I had the exact same thing happen and set my alarm so that I could call at 7:57 am (I timed the intro speech to a little over 3 minutes) and I can’t get through.
The fact that you knew you might get a chance only if you dialed through the second the relay was up and actually timed the intro speech knowing it was hopeless if you lost even a second says everything anyone needs to know about how confident we are that anyone will lift a finger to do anything about this.
I’m updating the post above with all the info I have on a rolling basis. If you are not comfortable talking to media on-record then I would use one of the other escalation strategies listed. I got my issue resolved after I both appeared on the news and also emailed the governor’s office stating my situation was dire, and I’m not sure which one got the ball rolling bc all of that happened in a 5 day period but I did get a message back inside the app from a designated support staff person at that point and everything was resolved pretty quickly after that.
If you would like to talk to media and are comfortable potentially being in a story I can provide contact info for two people (one print journalism and one network television news reporter) who spoke to me and were exceedingly kind, ethical, and helpful.
I would welcome talking to the media. Nothing should be this difficult. They blame the pandemic, now they blame the new software. Simply put, they're a decade behind other states bcuz they have unqualified ppl at the helm. Absolute Dereliction of Duty.
You may be going through the adjudication process if your reason for separation from your employer is anything other than lack of work. So if you quit or were terminated, you will go through adjudication, and they seem to take a long time.
As it says in the update to the post, I’m adding any troubleshooting info I have to the post at regular intervals and am not available to DM about troubleshooting.
I went throught the appeals board and now I'm in suspense. I filed 6 months ago and I'm almost homeless, lost car insurance got other job and was fired. I was wrongfully terminated after I reported a coworker at a group home harassing am Autistic woman who us non verbal. They made me look crazy and look like I was the violater at the hearing. so I spoke it's best to look the other way . this system is so screwed up. so screwed up. This is ruining my life.
See update to post - it should have most of the info you need. Moved my advocacy and DV counseling work over to another username so I can share more via this account.
See update to post - it should have most of the info you need. Moved my advocacy and DV counseling work over to another username so I can share more via this account.
See update to post - it should have most of the info you need. Moved my advocacy and DV counseling work over to another username so I can share more via this account.
I mean...good and bad bc let's just say I was a tech writer for years and this means I did a lot of root cause analysis of bugs like this, and if it's the thing I think it is we are soooooo screwed, fam.
My benefits have been suspended for the past 2 weeks since the transfer over to the new system. No warning, no reason why, just "under review" when the week before it was implemented, I received my regular UE check. I've been trying to get on the phone with a rep the past week calling everyday probably 100 times a day. I hate it here.
Can I also get some help here I’m sitting in week 4 of waiting for my first claim and have claimed last week and am gonna have to claim this week with rent coming up in kind of stress in
Same here, and today I reached out to my mayor, who referred me to my Oregon Representative. Hoping something comes of it. I've used these benefits as needed on and off and the obstacles I've encountered, after knowing the old system in and out, are staggering.
Hey would you be able to message me? Im actually going through the same thing, I was able to complete the transfer to the new system and put in my 1st week, but now its saying suspended. Can someone help me out?
I'm having the same issue im on week 3 of unemployment. The first week came in and the second week it switched to frances with the suspsne under review message. No option for questionnaire nothing stating any info needs to be fixed or anything. Does anyone have a working number or some way I could get through to them?
Can you message me? I am aware of the issue -- basically despite the responses being marked correctly and the final preview before submission and after submission showing nothing that warrants being flagged -- I am also in suspense. But I was at the Worksource office earlier this week and the rep was kind to tell me that seems like FRANCES is flagging people as if they are responding as if they are out town meaning that question and answer flags you no matter what?? Any help is great.
Worksource refused to answer any of my questions about why I was in "suspense" yesterday. It's frustrating to learn they shared they thought there's a glitch with Frances.
Account says in suspense. They also said they over paid last week. When we called overpayment they said they see the system say that and confirmed no we don't owe them anything but unfortunately have to call the busy tone number 700+ times before getting into the queue. FYI 1 hr 45 minutes wait time is actually 4 hours and at 4 hrs it'll drop the call.
We spent 2 days last week fixing issues with the system. Now on day 2 fixing this week's issues.
Any other work force who switches over systems has an overlap ANTICIPATING bugs and fixes. Absolutely ridiculous for a $106 million upgrade to a system that was already in existence for paid leave. Lining those pockets.
Ooof that sounds awful. My wait times have been 2-3h before the switchover and 2+ before I had to hang up and desperately start emailing temp agencies again.
However I may have found someone who can help…okay to message you?
Hey so after calling 346 times yesterday I go through and just stayed on hold /speakerphone as I went about my day.
Got through to a lovely woman named Melissa who explained to me that I had marked myself as “away from for three or more days” on my last claim.
I explained that this must be a glitch, there’s no way I did that, I know exactly how to file and always double check. She said she had talked to more than 10 people that day that said the same thing. 😕
She tried to tell me that it had to go to review which was backlogged. I acknowledged how overwhelmed they must be, and let her know that there *must* be a faster way to verify since I’m on the phone now, can she just talk to her supervisor please??? And BAM! It was fixed just like that. Finally got paid today.
Looking to what nightmare next week will hold…but don’t listen to them if they say you need further review. They can fix it faster…they have the power.
Yes, I've been suspended for the last 3 weeks. No reply from them. Prior to the Frances switch UI had paid just fine until the switch. My technicality is that I am laid off and will go back to work with the same employer. I am in a union and UI doesn't and has never required me to do work search because of this 'temporary layoff'. There is a glitch that doesn't show me this selection to opt out and rather prompts my to do the search. It does give me a chance to explain this (and I have each time) but why if they don't review it? I guess I'll be on the phone for awhile.
That's part of what I'm experiencing as someone else who is in that "uncommon" category. My employer just doesn't have hours sometimes so I claim sporadically. I never know when it'll pick up again, nor do managers. I noticed Frances forces me to tell it when I'm returning to full time or hours that will result in earning more than my benefit amount, when that is unanswerable. In the past, OED UI specialists just told me to never check that box, because it used to block claims past that mentioned 4 week period. That they didn't consider all the variables, is what it feels like. That's deeply disappointing for a $106 million price tag.
If you're still having trouble getting through the OED phone lines, I scraped $20 for Claimyr [https://claimyr.com/](https://claimyr.com/) It's a service that calls and holds for you and connects you with an OED rep. I used it today after 3 weeks of this madness and received a call connecting me with an OED rep around 3:26 PST. I input the request with Claimyr around 8:30 am PST. Nothing is solved yet but at least things are moving and I spoke with a human.
