Nevada DETR director resigns

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - The Director for the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation (DETR) announced her resignation Wednesday.

Elisa Cafferata will officially resign from the department on Jan. 2, 2023. Cafferata was appointed by Gov. Steve Sisolak as the acting director of DETR on Aug. 6, 2020, shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic began, and was named permanent director Jan. 26, 2021.

“Serving the state of Nevada as the Director of the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation has truly been an honor and a privilege,” Cafferata said.  “I joined the team at the height of the pandemic, and I have been impressed with the level of service and dedication of the DETR staff every single day.  I am grateful to Governor Sisolak for this opportunity to lead.”

Cafferata helped form the DETR Strike Force to address the backlog on unemployment insurance claims that were filed during the pandemic. According to DETR, there were over 800,000 initial claims for regular unemployment benefits and over 750,000 initial claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits to be processed in the backlog.

Nevada DETR said despite the challenges of the pandemic, “by and large, the DETR staff got it right,” paying out over $12 billion in benefits to over 600,000 Nevadans.

Cafferata also recently announced a modernization of the DETR filing system, which may take a few years to fully implement.

Before joining DETR, Cafferata was the deputy administrator at the Division of Welfare and Support Services.

Copyright 2022 KVVU. All rights reserved.