Mass. Divisions of Career Services and Unemployment Assistance
Ken Messina of the Massachusetts Division of Career Services (DCS) and John Murray of the Division of Unemployment Assistance (DUA) explained their programs at the May Community Resource Center Information Session.
About two years ago the Division of Employment and Training was dissolved and split into the two divisions listed above. For further information about either of the divisions you can start with the shared website: www.detma.org/default.htm .
The Division of Career Service (DCS) is focused on re-employment assistance after a lay-off. They operate the state’s network of 32 “One-Stop Career Centers”. These centers offer services such as job search assistance, access to online job listings, career counseling, coaching on job search skills, workshops on job search strategies, access to PCs, reference materials, resume building software, and economic data and networking groups (for a full list of career centers see: www.detma.org/DETOfficeList.asp). This division also has a “Rapid Response” team which goes in to businesses planning a lay-off and offers services to both the employer and workers who may be facing a layoff. They may offer in-house job fairs, job-matching, resume writing workshops and connect employees to their local One-Stop Career Center.
The Division of Unemployment Assistance (DUA) primarily manages the Unemployment Insurance (UI) program, i.e., cash assistance for laid-off workers.
Unemployment Insurance
To be eligible for UI, the applicant must:
- have earned $3,000 in the previous year,
- be out of work due to no fault of his/her own,
- be available for full-time work
Applications are taken on the phone; applicants do not need to apply in person. Recipients are required to attend a training at a One-Stop Career Center. The weekly benefit s is approximately half of the recipient’s previous average weekly gross earnings, with a maximum of $528 per week. UI benefits are subject to both state and federal taxes. In Massachusetts recipients can collect UI for up to 30 weeks.
The recipient must conduct an active search for work each week and document these efforts. UI is not meant to be used as a temporary disability program. An active work search is defined as:
- making a minimum of three work search contacts in each week that benefits are claimed;
- keeping a written log of those work search contacts (form available at http://www.detma.org/pdf/1750-T.pdf);
- providing this log to DUA upon request.
If the recipient is the whole or main support of children under 18 years old OR under 24 and attending school full-time OR disabled (any age), she/he may be eligible for a weekly dependency allowance of $25 per dependent child. The dependency allowance cannot be more than 50 percent of the weekly benefit rate. Spouses are not included.
A UI recipient can work part-time and still receive UI. If the recipient is making less than one-third of his/her weekly benefit, the recipient will receive smaller weekly checks, but will receive the same amount of total benefits as if not working at all (it will extend beyond 30 weeks). But if earning more than one-third of weekly benefits, the amount is deducted dollar for dollar.
There is a special health insurance program for certain low-income UI recipients. Those with family income under 400% FPL are eligible for premium assistance in paying for COBRA coverage (UI pays 75% of the cost -up to $580/month for a family plan and $245/month for an individual plan). Those with income at 200% FPL or less and those without the option for COBRA can get direct coverage through the Medical Security Plan, which is provided through Blue Cross/Blue Shield. But once the recipient exhausts UI, the plan also expires, while COBRA usually covers 18 months, and longer in some circumstances. See www.detma.org/WSmsp.htm#coverage for more information.
- Thanks to Ken Messina and John Murray for their presentation.