News Release
US Department of Labor launches toolkit to help states promote, improve, expand equitable access to unemployment insurance benefits
WASHINGTON – To continue to promote equitable access, prevent and detect fraud, and recover fraudulent payments and ensure timely benefits, the U.S. Department of Labor today announced the publication of an Unemployment Insurance Equitable Access toolkit to help states provide all workers with equitable access. The department has engaged in active efforts to help states promote equitable access for all workers, representing the most consistent focus on equitable access in the 90-year history of the UI program.
Funded by the American Rescue Plan Act and administered by the department’s Employment and Training Administration, the toolkit furnishes states’ unemployment insurance agencies, UI officers and claimant advocacy groups a valuable resource to help them identify barriers users may face when accessing UI benefits. The toolkit also offers possible solutions and methods to employ them.
Available on the department’s Unemployment Insurance Modernization website and via Workforce GPS, the UI Equitable Access toolkit includes input from 30 states that participated in the Tiger Teams initiative and the first dedicated grant program on equitable access to UI benefits. The department will update the toolkit as it works with another 14 states and territories in 2023.
The toolkit is intended to help states review and analyze current processes; develop a scope of work and proactive equitable access strategy; enhance standard operating procedures; align priorities and goals; and enact new initiatives to expand access.
Designed with user needs in mind, the toolkit offers guidance and visual references to help states enhance their current programs and systems. It also details steps states can follow to customize their activities, including community outreach, simplifying communications, expanding translation choices and other available options.
