The Department of Economic Opportunity starts the first wave of PIN reset instructions to claimants stuck in the PIN reset loop.

The Department of Economic Opportunity says there was a data security incident involving potentially fraudulent activity connected to claimant accounts within the Reemployment Assistance Claims and Benefits Information System, commonly known as CONNECT.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida’s unemployment website Connect will be unavailable Friday to process claims, according to the state Department of Economic Opportunity. The DEO announced Thursday afternoon the reemployment assistance customer service center and the Connect portal would be down for all of Friday, March 26. The website will be down as the DEO works to process pandemic unemployment assistance benefits made available through the most recent federal coronavirus relief bill. It is the first time that weekly applications for jobless aid have fallen below 700,000 since mid-March of last year. Since last March, the Florida DEO has processed more than 5 million claims seeking unemployment benefits and paid out more than $24 billion to claimants, much of that from federal funding.

The 95-page draft report by Chief Inspector General Melinda Miguel focused on the Department of Economic Opportunity’s CONNECT unemployment system, which cost $78 million and began operating in 2013. The system largely crashed last spring when it was inundated with claims as businesses shut down because of the pandemic. Ken Lawson resigned as department director in August, a little more than four months after DeSantis put Department of Management Services Secretary Jonathan Satter in charge of shoring up the CONNECT system. AdMiguel’s report awaits review and comments from vendors linked to CONNECT, including Deloitte Consulting, which was a major contractor. Deloitte sought to distance itself from the unemployment system last year, replying to a potential class-action lawsuit in June by saying it has had “no connection” to the online system in more than five years.

Department of Economic Opportunity Director Dane Eagle presented an aggressive blueprint to revamp the struggling Connect unemployment system on Monday with a proposed expense sheet of $73.3 million over the next two fiscal years. According to Eagle, the money is needed to invest in cloud migration, software architecture and business process optimization along with more than 430 new employees to meet the anticipated high level of unemployment claims. Eagle’s presentation came before the Senate Select Committee on Pandemic Preparedness and Response followed by a rigorous round of questions by the committee. The independent consultant’s audit included a stark comparison of initial unemployment claims for eight years between Jan.1, 2012 and March 14, 2020 and the 11 months that followed. During the eight years, initial claims reached 4.2 million while the 11 ”pandemic months” from March 15, 2020 to Feb. 10, 2021 saw 5.3 million claims.

ORLANDO, Fla. – The Department of Economic Opportunity will be temporarily taking down the online portal where Floridians can apply for unemployment benefits in order to fix some errors that have been causing glitches for users. The Connect system will be unavailable beginning at 7 p.m. Wednesday until 8 a.m. Thursday. [TRENDING: Trump supporter hit girl in face, deputies say | This Central Fla. city is the best place to live | Were 3 Orlando cops poisoned?] Records show that more than four million claims have been filed between then and now, nearly 3.8 million of which have been paid out. If users still have trouble accessing the Connect portal after it returns online Thursday, they’re asked to call the customer service center at 833-FL-APPLY.

ORLANDO, Fla. The firm that originally created Floridas unemployment website CONNECT, which has been called a clunker by the governor, won the state contract by default because it submitted the lowest bid, according to Gov. Deloitte Consulting recently obtained another state contract, causing outrage from lawmakers and Floridians who have had to interact with the unemployment system. Deloitte beat out four other firms for the $135 million contract. There is an ongoing inspector general investigation into the unemployment website contract process including why the contract was amended 14 times. DeSantis said legally he cannot interfere in the state contract selection process.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – After facing weeks of criticism because of Florida’s troubled unemployment system, Deloitte Consulting LLP said in a newly filed court document that it has had “no connection” to the online system in more than five years. Deloitte had a state contract to develop the CONNECT unemployment system, which began operating in 2013. “Deloitte has had no involvement in the implementation, maintenance or upgrade of the CONNECT system for more than five years,” the company’s attorneys wrote in a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. “And it has never had any involvement in processing or adjudicating the state’s unemployment benefit claims, including during the COVID-19 pandemic. The CONNECT system was not able to handle the surge of applications, forcing the state to scramble to try to shore up the claims process ---- and leading Gov.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Dan Crowder’s wait for unemployment benefits has turned into a 8-week test of endurance as the furloughed Disney worker waits for his first check from the Florida Department of Employment Opportunity. By April 19, an estimated 43,000 Disney World employees were out of work with health benefits still covered by the entertainment giant. Disney employees furloughed due to closures were automatically enrolled in Florida’s unemployment system known as CONNECT. Crowder’s wait for benefits seems to reflect the frustration hundreds of people have reported their benefits are “pending” without explanation. If you would like to help Dan Crowder or you have an unemployment issue email us at makeendsmeet@wkmg.com.

According to the DEO, beginning this week, people must log into the Florida unemployment website CONNECT to claim their weeks. Claimants have until May 17 to claim the current week which began Sunday after that they will need to sign into CONNECT every two weeks to claim their payments. This is a step-by-step guide showing how to claim weeks in the DEO system. Tomorrow beginning at 8am, claimants will be able to access the CONNECT system to claim their weeks. Those who have exhausted their regular unemployment benefits are still waiting for relief from the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, or PEUC, which provides assistance to those individuals.

— Florida DEO (@FLDEO) April 29, 2020People have reported issues accessing their CONNECT account or attempting to re-apply for pandemic unemployment assistance benefits on the website Tuesday and Wednesday. According to the DEO, the CONNECT system updates once a day and due to nightly maintenance processing claims the system is only available from 8 a.m. to 7:59 p.m. More than 404,000 payments have been made totaling $553 million as of Tuesday evening, the last time the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity dashboard was updated. Satter, Florida Department of Management Services secretary, was tapped by the governor to lead the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity through its coronavirus unemployment surge. In a request for answers about the CONNECT issues some users reported to News 6 the DEO had not responded as of this report.

A message for people attempting to access the unemployment claims portal known as CONNECT reads: “CONNECT is currently processing payments. As of Thursday, nearly 22% of more than 701,700 unemployment claims have been paid by the state totaling $157 million, according to the DEO. The current Florida unemployment website was put in place under former Gov. “This thing was a clunker, there’s no doubt about it it was designed to fail basically I think,” the governor said of the Florida unemployment website. More than 2,200 trained workers from other Florida agencies have been pulled into to process applications, according to the governor.

MIAMI, Fla. – The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity is waiving requirements for reemployment assistance. [RELATED: How to file for unemployment benefits during coronavirus pandemic | Florida working to keep up with coronavirus unemployment assistance calls, applications]The department says applicants no longer need to register online or show they’re available for work. People who are furloughed or laid off due to the coronavirus outbreak can file for these benefits. Here are the steps to file to reemployment benefits:Visit www.floridajobs.org to submit your application on the CONNECT platform here. Following your application, applicants must log in to the CONNECT system every two weeks to request benefit payment.