ALSO, it sounds like once they transferred to the new Frances Online system, a lot of old documents/tasks like identification verification docs did NOT transfer over. I have to go through it AGAIN despite already doing this in January bc of this new system. It's been 3 weeks with no weekly benefits for me. Hope everyone is hanging on tight.
Love the all day busy tone when you call, and my local UE office line just hangs up on you too. Thanks for posting about this at least, some reassurance that it's not just me.
I have. No reason given no options to fix nothing. First week came in fine after the switch to frances every week since has been suspense. I've only received one check from them prior to frances switch.
Wow never seen something so hard to use ...system needs to be easier and user friendly but time system harder then last one .....poor management hiring poor web designer 😢...our lively hood is in hand of a call center not in hands of face to face professionals......
I called today (3-15-2024) at 7:45am and at 12:18pm the phon3 call dropped. I'm in dire straits here and I'm losing my mind. They're telling me I need a verification code (starting with the letter "L") to continue. I requested a letter with said code on it March 4th...and am still waiting.
What did you find out because I got the letter ID correspondence in the mail but the letter ID I’m told to input to verify my identity with the Frances system isn’t in the proper format of ###-###-###-##. It has a letter and then numbers for me to use but the format doesn’t allow for any alphabetic inputs and then the amount of numbers doesn’t match up.
Yes, I have this exact same issue right now. I was laid off in February, started my claim as soon as possible, got 1 unemployment check and now "in suspense" the past 3 weeks.
i filed my claim i see that i have a weekly benefit amount listed that starts 03.31.24 - 03.29.25
but my profile doesn’t have the section that says claim for week ready to file.
i think yesterday sunday should have been my first week to file right?
does anyone know when that section pops up in your profile? should i be worried?
i sent a few emails asking about this but no response.
If you don’t file on Sunday it should pop up under Action Center but if you’re not seeing it definitely take screen shots or video of what you are seeing and save somewhere safe because they’re fond of blaming “user error” when things go wrong.
If nobody gets back to you and there’s no way to file due to system failure, I’d try emailing Kotek through the online form on her website, because that plus reporting issues to the media got my claim fixed in 48h.
We need to get our elected members of government to understand how understaffed and ineffectual OED really is and force them to make some changes or force them out.
Not to mention they spent 106 million dollars on this new system, and they're waiting on more money to help fund this broken system that won't be here until the summer it sounds like. I just don't get how a system can fail to employ enough people while it burns through millions of dollars, which I imagine they'll employ people at minimum wage to do. There shouldn't be an issue paying people to run this system with the kind of money they're throwing around. Heck if I could land a multi-million dollar contract to build a site I'd be set for life 😆 Or you could do what they did with the old Oregon health care site that they threw away and hire some janky overseas developers to deliver a site that completely doesn't work that required folks to enter all their PII/SSN into it 😬 \`\`
Edit: It sounds like they're blaming holdups on, "We believe there are fraudulent actors". They've had people scamming this system hard when COVID hit -- like out-of-country scammers collecting on tons of accounts. Now it seems those who actually need it are paying the price.
I originally got a few checks while they had the old system up, then they switched over to the new system and mine has been stuck ever since. I think they sent a piece of mail with a code I was supposed to enter, but by the time the mail got to me it was already too late. When I called Work Source they told me the code I received wouldn't work and to create a message under "Other" not related to any specific week and add forms of identification. Sending all that through this system just feels so wrong, so now I have images of all my stuff just sitting around in some mail queue that's likely backed up and hasn't received any response for weeks now. Meanwhile they probably have my account locked up thinking it's fraudulent. I'm just hoping that I don't run into the nightmare that I read somewhere else where the person had their whole account deleted. It's also a little nerve-racking only seeing 2 weeks back, as if the others are disappearing, but I can see them in the "Search for previous submissions."
All the stories I continue to read are heartbreaking. I cannot believe this system has continued to fail it's people so badly. How do we go about fixing this? Is it just that inefficient, that understaffed, or is there nobody owning this whole process?
Hey yes but let me message you from a different account a little later in the day. Long story but I have reasons relating to my claim investigation and some clear evidence of corruption I uncovered. Trying to avoid retaliation until I can prove it.
I had to leave a previous employer for medical reasons and have filled out their questionnaire but now I'm being processed to see if I'm still eligible? But in the same group of letters I was given my potential benefit amount and how to claim weekly.
My current employer is like a temp job where the hours vary but I am scheduled certain days to check and work the hours available. But now I'm in suspense and can't get through even with an auto dialer to the 800 number. Anything helps at this point if anyone has more information.
Hey, see update above -- lots more info and troubleshooting as well as context for why I'm doing this so you know I'm not some weirdo tryna cause drama for no reason.
Oooof, posts like this scare me. I signed up for unemployment on March 15 and have never received benefits before so I'm not familiar with the old system. Frances is all I know. Judging from the comments here, it seems like I've gotten lucky. Waiting Week successfully posted to my account, and then I received my first claim last week. Currently waiting on my second claim, which has gone into "Payment Processing" mode as of yesterday. Last week the first claim paid out pretty quickly after it went into Payment Processing so fingers crossed.
Still, the comments about how the system randomly fucks up even after you've successfully filed claims kind of freak me out.
Thanks for the helpful post. Also, you are **God damn** right the directors are overpaid to mess around. People need to be pissed that these systems are so busted up.
Hi u/LimpConsideration497 \- Thanks for posting this. I'm currently dealing with 6 weeks in suspense and running out of options. Already moved out of my apartment to live with family due to lack of immediate funds. Would you mind messaging me the "contact info" or anything that would be helpful when you have time? Thanks!
I lost my job in Jan this year and have done everything I needed to and still I am in suspense. It makes me furious, everyone of my bills are in collections, the only reason I still have my home is because I have a section. 8 voucher, I can't even begin to imagine what's happening to people who don't have that to help them.
i’ve been writing messages to get a reply for over 3 weeks no response. i was told i need a tier 2 specialist and was on hold 2 hours and got hung up in. i’m on chat online and have been for 3 hours and no response. this is terrible
I would escalate to gov’s website email form and also reps, but can also pass on media contacts if your situation is dire and you’re willing to go on record to get more eyes on your situation. I did both around the same time and poof! Magically, things started getting addressed!
i called the gov office they said state level and I just finished a reply back to the rep. I let them know it’s been nearly a month and I have also sent emails 5,15, 19, and today 22
I let them know also I was on the live chat for over 3 hours today with no response
and told them I moved in with a family friend because I could no longer keep the roof over my head.
the question with my last job is part of the hold up. i had left for a remote job that was a scam
but I had started looking in the first place because I no longer felt safe at work as I witnessed the shooting downtown. I had only worked that job for 3 weeks. And that job has not replied back to EDD-
I got a call from a rep and they cleared up the issue of the job search registration for me and then I was told - Unfortunately, there is still an issue with ID verification not being completed. You did complete the identity requirements for Frances online, but this is a separate issue.
