Henry Shelton, community organizer with the George Wiley Center, right, leads a group of unemployed people at the Department of Labor and Training to express concerns about the need to hire more staff. At left is attorney Michael Marran, and from left, Florence Colton, Eugena Gomes, and Deolinda DaGraca.

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The Providence Journal / Connie Grosch

CRANSTON — A group of unemployed workers met with officials of the state Department of Labor and Training on Monday mainly to seek more help in obtaining jobs and faster processing of claims for unemployment benefits.

The two-hour meeting, at the agency’s headquarters in Cranston, came as the state deals with an unemployment rate of 12.1 percent, and as claims for benefits are expected to spike in July for various reasons, including seasonal shutdowns of some manufacturing plants.

Among those attending the closed-door session were Manuel and Deolinda DaGraca, of Pawtucket, who said they were laid off in October. He was a warehouse worker; she was a machine operator.

He is collecting unemployment benefits, but her benefits ran out, she said. Sometimes they get help from a local church, but “It’s not enough” to cover the couple’s living expenses, he said in an interview after the meeting. “I’m still looking” for work, he said.

The DaGracas were among a dozen or so unemployed people who met with Sandra M. Powell, director of the state Department of Labor and Training, and other agency officials.

The meeting was organized by the George Wiley Center, a community organizing center based in Pawtucket.

Henry Shelton, an anti-poverty activist and head of the center, said in an interview after the meeting that the main goal of his group is to get jobs for people who are out of work.

“We want more jobs,” Shelton said. “People want to work. There are so many Rhode Islanders out of work.”

There were about 68,500 Rhode Islanders out of work in May, an increase of 26,600 from May 2008, agency figures show.

The group wants the agency to hire more people at its branch network to provide hands-on help for job-seekers, Shelton said.

(Agency spokeswoman Laura Hart said after the meeting that the agency is in the process of advertising to hire about 20 people, paid for with federal funds, to boost the staff levels at its local office network. The additional staff would help provide counseling to job-seekers, and also help match employers with qualified job candidates, she said.)

The group also wants the agency to process claims for unemployment benefits more quickly.

The agency has taken a number of steps in recent months to reduce its backlog and speed up processing, Shelton acknowledged.

However, “We don’t want to leave the impression that just because they’ve cut down on the backlog means that people are being swiftly served.”

Patrick Caffrey, of Pawtucket, an unemployed retail worker, said that claims for benefits will rise in the weeks ahead as some plants shut down — for inventory-taking or other reasons — and their workers file for benefits.

(Hart said that “The peak season is hitting a little early” this year, and the agency has responded in part by reassigning workers so that there are more people available to handle calls and perform other tasks related to processing benefits.)

Pam Jennings, of Providence, a volunteer with the group, said that the group also seeks to prevent utility shut-offs for those who lose their jobs or face foreclosure on their homes.

Overall, Shelton said, he found Powell receptive to the group’s concerns. “I think she was positive. I think she was open,” he said.

Michael Marran, a lawyer who volunteers for the center, said that Powell was “as concerned as anyone else in the room.”

The group plans to meet with Powell again; a date has not been set, Shelton said.

ndowning@projo.com