The New Jersey Unemployment Insurance Re-Employment Demonstration Project Follow-Up Report

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The New Jersey Unemployment Insurance Re-Employment Demonstration Project Follow-Up Report

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Issue
1991-1

Publication Info

The purpose of the New Jersey Unemployment Insurance Reemployment Demonstration Project (NJUIRDP) was to examine whether the Unemployment Insurance system could be used to identify displaced workers early in their unemployment spells and to provide them with alternative, early intervention services to accelerate their return to work. Three packages of services, or treatments, were tested in the demonstration: (1) job-search assistance only, (2) job-search assistance combined with training or relocation assistance, and (3) job-search assistance combined with a cash bonus for early reemployment. A key component of the demonstration was that eligible claimants were identified and services were provided through the coordinated efforts of the Unemployment Insurance (UI), Employment Service (ES), and Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) systems. Another key element was that claimants were required by UI to report for services; failure to report could have led to the denial of benefits. The demonstration was initiated by the U.S. Department of Labor through a cooperative agreement with the New Jersey Department of Labor. It began operations in July 1986, and, by the end of sample selection in June 1987, 8,675 UI claimants were offered one of the three service packages. Services to eligible claimants were continued into fall 1987 to ensure that all eligibles were able to receive, if desired, the full set of demonstration services. Another 2,385 claimants received existing services in order to provide control group for comparative purposes for evaluation. The initial evaluation of the demonstration (Corson et al., 1989) found that each of the treatments reduced UI collections and increased employment and earnings in the year following the UI claim, thereby strengthening the findings f the initial evaluation. No statistically significant long-run effects were found for measures of employment and earnings by treatment group, although some evidence was found to suggest that training may have increased the earnings of trainees.