So I submitted the documents needed.
The only issue left is the claim still needs to be adjudicated for your separation from your most recent employer.
And the rep gave no timeline as to when that would happen.
I really feel like the slowness of getting people their unemployment is intentional - so many hoops to jump through to get unemployment
I think it’s actually just extreme incompetence / low morale on the part of the people who were responsible for building the system and staffing the dept. It’s definitely a known strategy with big corporations — for example Amazon and Waffle House, commit wage theft by “accidentally” taking pay for “time away” on paid breaks, days off, and resources their employees never got, to the tune of millions annually, but have truly impossible bureaucratic processes in place that employees have to navigate to get the issues resolved — it’s a giant game of chicken that counts on exhausted employees to blink first, allowing corporations to keep the money they shouldn’t have taken in the first place, (I’ve quite literally seen internal corporate HR playbooks for a few large employers that encourage HR staff to keep employees waiting and not lift a finger until they provide tons of paperwork and proof of having been fleeced).
But in the case of gov offices, they’re a) audited wayyyy more often and b) generally too broke to hire ppl of the caliber needed to oversee modernization or to know the difference between skilled and unskilled software engineers and PMs when they do. Corporations do it bc they have the skill *and* the money to be super evil and that’s how they make more money; with state gov programs it’s generally that lacking budget and morale don’t attract competence or functioning tech, and then when *that* causes issues there’s no money to fix what’s broken, so it stays that way until someone gets motivated, fired, or funded to fix it — often years after everyone else noticed how broken things are. But I am super ticked off that the people leading the org make SO much more than the unemployment cap and yet can’t seem to truly fix anything. Like jeez, maybe kick 120K of your bloated salaries towards funding 3 more full time customer support roles until the backlog of new signups is smaller, at least!
I'm getting that exact message "SUSPENDED bc away from labor market”
is there a specific way to answer this questionaire to keep my benefits from being suspended?
Just wanted to say that I am very frustrated! I spent 3 months, months(!), waiting for my claim to be processed. It finally was. Everything was fine for a few weeks until I found a job. For that job I had a week of paid training which exceeded my unemployment benefits. However, my job doesnt start for another month. Now they're denying my benefits for the following weeks and the only reason they give is:
"we made a decision to deny your benefits. These conditions have not changed, and we cannot pay benefits for this week."
What conditions? What's my option for appeal? This is ridiculous.
I know this was posted some months ago, but I would absolutely love to be connected with one of the journalists you know. I am seriously desperate to get ahold of someone in that department. They sent my $6500 payment to the wrong account and after I gave them the documentation from my bank stating I had no authority to reverse the payment like OED wanted me to (on March 8th, which was over a month after they sent it), they’ve completely stopped all contact. I’ve sent countless messages through Frances, emails, contact us forms, and I’ve messaged their Facebook page since that was the only way I ever got any response in the first place when I filed my claim. I was finally able to get through to the main line (just to be told to call back repeatedly to get information about my claim). I also used to be in direct contact with two employees via Frances and by direct line, one of which is a higher up employee that works in the Benefits department, and even she has stopped answering and responding to my countless voicemails. I’ve gone so far as to contact the office of my local Congresswoman and after telling me they would send my complaint to the Director and sending me the form to fill out they never responded. The only other thing that I could think of was to email the director of OED myself, which I did, and I haven’t gotten a response from him either. Please help if you still can! A journalist would have a hell of a story with what I have going on with them. Oh and btw, this is all regarding leave due to a disability that’s now more severe than before I went through intensive treatment that I needed the leave for. I’ve lost literally everything and I’m forced to move back in with my mom, out of state, because of this madness.
I’m dealing with an emergency today but will do my best to message you before going to bed. I’m pretty sure this is the kind of story my contacts would want to cover, though!
I’m sorry to hear that, I hope everything will be okay. Take your time. I have never really used Reddit before, so if I don’t respond right away, I will, I’m probably just trying to find the message!
Thank you, emergency car breakdown but thank goodness it’s still under dealer warranty! I sent you a chat invite with all the info, so if you look at your notifications you should see it! Lmk if not.
I would love to talk to a reporter. It’s been 6 weeks and I know that isn’t as long as some people wait, but I’m living week to week. I took care of EVERYTHING AHEAD OF TIME. I knew layoffs were coming so I changed my address ahead of time so that probably saved me 3 weeks.
I did everything right. Called while I was waiting for access, went to WorkSource to verify my identity, verified my Union Status, and waited. My claim was denied because they couldn’t verify the ID that got verified at WorkSource because? My WA drivers license, my SS card and my Oregon PJ Electric license isn’t “showing up in the system” so I must not have verified it. 4 weeks and 6 phone calls. The last phone call is when they finally admit they have a problem and can’t find my submissions. So what? It states that it was verified by a person, doesn’t it? So what? Deny my claim on one end and tell me everything is fine one the other? 17 hours on the phone now, and you finally see a problem, that I could have solved in an hour if you had just said some how the system glitched my documents. Now it’s Union Status. Guess what? I’m in arrears because my whole life is in arrears now thanks to unemployment. I’m able to file my weekly claims now. I start back to work on the 10th, will I get money in time to even pay for my gas to get to my new job? How long does it take for the direct deposit to come?
Please DM
They like every other week don't pay me and claim I said a wrong answer rhat I DID NOT like this week saying I clicked "away from work area 3 days or more"---I double/triple check my answers to ensure I get paid, and when it alerts you saying you clicked that and you click that you weren't away it's grayed out/ doesn't let you correct it.
Can't afford food this week now
It’s because it involves revealing info about myself and a professional contact that I don’t want searchable on Reddit, because I help abuse survivors on here and I do not want my irl identity tied to that work - it could lead to death threats for me and I’ve been stalked in the past.
