Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Harding's payments ended in December. Her payments ended in November. The error has been corrected. (January 14, 2021)

ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. — As more unemployment relief is promised to those Kentuckians forced out of work due to the pandemic, many people are still facing problems getting the payments they claim to be owed.

Gov. Andy Beshear (D) announced one-time payments of $1,000 going out to a group of about 16,500 people; another group of 25,000 will get a one-time $400. This is all paid for by CARES Act funding sent to the Commonwealth from the federal government.

Additionally, the federal Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation Program (PEUC) extends the $300 weekly supplement by 11 more weeks, into April, after it expired at the end of the year. However, Kentucky has not started disbursing those payments yet.

Kristi Harding's payments ended in November, she tells Spectrum News 1. Ever since, she's been trying to get in touch with someone at the Kentucky Labor Cabinet to help find out why it stopped, and get them continued.

But her efforts to get someone on the phone or to call back seem futile — she's not had any returned calls in weeks. 

"We have a better chance of seeing a unicorn than actually being able to talk to a person," Harding said. 

She's been unemployed since March, when she was forced to leave her job to care for her two children because of school and childcare closures. 

"At this point, we have drained our savings of what we had and now we’re living off of my husband’s paycheck," she said. "The stimulus, we did get and it did help just a tad, but when we’re having to pick and choose which bills we’re paying each week, there’s no extra."

The Labor Cabinet recently changed its system online, now doing virtual appointments scheduled out 18 days in advance. However, this is challenging for Harding since she's canceled her internet service to save money during these tight-budget times. She wants, in the least, a call back in response to the requests for assistance she says she's made.

"When you’re left with no answers, you’re desperate. I mean, your mind is in the worst place and you can’t help but really assume the worst," Harding said. 

During a recent COVID-19 briefing, the General Counsel to Governor Andy Beshear Amy Cubbage offered reasons for why the $300 weekly supplements have not gone out yet.

"All of these programs require some computer programming on our end, and require us to go through a lot of guidance documents from the US Department of Labor," Cubbage said Friday. 

She then listed numbers: 

• 90,000 total unresolved claims remain (a number of these are likely fraudulent claims and will never be paid)
• 30,000 of that total of unresolved claims likely contain no fraud 
• 1.5 million claims filed since the pandemic began 
• 90% of these paid 

As for an explanation to why things move slowly, Cubbage pinned it on limited staffing and old computers.

"The unemployment system had been cut to the bone prior to the pandemic, and we are also saddled with a very old and archaic computer system that dates back literally to the 1970s," said Cubbage. 

In addition to these details announced in the briefing last week, SN1 reached out to the Labor Cabinet with questions. Cali Mills, with the Office of the Secretary, wrote:

"Our priority is and always has been helping those who have applied for and are currently waiting for the UI benefits which they are eligible. The previous administration closed more than 30 of the state’s 51 regional career centers and moved 95 employees out of career centers and unemployment services leaving an OUI with limited staffing ultimately hampering our ability to quickly respond to claimants during this pandemic. Additionally, the computer system used by Unemployment Insurance is built on an antiquated system and programming language that is not always able to quickly respond. As a result of the unprecedented number of claims, the limited number of experienced UI staff and the antiquated computer system, getting benefits in the hands of Kentuckians is taking longer than preferred."

Mills encouraged Kentuckians to schedule virtual appointments through the Cabinet website, saying new appointments become available daily. 

That still leaves people like Harding to wait for answers.

"It's scary," Harding said. "The longer it goes, the more it kind of just gets...overwhelming."

She's planned a peaceful protest to include herself in a group of about 100 people Thursday morning at the state capitol in Frankfort. Beshear has promised another unemployment update during his Thursday briefing.

Note: Cali Mills is not related to Spectrum News 1's Ashleigh Mills.