KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas Department of Labor said a coding issue is to blame for an error that's causing a lot of confusion among claimants.
About 8,000 claimants saw a child support deduction or addition on their claim status page Tuesday morning.
Dacia Ybarra said she couldn't believe her eyes when she saw it.
"I thought, 'Oh my god they're charging me $40 for child support,'" Ybarra said. "I don't have any kids how is that possible."
Unemployment Insurance Director Laurel Searles said a coding error, which is a direct result of the department's antiquated main frame system, is to blame.
"With just these years and years of code built upon each other that causes these unforeseen circumstances that then claimants are left in a panic, our staff are scrambling to try to fix these for people," Searles said.
Searles said claimants should not panic. They should be getting their full amount of benefits they are eligible for.
Searles also explained the error shines more light on the need for Congress to invest in better technology for the unemployment system. She believes these issues could have been avoided if the program had the support it needed in the past.
"I certainly want to provide the best possible services to claimants right now, and I know I'm not because they're seeing a child support deduction or addition that's not there," Searles said. "That does not instill a sense of confidence in the Kansas Department of Labor or the government as a whole."
For Kansans like Ybarra it's getting more difficult every day to be patient.
"I feel like they've kind of dropped the ball for all of us citizens quite a bit," Ybarra said.