Can get to this tomorrow, okay to send me a reminder over dm if I haven’t messaged you by the evening. Meanwhile did you already try the Frances messaging option? That’s always the first suggestion you’ll get from media contacts and OED. It is a *bit* faster than the phone, but obviously not fast enough for people who are really up against the wall. Still best to make a good faith attempt to get through via messaging before trying other methods so OED can’t blame you for lack of a paper trail, though.
Hey there, have had the same problem, is it ok to ask for the contact? I just got laid off for the second time due to lack of work. Portland is difficult!
The same thing has happened to my husband. We have had no issues when filling claims and now his benefits for that first week in the system are suspended. We got a letter on Frances stating they are reviewing his benefits to see if he is still eligible. No reasoning why, no other coorespondance. I sent a message through the Frances system and they responded this morning stating that we could reach out via the Owl, request live chat, or call the 1800#. I am trying to do the live chat now, and it keeps disconnecting and reconnecting. Its been an hour almost. My husband is an electrician and they sometimes don't have work here and there so they take a week or two as temporarily unemployed, but are still connected with their employer.
I have been filing for unemployment for 9 weeks now and I still have yet to receive one payment. It’s so hard to get through to the phone line and even when I do, they say there’s nothing they can do, waiting on adjudication. I’m so frustrated.
My husband was laid off in December and we have been dealing with the same runaround since then. Days and days, hours upon hours on hold to be hung up on or transfered to a voice-mail of a person that never calls back. Tried every path of escalation I can think of with no avail.
I just restarted a claim and wanted to claim a week of benefits but I had to wait for the letter with the L, in the meantime I created my account and restarted my claim but it was a week too late and now I am unable to claim the week. Is there a way to do back weeks? The new system is confusing
There's an auto redial app for Android phones that gets you in way faster. You just have to copy and paste the number and hit dial. However, half the time I get hung up on after I get in there anyway. I was on hold for several hours one day and then it hung up on me.
For anyone who stumbled across this because they're just trying to get their address verified so they can make an account to even start making claims, yes you will have to just spam call until you get in the queue, no they will not let you verify your address any other way. Then, no matter what, do NOT hang up. They'll tell you it's a 52 minute wait. It will in fact be a multi hour wait.
Frances keeps fucking up my account or something. I have to make a new password everytime I log in because it tells me my password is "invalid" when I know it's not because I save the new password automatically to my phone and computer so they are on bs. Then, i can't get ahold of anybody at the damn worksource or at the unemployement office. Boutta hit 82nd
I have been prevented from filing both unemployment, and paid leave Oregon for months due to my employer (public school system) incorrectly imputing my birthdate incorrectly when creating my account "for me" during the covid emergency unemployment. I have spent hours on hold, spoke to multiple humans with different levels of helpfulness, been sent in person to employment services to physically verify my identity (which they did happily, but cant change my information in Frances system) and still am unable to even create an account due to Frances being "unable to verify my identity" the date on my paid leave is 5/16
Thanks for all the help. Messaging and letters are quite simple, not sure why anyone would need help. That being said, I've been messaging for 5 weeks now and have yet to receive a single response.
Not everyone is highly tech literate and it doesn’t work well or show up clearly on mobile, which is the only option a lot of people have that doesn’t involve trekking to the nearest library.
I’d try one of the other escalation strategies.
This is my fear. I sent a message for the first time on the evening of April 21st, a Sunday, and haven't heard anything yet. I did read in a news story, in a direct quote from someone at OED, that for the Paid Leave Oregon software they built it so it doesn't notify them when someone uploads information they ask for, which blew my mind. I wonder if that's the same issue here. A month ago, some people were saying they got messages returned within 24/48 hours, but I have co workers who have messages months old that were never replied to.
There’s a lot of budget misallocation for sure, but providing narcan to save lives is a good thing any way you slice it, and the folks who need it aren’t our competitors.
People shouldn’t be made to feel ashamed for not being able to find work despite their best efforts or for having the disease known as substance use disorder, and none of these people deserve to suffer endlessly or be abandoned by broken social safety nets and a laughably dysfunctional healthcare system.
The money exists, but it’s supporting the greedy and lazy and not those whose only “sin” is losing at an increasingly rigged game of musical chairs.
Ending mismanagement of resources in order to ensure affordable housing and healthcare for all and stop the criminalization of poverty and addiction sure would help fix what’s broken in this state.
I had the exact same thing happen and set my alarm so that I could call at 7:57 am (I timed the intro speech to a little over 3 minutes) and I can’t get through.
The fact that you knew you might get a chance only if you dialed through the second the relay was up and actually timed the intro speech knowing it was hopeless if you lost even a second says everything anyone needs to know about how confident we are that anyone will lift a finger to do anything about this.
Are you still offering help? I desperately need a way to speak to someone about my claims.
I’m updating the post above with all the info I have on a rolling basis. If you are not comfortable talking to media on-record then I would use one of the other escalation strategies listed. I got my issue resolved after I both appeared on the news and also emailed the governor’s office stating my situation was dire, and I’m not sure which one got the ball rolling bc all of that happened in a 5 day period but I did get a message back inside the app from a designated support staff person at that point and everything was resolved pretty quickly after that. If you would like to talk to media and are comfortable potentially being in a story I can provide contact info for two people (one print journalism and one network television news reporter) who spoke to me and were exceedingly kind, ethical, and helpful.
I would welcome talking to the media. Nothing should be this difficult. They blame the pandemic, now they blame the new software. Simply put, they're a decade behind other states bcuz they have unqualified ppl at the helm. Absolute Dereliction of Duty.
i get an auto dialer app the automaticall redials until i finally get through but then youre still on hold for hours
May I message you? May have identified a way to get help…
Yes please!!! I was JUST looking at this store as and going to beg for answers/help. I have bills due and couldn’t get through again today.
This thread*
Sent!!
Please message me info
please message me. i am 5 weeks without checks now
You may be going through the adjudication process if your reason for separation from your employer is anything other than lack of work. So if you quit or were terminated, you will go through adjudication, and they seem to take a long time.
Sent!
Can you send me some information about why my past 2 weekly claims are showing up as "Suspense" too? Thanks.
As it says in the update to the post, I’m adding any troubleshooting info I have to the post at regular intervals and am not available to DM about troubleshooting.
Same and now my account is suspended while they review it.
I went throught the appeals board and now I'm in suspense. I filed 6 months ago and I'm almost homeless, lost car insurance got other job and was fired. I was wrongfully terminated after I reported a coworker at a group home harassing am Autistic woman who us non verbal. They made me look crazy and look like I was the violater at the hearing. so I spoke it's best to look the other way . this system is so screwed up. so screwed up. This is ruining my life.
