The U.S. Department of Labor has announced a targeted review of Minnesota's Unemployment Insurance (UI) Program. This action follows recent findings of widespread fraud in several state benefits programs, including the Federal Child Nutrition Program, Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention Autism Program, and Housing Stability Services Program.
Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer expressed her concern over the potential fraud affecting these programs. "I am appalled at what we are hearing about potential fraud coming from numerous benefits programs in Minnesota. If there has been any related abuse of our UI systems, it will not be tolerated, and I trust our specialized strike team to get to the bottom of this and report their findings directly to me," she said. She emphasized that protecting American workers remains a priority and vowed not to let malicious actors compromise the integrity of the UI program.
The department's Employment and Training Administration’s Chicago regional office has informed Minnesota's Department of Employment and Economic Development about an onsite review focusing on Benefit Payment Control operations and integrity functions. The aim is to ensure that issues identified in state programs do not affect the UI or pandemic UI programs. The letter also requested that Minnesota provide essential documents to the department’s UI strike team, which consists of staff from ETA’s national and regional offices.
