Tolleson resident Sommers Bennett says she hasn’t received unemployment payments for weeks, because of an error in the state’s new benefits system that the Department of Economic Services is aware of but can’t seem to fix.
“They won't give me any information, and it's going on the sixth week,” Bennett said. “My car was repossessed as a result."
Bennett is one of hundreds of Arizonans who say DES’ new CACTUS unemployment portal, which launched Sept. 7, is maligned by glitches and other problems that is making it difficult for them to file applications for benefits or receive payments.
In Bennett’s case, the system flagged her account for an overpayment, meaning she can’t receive new benefits until she repays the extra benefit payout she supposedly received in the past.
The only problem, she said, is the overpayment never happened.
And it’s not the first time DES’ locked up her account due to the issue.
Bennett said when she filed for unemployment benefits earlier this year, the same issue popped up.
“They wouldn't release my payments, and they were saying that I had an overpayment … from, I think it was 2013 and 2002,” she said.
She said the issue lasted for weeks, but eventually DES resolved the issue after finding the overpayment was flagged in error.
'They won't give me anything. I just have to wait'
According to an email from DES that Bennett provided to KJZZ, the department determined she was eligible for benefits and issued her around $1,200 on June 27.
But after the new CACTUS system went live in June, Bennett said the overpayment problem reappeared.
“I'm like, you've got to be kidding me,” Bennett said. “So now it's going on, we're in the sixth week. I have not received any unemployment payments.”
Like last time, Bennett claims DES acknowledged the error after she called for help. But, this time, she said they can’t fix it.
“They're telling me they see that I don't owe anything, but because it's a new system, there's a glitch, and it's not just me that's been affected,” Bennett said. “There's nothing that they can do about it until the CACTUS people fix it. They can't do anything manually. They won't give me a time. They won't give me anything. I just have to wait.”
Bennett claims she asked a DES representative to provide that explanation in writing.
“She refused, and she hung up on me and refused to get me to a supervisor,” Bennett said.
A spokesman for the agency said DES would look into Bennett’s situation, but has not yet responded to specific questions about the issue or whether it is aware of problems with the new system erroneously flagging overpayments.
“The new Unemployment Insurance (UI) system, CACTUS, launched on Sept. 7 and offers a modern interface and self-service portal with helpful tools to improve filing and managing UI benefits. In the first two benefit weeks, over 60,000 claims were filed, and more than $13.3 million in UI benefits was paid to claimants,” according to a statement provided by a spokesman in response to questions about overall problems with the new system.
On Tuesday, Gov. Katie Hobbs said, “I haven’t been informed of any” problems with the new system.
According to department data, there has been an average of 3,572 new unemployment claims filed weekly this year through the end of August. In the first week after CACTUS went into effect, there were 3,792 new claims filed, though that number dropped to 2,614 claims the second week after the launch.
Lost benefits
In the meantime, Bennett said the issue is having real impacts on her life.
“My car was repossessed as a result,” she said. “Because, going back to June, I was already behind because of this issue, and so I have been barely holding on to my vehicle. And then once this happened, there's nothing I can do. My car is gone.”
And she’s not the only Arizonan who said they haven’t received benefits since the new system went into effect last month.
Hundreds of people have posted about the problems they are facing on websites like Facebook and Reddit.
Yuma resident Matt Gerhards told KJZZ that issues with CACTUS caused delays that resulted in him missing out on benefits.
He previously told KJZZ that he had resorted to faxing and emailing his application for benefits to DES, because he was unable to file claims through the new system.
He said he included an explanation in the email detailing why his applications were late but later received confirmation that email was sent to an unmonitored inbox.
Gerhards said he was notified this week that his email applications were not accepted, because they came in after the deadline to file a claim.
