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A New Tool Is Designed To Help Mainers Who Haven't Been Able To Start An Unemployment Claim

There is a new online short-form questionnaire that is designed to help Mainers who have not been able to start an unemployment claim, for any number of reasons.

“They might not have access to a computer or the internet regularly. They might not have enough minutes on their phones because they don't have enough income to stay on the line and start a claim,” says Alison Weiss of Maine Equal Justice.

The nonprofit has teamed up with the State Department Of Labor and the Maine AFL-CIO to provide the three-question form, which asks for contact information. She says it should take less than 5 minutes to fill out, and, once submitted, the Department Of Labor will call the applicant to get a claim started.

"What the form does is it provides the contact information and whatever information the person has provided about what language they speak or what trouble getting started, and sends that directly to the Department of Labor."

The online tool is available on the Maine Equal Justice website. The form is not intended for Mainers who have already started a claim.

Ed is a Maine native who spent his early childhood in Livermore Falls before moving to Farmington. He graduated from Mount Blue High School in 1970 before going to the University of Maine at Orono where he received his BA in speech in 1974 with a broadcast concentration. It was during that time that he first became involved with public broadcasting. He served as an intern for what was then called MPBN TV and also did volunteer work for MPBN Radio.