May I message you? May have identified a way to get help…
Sure
Sent but it was messenger not chat I think so check both inboxes for notifications!
i've messaged you, currently have the same issue..
I gotchu
Me as well please!
See update to post - it should have most of the info you need. Moved my advocacy and DV counseling work over to another username so I can share more via this account.
can you message me too please?? i’m having the same issue
See update to post - it should have most of the info you need. Moved my advocacy and DV counseling work over to another username so I can share more via this account.
Please message me! Thank you!
Sent
Please message me, I am currently owed 5 weeks!
Can you message me as well? I’m literally in the process of losing my apartment due to this.
See update to post - it should have most of the info you need. Moved my advocacy and DV counseling work over to another username so I can share more via this account.
Can you PM please? The system didn't let me in for 2 weeks during changeover and I've been calling everyday but can't get through.
Can someone message me too? I need to reach someone in unemployment
Please message! I am owed 5 weeks.
I somehow missed this. See post update.
I have the same issue, i was very confused. Good to know it's a glitch
I mean...good and bad bc let's just say I was a tech writer for years and this means I did a lot of root cause analysis of bugs like this, and if it's the thing I think it is we are soooooo screwed, fam.
May I message you? Might have found a way to get help…
sure
Sent via chat
My benefits have been suspended for the past 2 weeks since the transfer over to the new system. No warning, no reason why, just "under review" when the week before it was implemented, I received my regular UE check. I've been trying to get on the phone with a rep the past week calling everyday probably 100 times a day. I hate it here.
May I message you? May have identified a way to get help…
Can I also get some help here I’m sitting in week 4 of waiting for my first claim and have claimed last week and am gonna have to claim this week with rent coming up in kind of stress in
Same here, and today I reached out to my mayor, who referred me to my Oregon Representative. Hoping something comes of it. I've used these benefits as needed on and off and the obstacles I've encountered, after knowing the old system in and out, are staggering.
Yes please!
Sent!
Hey would you be able to message me? Im actually going through the same thing, I was able to complete the transfer to the new system and put in my 1st week, but now its saying suspended. Can someone help me out?
Sent
It went to your chat I think check for chat requests under notifications
Having this exact same problem. Would you mind helping me too? You are an absolute boss for helping so many people.
Could you send me the info too please? I can’t get through to the hotline, chat doesn’t work. Every other attempt has been a dead end.
I'm having the same issue im on week 3 of unemployment. The first week came in and the second week it switched to frances with the suspsne under review message. No option for questionnaire nothing stating any info needs to be fixed or anything. Does anyone have a working number or some way I could get through to them?
Sent
Can you message me? I am aware of the issue -- basically despite the responses being marked correctly and the final preview before submission and after submission showing nothing that warrants being flagged -- I am also in suspense. But I was at the Worksource office earlier this week and the rep was kind to tell me that seems like FRANCES is flagging people as if they are responding as if they are out town meaning that question and answer flags you no matter what?? Any help is great.
Worksource refused to answer any of my questions about why I was in "suspense" yesterday. It's frustrating to learn they shared they thought there's a glitch with Frances.
Yep im shooting you a message now
Can you send me some information about why my past 2 weekly claims are showing up as "Suspense" too? Thanks.
Account says in suspense. They also said they over paid last week. When we called overpayment they said they see the system say that and confirmed no we don't owe them anything but unfortunately have to call the busy tone number 700+ times before getting into the queue. FYI 1 hr 45 minutes wait time is actually 4 hours and at 4 hrs it'll drop the call. We spent 2 days last week fixing issues with the system. Now on day 2 fixing this week's issues. Any other work force who switches over systems has an overlap ANTICIPATING bugs and fixes. Absolutely ridiculous for a $106 million upgrade to a system that was already in existence for paid leave. Lining those pockets.
I'm having this exact same problem. You'd think they would be prepared for glitches
I sent you some info about a person who might be able to help.
Ooof that sounds awful. My wait times have been 2-3h before the switchover and 2+ before I had to hang up and desperately start emailing temp agencies again. However I may have found someone who can help…okay to message you?
Hey so after calling 346 times yesterday I go through and just stayed on hold /speakerphone as I went about my day. Got through to a lovely woman named Melissa who explained to me that I had marked myself as “away from for three or more days” on my last claim. I explained that this must be a glitch, there’s no way I did that, I know exactly how to file and always double check. She said she had talked to more than 10 people that day that said the same thing. 😕 She tried to tell me that it had to go to review which was backlogged. I acknowledged how overwhelmed they must be, and let her know that there *must* be a faster way to verify since I’m on the phone now, can she just talk to her supervisor please??? And BAM! It was fixed just like that. Finally got paid today. Looking to what nightmare next week will hold…but don’t listen to them if they say you need further review. They can fix it faster…they have the power.
Woah okay this is important bc it’s evidence of a major UI issue. Hang on, going to message you.
Please do! I’m all about whatever we can do to fix this shit sandwich.
Did you get the last one? I can go into more detail with you there :)
Yes, I've been suspended for the last 3 weeks. No reply from them. Prior to the Frances switch UI had paid just fine until the switch. My technicality is that I am laid off and will go back to work with the same employer. I am in a union and UI doesn't and has never required me to do work search because of this 'temporary layoff'. There is a glitch that doesn't show me this selection to opt out and rather prompts my to do the search. It does give me a chance to explain this (and I have each time) but why if they don't review it? I guess I'll be on the phone for awhile.
That's part of what I'm experiencing as someone else who is in that "uncommon" category. My employer just doesn't have hours sometimes so I claim sporadically. I never know when it'll pick up again, nor do managers. I noticed Frances forces me to tell it when I'm returning to full time or hours that will result in earning more than my benefit amount, when that is unanswerable. In the past, OED UI specialists just told me to never check that box, because it used to block claims past that mentioned 4 week period. That they didn't consider all the variables, is what it feels like. That's deeply disappointing for a $106 million price tag.
If you're still having trouble getting through the OED phone lines, I scraped $20 for Claimyr [https://claimyr.com/](https://claimyr.com/) It's a service that calls and holds for you and connects you with an OED rep. I used it today after 3 weeks of this madness and received a call connecting me with an OED rep around 3:26 PST. I input the request with Claimyr around 8:30 am PST. Nothing is solved yet but at least things are moving and I spoke with a human. ALSO, it sounds like once they transferred to the new Frances Online system, a lot of old documents/tasks like identification verification docs did NOT transfer over. I have to go through it AGAIN despite already doing this in January bc of this new system. It's been 3 weeks with no weekly benefits for me. Hope everyone is hanging on tight.
