “We could not find evidence where DEO (the Department of Economic Opportunity) enforced this contract requirement. "We finished work on the CONNECT project nearly six years ago after the state accepted the system and we met all of our obligations. We have not worked on CONNECT since May 2015, at which time the system was performing well above the agreed-upon standard for system availability and far exceeding the performance of the system it replaced. The drastic spike in COVID-related jobless claims overwhelmed many states’ unemployment systems, taxing even those that had the latest technological updates.

The 95-page draft report by Chief Inspector General Melinda Miguel focused on the Department of Economic Opportunity’s CONNECT unemployment system, which cost $78 million and began operating in 2013. The system largely crashed last spring when it was inundated with claims as businesses shut down because of the pandemic. Ken Lawson resigned as department director in August, a little more than four months after DeSantis put Department of Management Services Secretary Jonathan Satter in charge of shoring up the CONNECT system. AdMiguel’s report awaits review and comments from vendors linked to CONNECT, including Deloitte Consulting, which was a major contractor. Deloitte sought to distance itself from the unemployment system last year, replying to a potential class-action lawsuit in June by saying it has had “no connection” to the online system in more than five years.

click to enlarge Florida ChannelMore than $73 million is needed over the next two years to revamp Florida’s much-criticized unemployment system, which was overwhelmed in the initial weeks of the coronavirus pandemic, the head of the state’s unemployment agency said Monday. State unemployment benefits typically are available for 12 weeks. The Department of Economic Opportunity is requesting the additional funding as the release of auditor-general and inspector-general reports about the unemployment system remain pending. The state spent $49 million last year as the department scrambled to make emergency improvements to the system and hired hundreds of people to field questions about claims. “The CONNECT system was not designed nor developed to process the volume of claims received during the COVID-19 pandemic,” the report released Friday said.

Department of Economic Opportunity Director Dane Eagle presented an aggressive blueprint to revamp the struggling Connect unemployment system on Monday with a proposed expense sheet of $73.3 million over the next two fiscal years. According to Eagle, the money is needed to invest in cloud migration, software architecture and business process optimization along with more than 430 new employees to meet the anticipated high level of unemployment claims. Eagle’s presentation came before the Senate Select Committee on Pandemic Preparedness and Response followed by a rigorous round of questions by the committee. The independent consultant’s audit included a stark comparison of initial unemployment claims for eight years between Jan.1, 2012 and March 14, 2020 and the 11 months that followed. During the eight years, initial claims reached 4.2 million while the 11 ”pandemic months” from March 15, 2020 to Feb. 10, 2021 saw 5.3 million claims.

ORLANDO, Fla. – The Department of Economic Opportunity will be temporarily taking down the online portal where Floridians can apply for unemployment benefits in order to fix some errors that have been causing glitches for users. The Connect system will be unavailable beginning at 7 p.m. Wednesday until 8 a.m. Thursday. [TRENDING: Trump supporter hit girl in face, deputies say | This Central Fla. city is the best place to live | Were 3 Orlando cops poisoned?] Records show that more than four million claims have been filed between then and now, nearly 3.8 million of which have been paid out. If users still have trouble accessing the Connect portal after it returns online Thursday, they’re asked to call the customer service center at 833-FL-APPLY.

ORLANDO, Fla. The firm that originally created Floridas unemployment website CONNECT, which has been called a clunker by the governor, won the state contract by default because it submitted the lowest bid, according to Gov. Deloitte Consulting recently obtained another state contract, causing outrage from lawmakers and Floridians who have had to interact with the unemployment system. Deloitte beat out four other firms for the $135 million contract. There is an ongoing inspector general investigation into the unemployment website contract process including why the contract was amended 14 times. DeSantis said legally he cannot interfere in the state contract selection process.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – After facing weeks of criticism because of Florida’s troubled unemployment system, Deloitte Consulting LLP said in a newly filed court document that it has had “no connection” to the online system in more than five years. Deloitte had a state contract to develop the CONNECT unemployment system, which began operating in 2013. “Deloitte has had no involvement in the implementation, maintenance or upgrade of the CONNECT system for more than five years,” the company’s attorneys wrote in a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. “And it has never had any involvement in processing or adjudicating the state’s unemployment benefit claims, including during the COVID-19 pandemic. The CONNECT system was not able to handle the surge of applications, forcing the state to scramble to try to shore up the claims process ---- and leading Gov.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Dan Crowder’s wait for unemployment benefits has turned into a 8-week test of endurance as the furloughed Disney worker waits for his first check from the Florida Department of Employment Opportunity. By April 19, an estimated 43,000 Disney World employees were out of work with health benefits still covered by the entertainment giant. Disney employees furloughed due to closures were automatically enrolled in Florida’s unemployment system known as CONNECT. Crowder’s wait for benefits seems to reflect the frustration hundreds of people have reported their benefits are “pending” without explanation. If you would like to help Dan Crowder or you have an unemployment issue email us at makeendsmeet@wkmg.com.

