Rep. Amy Elik | File photo
Rep. Amy Elik | File photo
State Rep. Amy Elik (R-Alton) thinks the problems at the Illinois Department of Employment Security are even worse than what’s advertised.
“I think it’s much longer than four weeks in many cases,” Elik told CBS News of the wait time many are forced to deal with after reaching out to the agency for assistance. “I’m embarrassed that our Department of Employment Security cannot do the job that they are there to do.”
Elik said her assessment is based on the many calls she is still receiving from people waiting to hear back from the agency. As of late last month, CBS reports nearly 156,000 numbers were still sitting in IDES' callback queue from frustrated residents.
“The current response time is upwards of four weeks,” acting IDES Director Kristin Richards recently admitted at a hearing.
Elik also spoke out at the hearing, proposing an appointment model as opposed to a callback model in hopes of cutting back on wait times. For more complicated cases, she went even further.
“Maybe those people could come into my office and wait for a callback here, and make that appointment time here,” she said. “We could sit with them so that maybe we could be a go-between with the agent from IDES and our constituent.”
Elik said she has followed-up with IDES and Gov. JB Pritzker on both ideas, but hasn’t heard back from either office yet.
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