CRANSTON, R.I. (WPRI) – The director of the Rhode Island’s Department of Labor and Training is stepping down this month after six years at the agency’s helm.
Scott Jensen told 12 News it’s “really bittersweet,” but said it’s time for him to relocate closer to his family, who has remained in Maryland since he took on the role in 2015.
“My daughter was eight years old when I came to start this job,” he said. “She’s 14 now. I talked with Governor Raimondo late in December and it always was in the works that now would be the time.”
He said his successor should push forward with technology in order to improve the user experience for those collecting benefits. Jensen said they’re currently working on building a “pizza-tracker”-type system that people can use to monitor the status of their claims. He said the new system should be up and running in the coming months.
On the topic of fraud, Jensen defended the DLT’s decision to not release the number of people who have been impacted by fraudulent claims.
“Catchers don’t let batters see what pitch is coming next,” he said. “This is exactly why we don’t want to give the numbers of how many people are fraud or how many people we’re stopping, because that is material information that the fraudsters would want to have.”
Jensen also said if claimants are having a hard time accessing their 1099 form on the DLT website, they should disable any pop-up blockers.
Watch the full interview with Jensen in the video above.