According to the DEO, beginning this week, people must log into the Florida unemployment website CONNECT to claim their weeks. Claimants have until May 17 to claim the current week which began Sunday after that they will need to sign into CONNECT every two weeks to claim their payments. This is a step-by-step guide showing how to claim weeks in the DEO system. Tomorrow beginning at 8am, claimants will be able to access the CONNECT system to claim their weeks. Those who have exhausted their regular unemployment benefits are still waiting for relief from the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, or PEUC, which provides assistance to those individuals.

The state reported Sunday that more than 1 million workers nearly 10 percent of the states workforce have applied for unemployment benefits. Ron DeSantis and Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services Nikki Fried have asked for a probe of the flawed unemployment system. The CONNECT system often crashed and the average wait time for those who attempted to call reached six hours. The $63 million CONNECT system went live in 2013 and quickly revealed flaws. "Even with a mild recession it would have had problems," DeSantis said.

The state reported Sunday that more than 1 million workers nearly 10 percent of the states workforce have applied for unemployment benefits. Ron DeSantis and Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services Nikki Fried have asked for a probe of the flawed unemployment system. The CONNECT system often crashed and the average wait time for those who attempted to call reached six hours. The $63 million CONNECT system went live in 2013 and quickly revealed flaws. "Even with a mild recession it would have had problems," DeSantis said.

The state reported Sunday that more than 1 million workers nearly 10 percent of the states workforce have applied for unemployment benefits. Ron DeSantis and Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services Nikki Fried have asked for a probe of the flawed unemployment system. The CONNECT system often crashed and the average wait time for those who attempted to call reached six hours. The $63 million CONNECT system went live in 2013 and quickly revealed flaws. "Even with a mild recession it would have had problems," DeSantis said.

click to enlarge Photo via Rick Scott/FacebookA Leon County circuit judge Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit seeking to force the state to process and pay unemployment claims that have been delayed amid a crush of people losing jobs because of the coronavirus pandemic.The potential class-action lawsuit was filed last month as the states CONNECT unemployment system faced massive problems. Of the unique claims, nearly 770,000 had been processed as of Tuesday. Rick Scott.We've now launched an investigation about how this was acquired and all the money spent, DeSantis said Wednesday while in Miami. If somebody put an air-conditioning system in and it didn't work, what would you do? What would you do?Morgan added that DeSantis is doing one hell of a job. DeSantis office didnt immediately reply to a request for comment.

TALLAHASSEE A Leon County circuit judge Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit seeking to force the state to process and pay unemployment claims that have been delayed amid a crush of people losing jobs because of the coronavirus pandemic. The potential class-action lawsuit was filed last month as the states CONNECT unemployment system faced massive problems. From March 15 to Tuesday, the state system received more than 1.8 million unemployment claims, of which more than 1.1 million were considered unique, with the difference due to duplicates or incomplete paperwork. Of the unique claims, nearly 770,000 had been processed as of Tuesday. During the hearing, attorneys for unemployed people pleaded with Dempsey to issue an order directing the state to get the claims resolved.

Any system was going to have some problems, but if we had anything other than 3 or 4 percent unemployment, this system was going to be a problem. Lori Berman, D-Lantana, added that the system has been treated with total ineptitude.People are desperate, Berman said. They are angry, and this is not OK. We thought that the governor would give us some answers. The problems that we're having to talk to the engineers (about) are beyond what was in that. But I don't know that that is the reason why we're dealing with the problems that we're dealing now.

click to enlarge Photo via Florida Governor's OfficeGov. Ron DeSantis said he will hold a news conference Monday to address the states much-criticized CONNECT unemployment compensation system.The system just totally broke. It's not a good system. We're going to deal with that, DeSantis said Sunday during an appearance at Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach.Since March 15, the state has received 1.78 million unemployment applications, of which more than 1 million are considered unique, as some people filed more than one claim. Overwhelmed by claims starting in mid-March, the Department of Economic Opportunity opened a backup online site for new claims and allowed people to fill out paper applications.

