Note: The following message is from the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. Elkhart County was one of nine Indiana counties affected by the flooding in February and March. If your employment was interrupted or lost due to the flooding, read below. 

Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) is available to eligible individuals as a result of a major disaster declared by the President on May 4, 2018. The Indiana Department of Workforce Development is accepting applications for DUA from individuals in Carroll, Clark, Elkhart, Floyd, Harrison, Jefferson, Lake, Marshall and St. Joseph counties whose employment or self-employment was lost or interrupted due to severe storms and flooding between February 14, 2018 and March 4, 2018. Applications for DUA must be filed by June 11, 2018.

To be eligible for DUA benefits under Presidential Disaster Declaration FEMA-4363-DR, individuals:

• Must be an unemployed or self-unemployed worker whose unemployment was caused as a direct result of the major disaster declared by the President; and
• Must be a U.S. national or a qualified alien; and
• Must not qualify for regular unemployment insurance benefits from any state; and
• Must have worked or were self-employed in, or were scheduled to begin work or self-employment in, one of the counties listed above; and
• Must establish that the work or self-employment they can no longer perform was their primary source of income.

Also eligible to apply for DUA are individuals who:

• Can no longer work or perform services because of physical damage or destruction to the place of employment as a direct result of a disaster; or
• Cannot perform work or self-employment because of an injury caused as a direct result of the disaster; or
• Became the breadwinner or major support of a household because of the death of the head of the household; or
• Cannot work or perform self-employment due to closure of a facility by the federal government.

Individuals will need their Social Security Number (SSN) and the name and address of their last employer or prospective employer to file for DUA. Applicants are required to provide proof (at the time of filing or within 21 days of filing their DUA claim) that they were employed or self-employed at the time the disaster occurred or were scheduled to begin (or resume) a job or self-employment when the disaster occurred. A copy of the most recent federal income tax forms or check stubs may also be required (self-employed individuals should also provide Schedules SE and Schedule C or Schedule F).

Applications filed after June 11, 2018, will be considered untimely, unless the individual provides good cause for filing after this date. Eligibility for DUA benefits will be determined on a week-to-week basis.

Individuals who may be eligible for assistance must file a regular claim for unemployment insurance benefits by visiting the Uplink Claimant Self-Service System at www.uplink.in.gov/CSS/CSSLogin.htm and by filing DUA claim forms, which are available at www.in.gov/dwd/dua.htm. DUA claim forms can be faxed to the Department at (317) 233-1670 or mailed to the Department at:
Attn: DUA Claims
Indiana Department of Workforce Development
10 N. Senate Ave.
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204

Unemployment Insurance access kiosks and DUA claim forms are also available at WorkOne offices in the disaster-area counties.

Resources regarding DUA, including answers to frequently-asked questions, are available at www.in.gov/dwd/dua.htm or through the Customer Support Center by calling 1-800-891-6499. The Customer Support Center is open from 8 a.m. EDT through 5:30 p.m. EDT Monday through Friday.