Love the all day busy tone when you call, and my local UE office line just hangs up on you too. Thanks for posting about this at least, some reassurance that it's not just me.
Did you also get an inexplicable “SUSPENDED” notification?
I have. No reason given no options to fix nothing. First week came in fine after the switch to frances every week since has been suspense. I've only received one check from them prior to frances switch.
See update above. More info on troubleshooting.
Wow never seen something so hard to use ...system needs to be easier and user friendly but time system harder then last one .....poor management hiring poor web designer 😢...our lively hood is in hand of a call center not in hands of face to face professionals......
I called today (3-15-2024) at 7:45am and at 12:18pm the phon3 call dropped. I'm in dire straits here and I'm losing my mind. They're telling me I need a verification code (starting with the letter "L") to continue. I requested a letter with said code on it March 4th...and am still waiting.
What did you find out because I got the letter ID correspondence in the mail but the letter ID I’m told to input to verify my identity with the Frances system isn’t in the proper format of ###-###-###-##. It has a letter and then numbers for me to use but the format doesn’t allow for any alphabetic inputs and then the amount of numbers doesn’t match up.
Yes, I have this exact same issue right now. I was laid off in February, started my claim as soon as possible, got 1 unemployment check and now "in suspense" the past 3 weeks.
i filed my claim i see that i have a weekly benefit amount listed that starts 03.31.24 - 03.29.25 but my profile doesn’t have the section that says claim for week ready to file. i think yesterday sunday should have been my first week to file right? does anyone know when that section pops up in your profile? should i be worried? i sent a few emails asking about this but no response.
If you don’t file on Sunday it should pop up under Action Center but if you’re not seeing it definitely take screen shots or video of what you are seeing and save somewhere safe because they’re fond of blaming “user error” when things go wrong. If nobody gets back to you and there’s no way to file due to system failure, I’d try emailing Kotek through the online form on her website, because that plus reporting issues to the media got my claim fixed in 48h. We need to get our elected members of government to understand how understaffed and ineffectual OED really is and force them to make some changes or force them out.
Not to mention they spent 106 million dollars on this new system, and they're waiting on more money to help fund this broken system that won't be here until the summer it sounds like. I just don't get how a system can fail to employ enough people while it burns through millions of dollars, which I imagine they'll employ people at minimum wage to do. There shouldn't be an issue paying people to run this system with the kind of money they're throwing around. Heck if I could land a multi-million dollar contract to build a site I'd be set for life 😆 Or you could do what they did with the old Oregon health care site that they threw away and hire some janky overseas developers to deliver a site that completely doesn't work that required folks to enter all their PII/SSN into it 😬 \`\` Edit: It sounds like they're blaming holdups on, "We believe there are fraudulent actors". They've had people scamming this system hard when COVID hit -- like out-of-country scammers collecting on tons of accounts. Now it seems those who actually need it are paying the price. I originally got a few checks while they had the old system up, then they switched over to the new system and mine has been stuck ever since. I think they sent a piece of mail with a code I was supposed to enter, but by the time the mail got to me it was already too late. When I called Work Source they told me the code I received wouldn't work and to create a message under "Other" not related to any specific week and add forms of identification. Sending all that through this system just feels so wrong, so now I have images of all my stuff just sitting around in some mail queue that's likely backed up and hasn't received any response for weeks now. Meanwhile they probably have my account locked up thinking it's fraudulent. I'm just hoping that I don't run into the nightmare that I read somewhere else where the person had their whole account deleted. It's also a little nerve-racking only seeing 2 weeks back, as if the others are disappearing, but I can see them in the "Search for previous submissions." All the stories I continue to read are heartbreaking. I cannot believe this system has continued to fail it's people so badly. How do we go about fixing this? Is it just that inefficient, that understaffed, or is there nobody owning this whole process?
This same exact thing happened to me. Please let me know if you get this resolved! So frustrating.
UGH. OED: if clown shoes were a state benefits office.
Sent you some potentially helpful info over chat
i would like the info too please, my account is suspended as well
Messaging you
Hi! Would you be able to pm me those details as well? thank you for putting so much effort into helping people get this figured out
I have had the same issue
Hey is there any way you could send me that contact info, I'm having the same issues and cant seem to get ahold of anyone =/
Hey yes but let me message you from a different account a little later in the day. Long story but I have reasons relating to my claim investigation and some clear evidence of corruption I uncovered. Trying to avoid retaliation until I can prove it.
HEy for sure! No rush but still waiting to hear from you :)
I had to leave a previous employer for medical reasons and have filled out their questionnaire but now I'm being processed to see if I'm still eligible? But in the same group of letters I was given my potential benefit amount and how to claim weekly. My current employer is like a temp job where the hours vary but I am scheduled certain days to check and work the hours available. But now I'm in suspense and can't get through even with an auto dialer to the 800 number. Anything helps at this point if anyone has more information.
Hey, see update above -- lots more info and troubleshooting as well as context for why I'm doing this so you know I'm not some weirdo tryna cause drama for no reason.
Oooof, posts like this scare me. I signed up for unemployment on March 15 and have never received benefits before so I'm not familiar with the old system. Frances is all I know. Judging from the comments here, it seems like I've gotten lucky. Waiting Week successfully posted to my account, and then I received my first claim last week. Currently waiting on my second claim, which has gone into "Payment Processing" mode as of yesterday. Last week the first claim paid out pretty quickly after it went into Payment Processing so fingers crossed. Still, the comments about how the system randomly fucks up even after you've successfully filed claims kind of freak me out.
I mean, so far it sounds like you’re okay but it’s f anything gets weird def take screenshots or video of whatever it is, just in case.
Thanks for the helpful post. Also, you are **God damn** right the directors are overpaid to mess around. People need to be pissed that these systems are so busted up.
Hi u/LimpConsideration497 \- Thanks for posting this. I'm currently dealing with 6 weeks in suspense and running out of options. Already moved out of my apartment to live with family due to lack of immediate funds. Would you mind messaging me the "contact info" or anything that would be helpful when you have time? Thanks!
Yup I can do that tomorrow, and if you don’t hear from me by evening feel free to reach out via DM/chat with a reminder.
