- Video shows John White, a local Bakersfield man, sharing his difficulties trying to reach EDD disability services via phone and online. He says that one afternoon, he called nearly 200 times. Eventually, he contacted his local representative for help.
- The Employment Development Department handles claims for both disability insurance and unemployment.
- White says he hopes sharing his story can help others, saying, “There [are] people probably worse than me that need to talk to them and get stuff taken care of and, you know, when they cut the checks off, that’s your lifeline.”
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Here in California, the state’s Employment Development Department handles claims for both unemployment and disability insurance. According to departmental data , from July 2024 to August 10, they received over 900,000 calls just for unemployment services alone. This summer, 23ABC’s Grace Laverriere met a local man who says he’d been trying to get through to the disability services department, and he ended up looking for other options.