With A Little Help Vet Breaks Through Inept Unemployment System

CHICAGO — Since November, Carlton Jones watched his bank account dwindle while waiting for calls from Illinois' unemployment office.

He called more times than he can count. Every day, he sent emails pleading for help. He even asked his ex-wife to reserve an extra spot in the virtual unemployment line.

Jones got so desperate he sent a plea for help rather than an application to a job opening at the Illinois Department of Employment Services.

Nothing worked.

So, he courted the help of strangers, begged state representatives, finally called me hoping sharing his story publicly might get results.

MORE ON PATCH: Army Vet Suffers Consequences Of IL's Inept Unemployment System

On Friday, hours after Jones tale of unemployment woe posted online, it happened.

"I got a call from IDES," Jones told me. "They're going to pay me, and I'll get back pay. They're releasing the money on Monday. I'm almost relieved. Until I see it in my bank account, I won't totally be happy."

Jones might as well be a poster boy for all that's wrong with how Gov. J.B. Pritzker's administration has mishandled the state's unemployment crisis brought on by the pandemic. The stress of waiting to receive unemployment benefits was just part of it.

While Jones was still gainfully employed as a law firm office manager, someone stole his identity to file an unemployment claim. Jones and someone from his company each notified IDES that the claim was a scam. Still, Jones would later learn, the state sent cash in his name to a bank account in Virginia.

Jones got laid off in November. The fraudulent claim stopped him from being able to file for unemployment. He didn't hear back from the state except for a voicemail message on Jan. 11 until this week. And that was after a reporter and a few strangers helped advocate on his behalf, including Raquel Chavez, whose son's Little League coach knew of Jones plight.

"Without what Raquel has done and you raising hell, this might not have happened for me," Jones said. "This experience is very frustrating and a lot of people are going through it. I was at a point where I couldn't get a pack of gum without sweating it. I'm so thankful for everyone sharing their intellectual knowledge. It was a vast help."

Jones told me the IDES representative offered to release his unemployment benefits on Friday in the form of a debit card sent through the mail.

"I wanted to say, 'Yes,'" Jones said, "but then I'd have to worry about dealing with the post office. That’s a whole other nightmare."

And a column for another day.

Mark Konkol, recipient of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for local reporting, wrote and produced the Peabody Award-winning series, "Time: The Kalief Browder Story." He was a producer, writer and narrator for the "Chicagoland" docu-series on CNN, and a consulting producer on the Showtime documentary, "16 Shots."

More from Mark Konkol:

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