SLATE Intensifies Services for Emergency Unemployment Compensation Recipients

In response to a new law providing increased funding and higher-level reemployment services for thousands of unemployed Missourians, SLATE Missouri Career Center is rolling out a new process for matching St. Louis area job seekers to jobs. While the new program comes with a lot of benefits, it also added new eligibility requirements for job seekers and increased coordination between various agencies.

In April, approximately 1,600 Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) claimants, the first of many, received yellow letters notifying of their appointments at a local Missouri Career Center, according to Gilbert Hake, Deputy Program Administrator at Missouri Division of Workforce Development (DWD). As a condition of their continued eligibility for EUC, they must participate in reemployment and eligibility assessment activities at Missouri Career Centers designed to help them find sound and self-sustainable employment. If the claimants do not attend a scheduled appointment without prior authorization, their benefits may be delayed or denied.

Any decisions related to eligibility for EUC benefits will be made by the Department of Labor's Division of Employment Security (DES), not by Missouri Career Center staff. At the mandatory meeting, EUC claimants will take an initial skills assessment, receive an orientation to Career Center services and be provided Labor Market Information (LMI). Their Self-Evaluation Questionnaire and Work Search Record will be reviewed by Career Center staff. Based on the interview and assessment, claimants will be referred to reemployment services. Interview and assessment will not be provided prior to the day on which they are scheduled to report.

If the claimant's work-search log is incomplete, or if the claimant didn't comply with other work-search requirements, the information will be forwarded to the Division of Employment Security for their determination of how this might impact claimant's eligibility for EUC benefits.

If persons have a situation that prevents them from attending the mandatory interview, they can contact their Missouri Career Center to reschedule. Claimants should call Marilyn Hughes, SLATE MCC, at (314) 763-7016 to reschedule for any of SLATE's MCC locations.

SLATE MCC will accept EUC claimants whose original meeting was scheduled to take place at any Missouri Career Center. However, SLATE MCC can't reschedule for any locations other than SLATE MCC Downtown and SLATE MCC Central West End. EUC claimants who would like to reschedule at another Missouri Career Center should contact that location directly.

The State of Missouri is participating in this initiative as a part of the federal Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012. The legislators believe that job seekers who utilize job search assistance through their local Career Centers (such as SLATE MCC) have a better chance of becoming employed than those who don't. Those interested in receiving the new services should contact their local Missouri Career Center. The process can be expedited by "pre-registering" on the state website jobs.mo.gov. For services available at SLATE MCC, visit stlworks.com.