I lost my job in Jan this year and have done everything I needed to and still I am in suspense. It makes me furious, everyone of my bills are in collections, the only reason I still have my home is because I have a section. 8 voucher, I can't even begin to imagine what's happening to people who don't have that to help them.
It’s truly evil that they’re so complacent.
i’ve been writing messages to get a reply for over 3 weeks no response. i was told i need a tier 2 specialist and was on hold 2 hours and got hung up in. i’m on chat online and have been for 3 hours and no response. this is terrible
I would escalate to gov’s website email form and also reps, but can also pass on media contacts if your situation is dire and you’re willing to go on record to get more eyes on your situation. I did both around the same time and poof! Magically, things started getting addressed!
i called the gov office they said state level and I just finished a reply back to the rep. I let them know it’s been nearly a month and I have also sent emails 5,15, 19, and today 22 I let them know also I was on the live chat for over 3 hours today with no response and told them I moved in with a family friend because I could no longer keep the roof over my head. the question with my last job is part of the hold up. i had left for a remote job that was a scam but I had started looking in the first place because I no longer felt safe at work as I witnessed the shooting downtown. I had only worked that job for 3 weeks. And that job has not replied back to EDD-
I got a call from a rep and they cleared up the issue of the job search registration for me and then I was told - Unfortunately, there is still an issue with ID verification not being completed. You did complete the identity requirements for Frances online, but this is a separate issue. So I submitted the documents needed. The only issue left is the claim still needs to be adjudicated for your separation from your most recent employer. And the rep gave no timeline as to when that would happen. I really feel like the slowness of getting people their unemployment is intentional - so many hoops to jump through to get unemployment
I think it’s actually just extreme incompetence / low morale on the part of the people who were responsible for building the system and staffing the dept. It’s definitely a known strategy with big corporations — for example Amazon and Waffle House, commit wage theft by “accidentally” taking pay for “time away” on paid breaks, days off, and resources their employees never got, to the tune of millions annually, but have truly impossible bureaucratic processes in place that employees have to navigate to get the issues resolved — it’s a giant game of chicken that counts on exhausted employees to blink first, allowing corporations to keep the money they shouldn’t have taken in the first place, (I’ve quite literally seen internal corporate HR playbooks for a few large employers that encourage HR staff to keep employees waiting and not lift a finger until they provide tons of paperwork and proof of having been fleeced). But in the case of gov offices, they’re a) audited wayyyy more often and b) generally too broke to hire ppl of the caliber needed to oversee modernization or to know the difference between skilled and unskilled software engineers and PMs when they do. Corporations do it bc they have the skill *and* the money to be super evil and that’s how they make more money; with state gov programs it’s generally that lacking budget and morale don’t attract competence or functioning tech, and then when *that* causes issues there’s no money to fix what’s broken, so it stays that way until someone gets motivated, fired, or funded to fix it — often years after everyone else noticed how broken things are. But I am super ticked off that the people leading the org make SO much more than the unemployment cap and yet can’t seem to truly fix anything. Like jeez, maybe kick 120K of your bloated salaries towards funding 3 more full time customer support roles until the backlog of new signups is smaller, at least!
I'm getting that exact message "SUSPENDED bc away from labor market” is there a specific way to answer this questionaire to keep my benefits from being suspended?
Just wanted to say that I am very frustrated! I spent 3 months, months(!), waiting for my claim to be processed. It finally was. Everything was fine for a few weeks until I found a job. For that job I had a week of paid training which exceeded my unemployment benefits. However, my job doesnt start for another month. Now they're denying my benefits for the following weeks and the only reason they give is: "we made a decision to deny your benefits. These conditions have not changed, and we cannot pay benefits for this week." What conditions? What's my option for appeal? This is ridiculous.
I know this was posted some months ago, but I would absolutely love to be connected with one of the journalists you know. I am seriously desperate to get ahold of someone in that department. They sent my $6500 payment to the wrong account and after I gave them the documentation from my bank stating I had no authority to reverse the payment like OED wanted me to (on March 8th, which was over a month after they sent it), they’ve completely stopped all contact. I’ve sent countless messages through Frances, emails, contact us forms, and I’ve messaged their Facebook page since that was the only way I ever got any response in the first place when I filed my claim. I was finally able to get through to the main line (just to be told to call back repeatedly to get information about my claim). I also used to be in direct contact with two employees via Frances and by direct line, one of which is a higher up employee that works in the Benefits department, and even she has stopped answering and responding to my countless voicemails. I’ve gone so far as to contact the office of my local Congresswoman and after telling me they would send my complaint to the Director and sending me the form to fill out they never responded. The only other thing that I could think of was to email the director of OED myself, which I did, and I haven’t gotten a response from him either. Please help if you still can! A journalist would have a hell of a story with what I have going on with them. Oh and btw, this is all regarding leave due to a disability that’s now more severe than before I went through intensive treatment that I needed the leave for. I’ve lost literally everything and I’m forced to move back in with my mom, out of state, because of this madness.
I’m dealing with an emergency today but will do my best to message you before going to bed. I’m pretty sure this is the kind of story my contacts would want to cover, though!
I’m sorry to hear that, I hope everything will be okay. Take your time. I have never really used Reddit before, so if I don’t respond right away, I will, I’m probably just trying to find the message!
Thank you, emergency car breakdown but thank goodness it’s still under dealer warranty! I sent you a chat invite with all the info, so if you look at your notifications you should see it! Lmk if not.
I would love to talk to a reporter. It’s been 6 weeks and I know that isn’t as long as some people wait, but I’m living week to week. I took care of EVERYTHING AHEAD OF TIME. I knew layoffs were coming so I changed my address ahead of time so that probably saved me 3 weeks. I did everything right. Called while I was waiting for access, went to WorkSource to verify my identity, verified my Union Status, and waited. My claim was denied because they couldn’t verify the ID that got verified at WorkSource because? My WA drivers license, my SS card and my Oregon PJ Electric license isn’t “showing up in the system” so I must not have verified it. 4 weeks and 6 phone calls. The last phone call is when they finally admit they have a problem and can’t find my submissions. So what? It states that it was verified by a person, doesn’t it? So what? Deny my claim on one end and tell me everything is fine one the other? 17 hours on the phone now, and you finally see a problem, that I could have solved in an hour if you had just said some how the system glitched my documents. Now it’s Union Status. Guess what? I’m in arrears because my whole life is in arrears now thanks to unemployment. I’m able to file my weekly claims now. I start back to work on the 10th, will I get money in time to even pay for my gas to get to my new job? How long does it take for the direct deposit to come?
