Rita Unemployment Benefits and Disaster Unemployment Assistance
Please be aware that most of the information
below is now obsolete, because much time has passed since
Hurricane Rita struck. The last significant update to this
page was on 10/7/05.
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Beware of Rita Unemployment Scams! Filing
unemployment claims is always free through state
unemployment offices and Career One Stop Centers. But con
artists have been charging hurricane-unemployed victims
to file claims. Don't fall for it! Instead, file for free
through one of the state unemployment offices or Career
One Stop Centers listed below. Contact the state
Attorney General to report unemployment scams.
Rita Unemployment
Offices
If you became unemployed because of Hurricane Rita, your
state's department of labor (unemployment office) is where
you'd file a claim for standard
unemployment benefits or Hurricane
Rita Disaster Unemployment Assistance.
You may file for standard unemployment benefits or Rita
Disaster Unemployment Assistance online, by phone or in person,
depending on the facilities available.
Rita Disaster Unemployment Assistance is
not likely to be available in Florida, because President
Bush has not declared it as a disaster area. It's listed
below anyway, for filing standard unemployment claims after
Rita.
For claim information, click a state link or call a phone
number listed below. Be sure to call a local branch unemployment
office before visiting, as it's possible that some will be
closed for awhile after Rita. See also Rita
Career One Stop Centers.
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Rita Career One
Stop Centers
Career One Stop Centers are distributed throughout each
state as local branch offices of state unemployment offices.
States might call them by names other than Career One Stop
Centers (as noted in the links below). Regardless, they're
all part of the National
Career One Stop System. Among the services they offer,
some take claims for unemployment benefits or Disaster Unemployment
Assistance, while some do not.
Below is a list of links to help you locate the nearest
open Career One Stop Center that is taking claims for standard
unemployment benefits or Disaster Unemployment Assistance.
Click a state link below or call the central locator number
at 877-US-2JOBS (877-872-5627). For TTY, dial 877-889-5627.
Be sure to call a local center before visiting, as it's
possible that some will be closed for awhile after Rita.
For local center contact information, click a link below
or call the central locator number listed above.
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About Rita Disaster Unemployment
Assistance
The Disaster Unemployment Assistance Program (DUA)
provides unemployment benefits to eligible individuals who
become unemployed or can't work because of injury, as a direct
result of major disasters declared by the President of the
United States.
President Bush declared Louisiana and Texas as Hurricane
Rita disaster
areas on 9/24/2005. Consequently, Rita Disaster Unemployment
Assistance is available in those states. Rita
Disaster Unemployment Assistance is not likely to be
available in Florida, because President Bush did not declare
the state as a Rita disaster area. At this writing, Katrina
Disaster Unemployment Assistance is available in Florida,
as it is in Louisiana and other Katrina-affected states.
Individuals who became the breadwinners or major support
contributors in their households, because the heads of the
households died as a direct result of Hurricane Rita, might
also be eligible for Hurricane Rita Disaster Unemployment
Assistance.
Self-employed individuals who lost self-employment income
because of Hurricane Rita, are not likely to be eligible
for standard unemployment benefits based solely on self-employment.
(Self-employed individuals might be eligible standard unemployment
benefits, if they also worked on the side as employees prior
to Hurricane Rita.) However, self-employed victims might
be eligible for Rita Disaster Unemployment Assistance.
Because Disaster Unemployment Assistance is separate from
standard, state unemployment benefits programs, eligibility
requirements differ. Among other requirements, you must have
exhausted or otherwise be ineligible for standard unemployment
benefits to receive Rita Disaster Unemployment Assistance.
To fully determine your eligibility for either standard
unemployment benefits or Rita Disaster Unemployment Assistance,
you'll likely have to file an official unemployment claim
verses just asking. Your state's unemployment office (or
Career One Stop Center) might not clearly distinguish between
filing for standard unemployment benefits or Rita Disaster
Unemployment Assistance. If so, your state's unemployment
office will determine which you might receive, based on the
information you provide when filing your unemployment claim.
Disaster Unemployment Assistance is administered by state
unemployment offices as agents of the Federal government.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) issues the
funds in partnership with the U.S.
Department of Labor (DOL), the "main" unemployment
office, so to speak. But FEMA offers more to
disaster victims than just Disaster Unemployment Assistance.
See FEMA's
Press Room for Hurricane Rita disaster assistance updates.
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Rita
Legal Advice
The word is that attorneys in Louisiana and Texas are volunteering
to provide legal advice to low-income individuals adversely
affected by Hurricane Rita. After such a disaster, legal
matters include those about unemployment claims, insurance
claims, home repair contracts, consumer protection matters,
landlord-tenant concerns, mortgage foreclosure and debt collection
problems. You might find such an attorney through a free
attorney referral service or through one of the legal
aid organizations linked below.
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