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State hires new director for UIA

Posted at 11:33 AM, Apr 25, 2017
and last updated 2017-04-25 11:35:42-04

LANSING, Mich. – The state has hired a new director for the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency.

Michelle Beebe will coming to Michigan in May to lead the agency. Wanda M. Stokes, the director of the Talent Investment Agency, which oversees the UIA, says that she’ll be able to restore the public’s trust.

Beebe is currently the director of Utah’s Unemployment Insurance Division, where she has been the lead since December 2014.

“Michelle Beebe has the experience and leadership we need as we restructure Michigan’s Unemployment Insurance Agency and restore the public’s trust after our recent challenges,” Stokes said in a press release. “I know that she is willing to create an environment that is completely focused on helping people get the benefits they need as they transition to new careers.”

The state says that Utah is one of five states that received an award for Outstanding E-response for unemployment insurance electronic claims.  She will start on May 8.

The FOX 17 Problem Solvers has been investigating cases of false fraud claims in the Michigan UIA for over two years. A computer system falsely identified thousands of people of having received benefits fraudulently and then the state would require repayment. The state has scrapped the system and has changed organizational structure since the investigation.