Background

The U.S. Department of Labor’s (USDOL) Employment and Training Administration (ETA) established the Reemployment and Eligibility Assessment (REA) Initiative in 2005. The goals of the REA Initiative were to enhance the rapid reemployment of unemployed workers, eliminate potential overpayments, and realize cost savings for the Unemployment Insurance (UI) trust fund.

Publication Description

To study the implementation of the REA Initiative and to test its efficacy, DOL selected nine states for a pilot evaluation: California, Connecticut, Florida, Minnesota, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, and Washington. As part of this study, states were requested to collect and report data on REA services and on selected outcomes for REA participants and a comparison group of unemployment insurance claimants.

This report presents an analysis of the early implementation of the REA Initiative, issues and challenges inherent in developing the required comparison group methodology, and a discussion of data reporting issues. The report also includes an analysis of REA impacts on employment and UI benefits receipt in two states (Minnesota and North Dakota). While the results of the impact analysis are not conclusive, they suggests that REA is likely to be an effective strategy to enhance the rapid reemployment of unemployed workers, reduce overpayments and realize cost savings for the UI trust fund.