A federal program created to help displaced workers find new jobs has been forced to delay or deny emergency assistance to workers because the Labor Department cannot process the claims quickly enough. The goal of the program was to reach workers before they were laid off by matching the skills of vulnerable workers to employment vacancies and immediately retraining workers to qualify for these new jobs. The Labor Department claimed that the reason for the delays in aid was often the states submitting incomplete applications. They are in the process of developing an Internet-based system that would allow states to apply for aid electronically.
See "Displaced Workers' Aid Program Bogs Down", The New York Times, November 17, 2003