Reemployment and Eligibility Assessment

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Reemployment and Eligibility Assessment

• Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation

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What is the end purpose of the Employment
Security system?
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Gainful and Meaningful Employment
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• People want to work
• Our customers want to be able to support
  themselves and their families
• Unemployment Insurance can be an important bridge
  for people seeking employment

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• It has long been misrepresented that unemployed
  workers are content to just receive unemployment
  compensation benefits
• Many unemployed individuals have good skills,
  want to work and secure gainful employment

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• Unemployment benefits represent partial wage
  replacement
• Unemployment benefits can exhaust any time within
  26 weeks
• In Florida, the maximum weekly benefit amount is
  275

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TRADITIONAL Snapshot
Unemployed workers signing up for unemployment
benefits following passage of the Social Security
Act
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• The model for service delivery did not change
  much from the 1930s to the 1990s
• The Employment Service system began to change a
  little in the 1970s in Florida
• At that time, some customers were self served in
  part rather than by a customer service
  representative

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• The Employment Service
• System Evolved
• Customers could check for job openings via
  Microfiche then later through CRTs
• Today, One Stop Career Centers have PCs for
  customers to check job openings and find other
  information

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• In addition, in Florida, customers can now access
  the Employ Florida Marketplace system remotely
  and view thousands of job openings (from multiple
  Job Banks across the country).
• Some states continue to provide both reemployment
  and unemployment within the One Stop Career
  Centers

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Change in Service Delivery

• October 2000 Division of Unemployment
  Compensation transferred from Florida Department
  of Labor Employment Security to the Agency for
  Workforce Innovation

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Change in Service Delivery

• New Agency Goals
• Provide More Consistent Service Delivery to UI
  Customers
• Increase One Stop focus on Reemployment Services
  to UI Customers

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Change in Service Delivery - 2001

• Consolidated UI Service Delivery from 89 local
  offices to 2 Claim Hubs and 1 Call Center
• Hired new staff and/or Relocated staff
• Maintained Remote Adjudication Hubs and Appeals
  Offices

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• Orlando Call Center
• Information Calls Continued Claims Service
• Tallahassee Claim Hub
• Claimstaking, Adjudication
• Ft. Lauderdale Claim Hub
• Claimstaking, Adjudication

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• One reemployment strategy is requiring or
  encouraging claimants to come into the One Stop
  Career Center
• There can be value added when you approach
  customers in a positive way rather than a
  punitive approach

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In Workforce Region 2 the One Stops send each
claimant a letter offering JobsPlus Services
immediately after they file their claim.
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Dear Job Seeker, The Customer Service
Specialists in your nearest JobsPlus One Stop
Career Center are waiting to assist you in
obtaining reemployment!
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• Your JobsPlus Center offers
• On-line job searching/matching
• Pre-screening for job referrals
• Skills assessments
• Career exploration and interest inventories
• Resume writing mini-seminars
• GED preparation software
• PLUS a lot more!

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• Most Florida claimants are work registered the
  next day after filing their claims through an
  automated interface process.
• Florida uses the Autocoder to establish ONet
  Codes for UI customers.

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One strategy for customers filing by Internet,
would be to hyperlink them into the Employ
Florida Marketplace system so it could be a
seamless reemployment approach.
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• Florida is currently conducting a UI Feasibility
  Study which will likely lead us to go into a new
  Benefits system.
• We will then be entering into the systems
  requirement mode to identify the best approach
  for serving the customers.

