Significant changes are taking place for the SNAP program, previously known as Food Stamps. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as "SNAP", has updated their requirements to be eligible for the benefits.
From
To
On September 9th, the Cuyahoga County Grand Jury returned an indictment against Francesca Figueroa-Rivera and Claudine Stavole for various criminal offenses related to fraudulent claims involving the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program.
Mother and daughter duo indicted in two million dollar pandemic unemployment assistance fraud scheme
August 29, 2024, Press Release from the State of Ohio Office of the Inspector General: Columbus, Ohio, August 29, 2024 - In 2020, because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the increased unemployment of millions of Americans, Congress passed various programs to address the crisis, including the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program. The PUA program expanded and loosened eligibility unemployment requirements for recipients. Consequently, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS), the agency responsible for distributing PUA benefits in Ohio, received an unprecedented number of unemployment compensation claims. This increase in claims necessitated ODJFS to hire intermittent and temporary contracted workers to process the claims. In fiscal year 2021, ODJFS disbursed approximately $7.6 billion in pandemic unemployment benefits and later, ODJFS identified millions of dollars of the disbursals as fraudulent. To address the rampant fraud connected to the PUA program, an investigative group was established that consisted of the Office of the Ohio Inspector General, Ohio State Highway Patrol, United States Department of Labor – Office of Inspector General, and ODJFS.
Allen County has the highest unemployment percentage in our area with 3.4%, but that fell from 3.5% in November. Putnam County was the only one to see an increase last month, jumping from 2.1% to 2.4%. Mercer County had the second-lowest unemployment rate in the state with 2.1%.
All counties in West Central Ohio saw drops in unemployment numbers for the month of October. According to the Ohio Department Job and Family …
Unemployment numbers vary in local counties for the month of April. Allen county went up from 5.4% in March to 6.5% in April. Auglaize and She…
The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services originally resumed this rule on December 6th, 2020 for anyone claiming new unemployment past that date. Now, it will include everybody, no matter when they filed. Ohio Means Jobs Allen County says the extra unemployment money in relation to the pandemic is scheduled to end in September. However, they encourage individuals not to wait, as job opportunities could get taken.
For the week ending on February 6th, there were over 140 thousand new claims for unemployment benefits filed according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. That was three times the number that was filed in each of the three prior weeks and the highest number since April 11th when 158,000 new claims were filed. Job and Family Services flagged many of the claims as suspected fraud. Investigating each claim will take time, and could delay some claims to people who really need the money. But Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted says that since Ohio is dealing with taxpayers' money, the state wants to make sure only people who are owed the money get it.
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is warning residents to be cautious if you receive a 1099-G tax form for unemployment benefits when you did not apply for unemployment. The tax form reports unemployment compensation when filing your tax returns. If you receive the form and have not applied for unemployment benefits, you are instructed to notify the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services immediately. The scam is a form of identity theft, with scammers targeting your identity.
The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services is warning people about a new stimulus check scam. If you are using Pandemic Unemployment assistance, you could be targeted.