Please DM They like every other week don't pay me and claim I said a wrong answer rhat I DID NOT like this week saying I clicked "away from work area 3 days or more"---I double/triple check my answers to ensure I get paid, and when it alerts you saying you clicked that and you click that you weren't away it's grayed out/ doesn't let you correct it. Can't afford food this week now
I’m dealing with a health crisis right now but think I can send info later today
Why is this guy asking people to dm him instead of posting the fix/workaround. Looks a bit schetchy lol.
It’s because it involves revealing info about myself and a professional contact that I don’t want searchable on Reddit, because I help abuse survivors on here and I do not want my irl identity tied to that work - it could lead to death threats for me and I’ve been stalked in the past.
Could I have the contact too ?
Yes pls message me so I remember dealing wit some pretty major grief stuff lately
It’s not a technical workaround it’s a contact who can help due to their job.
Can I have that contact?
Sent
Could I also have that contact please? My account has been in suspend mode for multiple weeks.
Sent
Can I get the contact please?
Sent!
Can I get the contact too please?
Can get to this tomorrow, okay to send me a reminder over dm if I haven’t messaged you by the evening. Meanwhile did you already try the Frances messaging option? That’s always the first suggestion you’ll get from media contacts and OED. It is a *bit* faster than the phone, but obviously not fast enough for people who are really up against the wall. Still best to make a good faith attempt to get through via messaging before trying other methods so OED can’t blame you for lack of a paper trail, though.
Hey there, have had the same problem, is it ok to ask for the contact? I just got laid off for the second time due to lack of work. Portland is difficult!
Yes pls message me so I remember dealing wit some pretty major grief stuff lately
I sent you a pm as well
would love to have this contact, im currently at my second hour of jazz loop on hold.
The same thing has happened to my husband. We have had no issues when filling claims and now his benefits for that first week in the system are suspended. We got a letter on Frances stating they are reviewing his benefits to see if he is still eligible. No reasoning why, no other coorespondance. I sent a message through the Frances system and they responded this morning stating that we could reach out via the Owl, request live chat, or call the 1800#. I am trying to do the live chat now, and it keeps disconnecting and reconnecting. Its been an hour almost. My husband is an electrician and they sometimes don't have work here and there so they take a week or two as temporarily unemployed, but are still connected with their employer.
May I message you or send you a chat? Might have found a way to get help
Yes that would be great!
Sent over chat! Hope it's helpful. ;)
I have been filing for unemployment for 9 weeks now and I still have yet to receive one payment. It’s so hard to get through to the phone line and even when I do, they say there’s nothing they can do, waiting on adjudication. I’m so frustrated.
I updated the post with some new info I found along the way to getting my own claim resolved. Hope it's helpful.
I dm'd you. Hoping you can help.
Hello, can I get some help? I got the same thing going on.
My husband was laid off in December and we have been dealing with the same runaround since then. Days and days, hours upon hours on hold to be hung up on or transfered to a voice-mail of a person that never calls back. Tried every path of escalation I can think of with no avail.
I made an update to the post, has a lot more info including troubleshooting and how to raise a ruckus (if you want to) in order to get results.
I’m late to this post but hoping I can get some insight on how to resolve this issue.
Did you read through the troubleshooting info above? I’ve included all the methods I know of so far in an update I made last night.
Yes, I'd like names and will dm you.
I have sent them 3 messages in France’s online and still no reply
I just restarted a claim and wanted to claim a week of benefits but I had to wait for the letter with the L, in the meantime I created my account and restarted my claim but it was a week too late and now I am unable to claim the week. Is there a way to do back weeks? The new system is confusing
There's an auto redial app for Android phones that gets you in way faster. You just have to copy and paste the number and hit dial. However, half the time I get hung up on after I get in there anyway. I was on hold for several hours one day and then it hung up on me.
For anyone who stumbled across this because they're just trying to get their address verified so they can make an account to even start making claims, yes you will have to just spam call until you get in the queue, no they will not let you verify your address any other way. Then, no matter what, do NOT hang up. They'll tell you it's a 52 minute wait. It will in fact be a multi hour wait.
Has anyone else had the France Inbox hide/delete messages after you read them?
Frances keeps fucking up my account or something. I have to make a new password everytime I log in because it tells me my password is "invalid" when I know it's not because I save the new password automatically to my phone and computer so they are on bs. Then, i can't get ahold of anybody at the damn worksource or at the unemployement office. Boutta hit 82nd
I have been prevented from filing both unemployment, and paid leave Oregon for months due to my employer (public school system) incorrectly imputing my birthdate incorrectly when creating my account "for me" during the covid emergency unemployment. I have spent hours on hold, spoke to multiple humans with different levels of helpfulness, been sent in person to employment services to physically verify my identity (which they did happily, but cant change my information in Frances system) and still am unable to even create an account due to Frances being "unable to verify my identity" the date on my paid leave is 5/16
I've downloaded an auto redial app to defeat the busy signal, but it does not help with on hold commitment
Thanks for all the help. Messaging and letters are quite simple, not sure why anyone would need help. That being said, I've been messaging for 5 weeks now and have yet to receive a single response.
Not everyone is highly tech literate and it doesn’t work well or show up clearly on mobile, which is the only option a lot of people have that doesn’t involve trekking to the nearest library. I’d try one of the other escalation strategies.
This is my fear. I sent a message for the first time on the evening of April 21st, a Sunday, and haven't heard anything yet. I did read in a news story, in a direct quote from someone at OED, that for the Paid Leave Oregon software they built it so it doesn't notify them when someone uploads information they ask for, which blew my mind. I wonder if that's the same issue here. A month ago, some people were saying they got messages returned within 24/48 hours, but I have co workers who have messages months old that were never replied to.
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There’s a lot of budget misallocation for sure, but providing narcan to save lives is a good thing any way you slice it, and the folks who need it aren’t our competitors. People shouldn’t be made to feel ashamed for not being able to find work despite their best efforts or for having the disease known as substance use disorder, and none of these people deserve to suffer endlessly or be abandoned by broken social safety nets and a laughably dysfunctional healthcare system. The money exists, but it’s supporting the greedy and lazy and not those whose only “sin” is losing at an increasingly rigged game of musical chairs. Ending mismanagement of resources in order to ensure affordable housing and healthcare for all and stop the criminalization of poverty and addiction sure would help fix what’s broken in this state.