DWD gets another $6.84M to improve system

The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) has received another $6.84 million from the U.S. Department of Labor to help marginalized residents successfully apply for unemployment insurance, according to a report from The Capital Times. The agency received $3 million in June for the same effort. DWD has hired United Migrant Opportunity Services (UMOS), a nonprofit that operates programs across the country to improve unemployment systems for residents who are underserved in the community, primarily people who are not fluent in English, tribal members, and people adversely affected by persistent poverty and inequality. The department is redesigning its basic unemployment benefits processes and making more information available in Spanish. The funds will also pay for translations into other languages, potentially including Hmong, Mandarin, Somali, German, and languages spoken by Wisconsin’s Native American tribes.