DWD: State Agency Receives $1 million for Unemployment Insurance Security and other System Improvements

Contact:
Rose Lynch, (608) 266-6753

Madison – Governor Jim Doyle and Department of Workforce Development (DWD) Secretary Roberta Gassman announced today that Wisconsin has been awarded $1,037,697 by the US Department of Labor to enhance the state’s Unemployment Insurance (UI) automated system.

The funding will allow Wisconsin to improve the integrity of its UI system. Wisconsin’s planned system changes will increase the prevention, detection and recovery of improper benefit payments and will prevent individuals from claiming benefits after they return to work. Wisconsin will expand current systems to match claims data with other government databases to detect fraudulent claims. The funding will also be used to provide quicker assessment of an unemployed worker’s need for re-employment services and provide more rapid access to new employment opportunities.

Further, the funding will be used to strengthen data integrity and security by augmenting current safety measures to protect data from unauthorized access and prevent identity theft.

“Wisconsin’s unemployment rate is very low, but unemployment insurance is an important program which helps people who are laid-off get through tough times until they can reconnect to work,” Governor Doyle said. “The funding given to Wisconsin today will help make our system even better, and ensure that our hard working citizens continue to receive the high quality services they have come to expect.”

Secretary Gassman echoed the importance of the UI program. “The UI program is funded through employer taxes and DWD takes very seriously the protection of those funds by ensuring benefits are properly paid and only when due. Our fraud detection tools will be made stronger through this grant so that we can better meet our mission of protecting public monies while getting benefits into the hands of the individuals who deserve those funds.”

Wisconsin’s unemployment insurance program, the first in the nation, provides employer-funded, temporary, economic assistance to Wisconsin’s eligible unemployed workers. Each year, the program serves approximately 420,000 workers and 120,000 employers in the state.