2    This doc was written today for Californians and we hope it may help you out..

Handout for Unemployed Professionals

Author: Luba Koroleva [email protected]
Written Exclusively for http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DaNetwork - Networking
and Support group of Russian professionals in USA

The goal of this handout is to help unemployed professionals to understand some issues of unemployment benefits. It is created as a result of real life situations and negative experience that many of us came through. Hopefully, it would help you to make fewer mistakes in that difficult period of recession and improve your financial life for a while. Please, read this carefully.

� How to prolong your UI benefits (Unemployment Insurance)

First and very important! There are 26-week period for the first period of your claim that government grants to every laid off professional. In order to be eligible for UI you must be fired/laid off from your work against your wish. If you are eligible for unemployment through EDD office, have this link handy http://www.edd.cahwnet.gov
It contains important information about your eligibility, benefits, forms and etc. But some information is not that obvious, like, how to prolong your UI benefits. It is about FIRST 16 weeks of receiving your UI benefits when you can claim training benefits extension. It is so tricky so many people just unaware about how it is important. You can prolong receiving your UI benefits for a period of one year or more! It can also cost you ineligibility for the unemployment extension (second 26 period of your claim).

� How to claim California Training Benefits for unemployment extension.

They�re few ways to claim California Training Benefits.

1. Call to EDD office by the toll free number, which is available in the mentioned link or in blue brochure that EDD will send you by mail. Usually it takes a while, line is busy and you almost get no information about benefits, but at least your call will be recorder with date that should fit into your 16 weeks period starting from the date when you claimed your unemployment.

2. Go to any local EDD office (best), address that should be provided in any local yellow pages, or link above and ask where and when you can have workshop about training benefits. Usually every local EDD office provides such workshops or any other information meetings. There some famous names for local places like NOVA, One-Stop location that totally devoted to help unemployed people find the job by providing a lot of job search assistance workshops etc. When you come to this workshop, EDD staff will collect information about you with name, SSN and date when you came to this meeting.
And again this date should fit into 16 weeks period, as sooner as better.

3. After you requested training benefit, you could wait for a month or more when EDD will contact you and personally assign you a case manager. Here, it really depends on what training provider you can
go to, or even single caseworker. Some people are lucky, some not. But one thing to be sure about:
that you will be fully eligible to claim your UI extension because you claimed your training benefits during this 16-week period. It is a magic number. From my experience, I found out that NOVA organization is less bureaucratic than One-Stop, but I wouldn�t put it as rule, it could be very subjective opinion.

� What kind of training you can be eligible for?

Every EDD training benefit provider has a list of eligible training schools that they can consider be suitable for you. This is UCSC extension, San Jose State University, community colleges, some private certification programs. Some schools are really good and cost is not cheap. But EDD can pay for it if they have money funds. For the beginning of this year all EDD got new funds for people who wants to get training, but those who claimed training benefits in 2001. As my guess and obvious thing this money can be devastated very fast because of big demand on unemployed market. But you can go local community college, which is cheap, and have your unemployment check be sent regularly. At least you will get your unemployment extension for a year instead of 5-6 month!

� Final tricks & tips

Never show in your claim form that you started a school by yourself in the first 26 weeks period without prior approve by EDD designated training offices. It can cause you loosing your UI payments which would be hard to reestablish. Of course, you can go to school but don�t mark this ball in your bi-weekly claim form. And continue searching for a job!

� Some local office addresses for Bay area people (San Jose area).

Here is requested info about Nova
Address: 505 West Olive Avenue, Suite 550
Sunnyvale, CA 408-730-7232.

EDD office:
420 S. Pastoria Avenue. Sunnyvale, 408-774-2365
Direction to both sites is Sunnyvale Civic center on El Camino and Mathilda near Sunnyvale Library.

I hope that all this information would help you to clarify unknown unemployment issues and stay more secure during temporary recession period. Dedicated to all people that were and continue to provide support to me and all people in need. Thanks for reading this. Comments and concerns are welcome. Good luck to all!

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