Mississippians struggling with unemployment claims. Payments on hold after more than two months – Clarion Ledger

Here's why there's a backlog of claims for unemployment and why it's only getting worse. USA TODAY

Joshua Sinko can see the jobless benefits sitting in his online account. But he can't access them.

Joshua Sinko has cooked in high-end restaurants, fished oncommercial boats, sold bicyclesand built houses.

For the past eight years, the 43-year-old established himself in Columbus as a remodeling and restoration expert the guy you call if you need a bathroom overhauled,or a deck rebuilt. He's made a career oflong hours and a versatileskill set.

"I've never asked for anything, because it seems like when times are rough,you just go out and put your nose to the grindstone, and make it happen," Sinko said this week."Youdon't expect handouts."

Once, in 2016, Sinko broke two bones inhis back after falling through a ceiling and was back on the job five days later. But when the first coronavirus cases struck Mississippi in mid-March, he knew he was out of options.The remodeling work "just dried up," and no onewas hiring for other jobs.

For the first time, he would be forced to collect unemployment.

Unemployment claims are soaring as the coronavirus pandemic shuts down businesses.(Photo: USA Today file photo)

But more than two months after applying, Sinkostill hasn't received benefits. He sees the money sitting online in his Mississippi Department of Employment Security account, but can't get his hands on it. Over a recent two weeks, he spent 27 hours on hold with the agency and got fewsolid answers.

The several thousand dollars Sinko saved up "for a rainy day" quickly evaporated. His bank accounts are now totally emptyone overdrafted by 67 cents and remodeling jobs are likely still days or weeks off.

"I'm at my breaking point and on the verge of being homeless here," Sinko wrote to the Clarion Ledger earlier this month.

Sinko is far from alone.

More than two months into the coronavirus crisis, and in every corner of the state, Mississippians are strugglingto apply for and obtain unemploymentbenefits. They face an overwhelmed and glitchy computer and phone system, and an agency with dozens of new employees still learning the nuances of the state's unemployment laws.

State leaders are aware of the problem. MDES Executive Director Jackie Turner has discussed the agency's issues several times publicly, including before state legislators earlier this month.

Turner has said the department brought on hundreds of new staff and volunteers, including from other agencies, to help field calls. It's sought to quickly train them on how to answer questions and resolve problems, she said, and taken other steps to streamline the claims process.

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Gov. Tate Reeves ordered certain requirements relaxed for those seeking assistance during the coronavirus, such as temporarily eliminating the one-week waiting period, and nixing the work-search mandate.

But the agency is sometimes sending mixed messages on these changes. Despite Reeves' order, it hassent letters to recipients stating theystill need to prove they are searching for a job. Online questionnaires that unemployed or furloughed people must fill out weekly to keep receiving assistance include confusing language, with some instructionsunclear.

And the phone line problems persist: Applicants report waiting on hold for hours, or a constant busy signal, or reaching a person only for the line to go dead. Even whenthey are approved, many complain of waiting weeks before the money shows up in their bank accounts or on a state-issued debit card.

Meanwhile, a wave of new unemployment claims continues to arrive each week, even as Reeves slowly reopens the economy. More than 270,000 unemployment claims have been reported by the state since the crisis began in mid-March, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

Last week,another 23,697 Mississippians applied for unemployment, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. In a normal week, before the pandemic, the number was below 1,000.

Stories of Mississippians fed up with the state's unemployment systemaren't hard to come by.

In Corinth, Angie Sorrell was forced home from her fast food job in mid-March after feeling sick she's still unsure if it was coronavirus and applied for unemployment shortly after. Her claim was placed under investigation, however, and was only approved about two months lateraftershe said she threatened to call the mayor and media about the delays.

Angie Sorrell was forced home from her fast food job in March due to the coronavirus. She still hasn't received her first unemployment benefit payment.(Photo: Courtesy)

Sorrellsaid the wait was so long she's already returned to work at Wendy's part-time. The 40-year-oldstill hasn't received her first benefit check, and she already missed two rent payments due to the lost income. Her landlord says if she misses another, she has to leave.

Im scared of being kicked out on the streets," said Sorrell, who added her boyfriend has faced similar delays receiving benefits.

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In Oxford, Sara Hill was recently down to 52 cents in her bank account after losing her server job at Ajax Diner. The 22-year-oldfiled her claim April 5, and there appearedto be money in her unemployment account but she hadn't received it, and could not reach anyone on the phone for help. She enlisted family members to call, too. No one could get through.

Sara Hill lost her restaurant server job in March, and couldn't get through the state unemployment office's overwhelmed phone lines for help.(Photo: Courtesy)

Last week, more than a month after she applied,her first payment "just kind of showed up." She never did talk to anyone at MDES.She's still waiting for Ajax to reopen.

"I'm a 22-year-old from a middle class family, but what about people with children?" Hill said, adding the long wait for funds and leaning on her parents for help took a toll on her mental health.

In Biloxi, James Murphy is caughtin limbo between unemployment agencies in Mississippi and Florida, where he recently lived, and he has yet to receive assistance from either state after being laid off in late March.

Mississippi says it can't help, given his last full-time jobwas in Florida. But Florida hasn't processed his claim, or transferred the necessary funds to Mississippi, and he can't get through to figure out why. He's turned to family and friends for financial help while he waits.

I'm not even sure where were going to go from here, said Murphy, 48, who had recently moved to Mississippi hoping to land a casino job."You're at the mercy of the state, or at the mercy of the federal government, to pass the next rule."

Many reportthey are struggling to pay bills or buy food. One man wrote to the Clarion Ledger that he was no longerable to afford rent, adding he planned to live "in the wild by means I'm not yet sure of."

Sinko sees about $5,000 in benefits in his online account that he still can't access. MDEStexts him frequently saying his claim has been processed butno money comes through.

He first signed up to receive the money through direct deposit. When that didn't work, he called MDES and talked to an employee who said he wasn't allowed to change to the debit card form of paymentthat he must stick with the form of payment he already signed up for.

That's not true, however, and Sinko said another employee later clarified he could switchto the debit card, so he did. But now he's not being paid on the debit card, either, and the debit card vendor MDES told him to speak with didn't have his information on file.

"I'm not getting rich out here," Sinko said of his remodeling job. "I'vehave never asked for anything. The one time you ask for something in life ... it's frustrating."

When he's not calling MDES, Sinko said he's mowed a local preacher's yard, tried his hand at woodturning, and tested new recipes though the cooking is less ambitious now that money is running low.

He also has a few leads on remodeling jobs. But he isn't sure how he'll pay for thematerials upfront when his bank accounts are empty, noting "you have to have money to make money."

"My gas light's on in my truck, I'm 67 cents in the hole, and I'm just frustrated," Sinko said. "I'm gonna call again, and get no answers."

Contact Luke Ramseth at 601-317-7476or lramseth@gannett.com. Follow @lramseth on Twitter.

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Mississippians struggling with unemployment claims. Payments on hold after more than two months - Clarion Ledger