— Florida DEO (@FLDEO) April 29, 2020People have reported issues accessing their CONNECT account or attempting to re-apply for pandemic unemployment assistance benefits on the website Tuesday and Wednesday. According to the DEO, the CONNECT system updates once a day and due to nightly maintenance processing claims the system is only available from 8 a.m. to 7:59 p.m. More than 404,000 payments have been made totaling $553 million as of Tuesday evening, the last time the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity dashboard was updated. Satter, Florida Department of Management Services secretary, was tapped by the governor to lead the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity through its coronavirus unemployment surge. In a request for answers about the CONNECT issues some users reported to News 6 the DEO had not responded as of this report.

click to enlarge Photo via Ron DeSantis/FacebookDemocratic lawmakers Monday continued to press Gov. Ron DeSantis to boost unemployment benefits for Floridians left jobless by the coronavirus pandemicMeanwhile, DeSantis, reiterating his own criticism of the backlogged CONNECT online unemployment system, said he is focused on getting payments to people who are out of work.I think it is something that should be looked at, DeSantis said of the implementation of the CONNECT system. Scott came in and was there for eight years as you all know. Those changes end May 2.DeSantis on Monday acknowledged a lot of architectural problems and a capacity issue with CONNECT.It could have been done, I think obviously, better, DeSantis said. But at the end of the day, you know, my job is to fix problems when they arise.

A message for people attempting to access the unemployment claims portal known as CONNECT reads: “CONNECT is currently processing payments. As of Thursday, nearly 22% of more than 701,700 unemployment claims have been paid by the state totaling $157 million, according to the DEO. The current Florida unemployment website was put in place under former Gov. “This thing was a clunker, there’s no doubt about it it was designed to fail basically I think,” the governor said of the Florida unemployment website. More than 2,200 trained workers from other Florida agencies have been pulled into to process applications, according to the governor.

Floridas Department of Economic Opportunitys CONNECT unemployment site has been answering only 2 percent of the thousands of calls its received, with wait times averaging more than six hours. Included in Fridays numbers, DeSantis said, are 12,000 paper applications, recently introduced by the Department of Economic Opportunity. More than 6.6 million people nationwide filed for unemployment last week, according to Labor Department data released Thursday. That will undoubtedly force more out-of-work Floridians onto the CONNECT system. People need help now, but theyre still waiting, said Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, who said most of her day is spent helping people navigate the CONNECT system.

Ron DeSantis focused Monday on improvements being made to the states overwhelmed unemployment-compensation system, rather than his embattled appointee overseeing the work. But newly made changes allowed the system to handle more than 22,000 unemployment applications before 10 a.m. Monday, officials said. If you are having technical difficulties with the CONNECT system, you can call a LOCAL number or HELP in Volusia or Flagler Counties. Also over the weekend, the state activated a previously built-in backup to the Department of Economic Opportunitys CONNECT unemployment system. Today, make sure people dont lose confidence in the government.Toledo wants the Joint Legislative Auditing Committee to audit spending on the CONNECT system, which cost $77 million to get online in 2013.

Ron DeSantis over the states failing CONNECT system for filing unemployment claims. A groundswell of social media anger is being directed at DeSantis, who responded with a roundtable at the Florida Capitol, flanked by department heads from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, revenue and management services. Floridas weekly unemployment benefits are maxed out at $275, among the lowest in the nation. While applications from these workers are being rejected by the CONNECT system, Lawson said the agency is taking steps this week to help them apply. Coronavirus Florida: DeSantis hosts roundtable on unemploymentFloridas CONNECT system was already a problem before the coronavirus shutdowns exposed its deep flaws.

click to enlarge Photo via News Service of FloridaState Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-OrlandoGov. If you look at the unemployment claims nationwide and compare it to the financial crisis (of 2008 and 2009), it is way, way, way more significant.But Florida offers some of the lowest unemployment-compensation benefits in the country, up to $275 a week for 12 weeks. The dissemination of information to applicants is well below any sort of acceptable standard.Rep. Yes, this crisis is unprecedented. But that doesnt mean that everyday Floridians dont have their own crisis when they go on this website for support.

MIAMI, Fla. – The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity is waiving requirements for reemployment assistance. [RELATED: How to file for unemployment benefits during coronavirus pandemic | Florida working to keep up with coronavirus unemployment assistance calls, applications]The department says applicants no longer need to register online or show they’re available for work. People who are furloughed or laid off due to the coronavirus outbreak can file for these benefits. Here are the steps to file to reemployment benefits:Visit www.floridajobs.org to submit your application on the CONNECT platform here. Following your application, applicants must log in to the CONNECT system every two weeks to request benefit payment.