The U.S. Department of Labor is planning to roll out millions in funding to promote equity in unemployment insurance programs — and the District and Virginia will be two of the first to benefit.

       Employment agencies for the two jurisdictions were among the first selected to receive these new federal grants, which are meant to help claimants from traditionally marginalized backgrounds access unemployment benefits, Labor officials announced Tuesday.

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       After the coronavirus pandemic put an unprecedented strain on unemployment programs around the country, researchers have pointed to mounting inequities in who applies for benefits — and how much funding is disbursed. The first-of-their-kind grants, including $6.84 million for Virginia and more than $2.28 million for the District, are meant to address those disparities.

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       “Throughout the pandemic, the unemployment insurance system provided a critical lifeline for millions of workers, yet far too many workers struggled to access benefits quickly,” U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh said in a statement. “To become a more robust safety net and economic stabilizer, our unemployment insurance system must serve all workers fairly and equitably.”

       More than 49 states and jurisdictions applied for the equity grants. Labor officials said D.C., Virginia, Pennsylvania and Oregon were the first to be selected because their agencies presented the most thorough applications. More than $20.5 million was distributed in the initial round, and other remaining applications will be approved on a rolling basis.

       “We had to spend a lot of time going back and forth with states about looking at where they think this will actually move the needle, and what the need is,” said Michele Evermore, deputy director for policy in the Labor Department’s Office of Unemployment Insurance. “Equity is something we’ve never measured or enforced on.”

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       The District’s Department of Employment Services said it would be using its grant to boost communication, improve access in other languages and incorporate “human centered design” that would make its online interfaces easier to navigate. The department will also look to remove “unnecessary or duplicative hurdles” faced by claimants in the process.

       Evermore said the District also proposed using the funds to expand its data collection to better assess which populations have the most access to benefits on the basis of race, ethnicity and gender, among other factors.

       DOES Director Unique Morris-Hughes said in a statement that the effort would overall “better assist District workers in their ability to support themselves and their families.”

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       Neither the Virginia Employment Commission nor a spokesperson for Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) responded to requests for comment on how the agency would be using its grant.

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       The first-of-its-kind grant program is a continuation of more than $2 billion in funding allocated to the Department of Labor and made available to U.S. states and jurisdictions through the American Rescue Plan.

       Last year, the Labor Department awarded $140 million in grants to help states enhance fraud protection in their unemployment systems.

       Some workers who faced unemployment fraud in D.C. are being sent tax forms for the payments

       Evermore said states could use the funds to increase public awareness of programs and improve processes for distributing benefits so more people can readily access them. In the District and Virginia, like in many states, unemployment claimants have lamented excruciating waits for payments and confusion on how to access benefits.

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       Over the course of the pandemic, officials and researchers have found that it was generally harder for workers of color to access unemployment benefits, she said. Anecdotally, individuals with disabilities, literacy challenges or without access to technology also have more trouble navigating the programs.

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       Even as Congress expanded the number of workers eligible for benefits, some data has shown that a smaller percentage of unemployed Black workers received benefits compared to White workers in certain periods of the pandemic.

       Evermore added that some workers who are eligible for unemployment insurance don’t qualify because they falsely assume they’re ineligible or because messaging hasn’t reached them.

       “A lot of barriers to access are generally a lot more unintentional,” Evermore said.