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Possibly link UI and Workforce systems to
instantly display available local job listings to
customers when the claim is filed based on the
occupational code assigned to customers.
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The challenge today is sustaining some kind of
connectivity between the One Stop Career Centers
and the UI system in Florida to facilitate faster
reemployment.
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Reemployment and Eligibility Assessment
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Reemployment Eligibility Assessment(REA)
Studies have shown that attention to the UI
beneficiaries efforts to find new jobs and to
their reemployment service needs results in
shorter claim durations and fewer erroneous
payments.
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2005 REA Pilot Program

• Florida was one of eighteen states selected for
  pilot program
• 18M funded nationwide
• Some of the other states include California,
  Texas, Washington, Minnesota, South Carolina, New
  York, Idaho, Maine, Indiana

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REA Grants awarded to Florida

• 2005 1,982,002 to perform 20,870 assessments
• 2006 527,836 to perform 5,000 assessments
• 2007 1,862,079 to perform 22,000 assessments
• 2007 132,000 to automate manual processes

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Floridas REA Regions

• In the initial pilot year, although several
  factors were considered in the selection
  criteria, the primary criteria was based on those
  regions with the highest unemployment rate and
  lowest job placement rates.
• This selection process did not work well in
  Florida because many of the regions selected were
  highly rural regions with little or no job
  growth.

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Floridas REA Regions

• As a result, there were not sufficient jobs
  available for UI claimants to be placed
  in employment. 
• The experiences learned through Florida's
  participation in the pilot project for several
  years have resulted in modifying the selection
  criteria.

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Floridas REA Regions

• Florida consulted with Workforce Florida, Inc.
  (the States policy-making Board for workforce
  services) for selection of regions.
• Selection criteria is now primarily based on
  those regions with the highest unemployment rate,
  but that also have job growth. 

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Floridas REA Regions

• Involved the Labor Market Statistics staff in
  helping make that determination. 
• This selection criteria works better in Florida
  as there are sufficient employment opportunities
  for UI claimants, thereby resulting in the
  potential for this program to result in higher
  placement rates.

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Floridas REA Program

• Florida currently conducts a statewide total of
  22,000 assessments in six regions.
• Each Region is required to conduct a certain
  number of assessments based on the Regions size
  and UI customer placement rate.

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REA Program Requirements

• One-Stops must conduct in-person, individual
  reemployment and eligibility (REA) assessments
  for claimants
• Must provide labor market information
• Must assist claimant in developing Employability
  Development Plans (EDPs)
• Refer claimants to employment services and
  training where appropriate

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Florida is UniqueLocal vs. Remote Services

• Local Services Reemployment Services at the One
  Stop Career Center
• Remote Services UI services provided remotely
  via Internet, Telephone and Mail

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REA Process Local One Stop

• Select REA participants from the Worker Profiling
  Reemployment Pool on a weekly basis from the
  Worker Profiling Reemployment Pool
• Schedule Individual REA appointments two weeks in
  advance
• Select until required number are identified
• Send letters advising the claimant must report
• Code them as REA participants in Employ Florida
  Marketplace system

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REA Process Local One Stop

• Day of the Appointment
• Conduct Assessment and Provide the Intensive
  Services and enter in Employ Florida Marketplace
• Record and Document according to REA reporting
  requirements
• Report any individuals who do not show up for the
  scheduled appointment
• Notify UI Adjudication via the UC Communiqué
  located on the AWI Intranet System

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REA Process Remote UC Services

• No benefits are stopped during the processing
  of REA until the claimant has been given an
  adequate amount of time to contact us regarding
• the reason for not reporting to the One Stop for
  their REA appointment
• not submitting copies of their work search to UI

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REA Process Remote UC Services

• After the REA participant receives
  Reemployment Services at the One Stop
• UI conducts an Eligibility Review by Telephone
• If claimant cannot be contacted after two
  attempts, an Eligibility Review Form is mailed to
  the claimant

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REA Process Remote UC Services

• Eligibility Review includes
• Review of Work Search
• Review of Able and Available Status
• No response from the claimant
• UI Adjudication disqualifies claimant for not
  meeting their reporting requirements

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REA Process Remote UC Services

• If the REA participant did not report to the One
  Stop Career Center
• UI Adjudication conducts fact-finding to
  determine if claimant had good cause for not
  reporting
• If there was good cause, UI notifies the One Stop
  to reschedule REA appointment
• If there was not good cause, the claimant is
  disqualified for benefits

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REA ProcessIT Tools

• OSMIS (One Stop Management Information System) -
  REA participants are coded and services
  documented
• EFM Employ Florida Marketplace REA services
  are recorded and job referrals processed
• UC Mainframe legacy system REA participants are
  identified and Adjudication and ERP activities
  documented

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REA Pilot Process IT Tools

• REA Procedural Instructions accessed on the AWI
  Intranet web site
• REA Database list of all REA participants and
  status for reporting
• UC Communiqué located on the Intranet for
  reporting individuals who failed to show for REA
  appointment
• REA Mailbox - utilized by UI Adjudication to
  determine who did not report to the One Stop
  Career Center.

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State Assistance to the Regions

• Setup conference calls with all Regions
• Conducted one-on-one Technical Assistance
  teleconferences where needed
• Held Web-Ex (live) training sessions
• Sent out State QA
• Developed a system to provide monthly reports to
  the Regions so they can track number of
  assessments provided, intensive services
  required, and performance, etc.
• Established an AWI intranet site to provide easy
  access to all information about the REA Pilot
  Project as well as the monthly reports.

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System Challenges

• Had to overcome various system challenges
• Difficult initially to train regional staff in
  the criticalness of entering the designated
  coding for REA participants into the system
• Challenges in linking the UI, OSMIS and EFM
  databases for the monthly reporting system and
  fleshing out the report parameters to ensure they
  met the needs of the Regions
• Experienced some initial system problems in
  scheduling the reemployment claimants for the REA
  appointments system generates letters to
  claimants when scheduled by the One-Stop

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Lessons Learned

• Conducted several reviews of the average number
  of eligible claimants in each Regions
  reemployment pool to assess if an adequate number
  was available for the Regions to meet their
  required number of assessments
• Discovered some Regions had high seasonal and
  migrant workers which decreased the pool of
  eligible REA participants.
• This exercise allowed us to capture reasons for
  lower performance on employability of UI
  claimants in those Regions.

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July 1, 2005 June 30, 2007

• Completed approximately 46,000 assessments
• Identified 7,444 claimants who failed to report
  for an REA appointment
• Disqualified 756 claimants for not reporting to
  an REA appointment
• Issued 278 overpayments

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• Floridas somewhat modest success in the REA
  program might tell us that reconnecting with the
  One Stop Career Centers is very important.

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REA Results

• The ETA-9129 report provides quarterly
  information on the outcomes of REA activities and
  about a comparison group (Non-REA) that has been
  identified with similar claim characteristics but
  were not selected for REA activities.

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REA Results

• Florida established a control group to compare
  REA outcomes with Non-REA participant outcomes.
• Identified claimants in the Worker Profiling
  Reemployment Pool that were not selected for an
  REA appointment yet had similar characteristics
  regarding whether they received a first payment
  and did not have a return to work date
  established.

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REA Results

• The ETA-9129 report that provides comparisons
  between the REA and Non-REA groups is not
  submitted until approximately one year after the
  claimants receive REA services
• The data on the report allows for monitoring of
  the REA initiative.

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REA Results for July 1, 2005 June 30, 2006

• The reemployment rate was approximately 40 for
  both REA and Non-REA claimants.
• The benefits paid per claim averaged 3,270 for
  Non-REA claimants and 3,146 for REA claimants.
• The disqualification rate was 24 for Non-REA
  claimants and 31 for REA claimants.

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REA Results

• The REA claims were less costly to the
  Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund.
• Able to detect claimants who were not actively
  seeking work.
• 124 savings in benefits paid per claim to REA
  claimants saved the UC Trust Fund approximately
  1,029,200 during this initial twelve month
  period.

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Whats Next

• Automate the manual tasks and work flow between
  the multiple systems and locations.
• Automate the communications process between the
  local One Stop Career Center and UC Services.
• Include National Directory of New Hires
  reemployment data in the ETA reports.

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• REA funding helps us meet the challenge of
  keeping the UI program better connected to the
  Reemployment System in Florida
• REA gives us the ability to call in more UI
  customers to the One Stops for assessment and
  conduct more eligibility reviews
• Therefore we intend to continue to apply for REA
  funding