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The brief explores how the pandemic affected the Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessments (RESEA) program, including how extensively the pandemic interrupted RESEA operations, how states changed service delivery strategies to maintain or restore program operations, and the extent to which those changes could continue post-COVID.

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Key Takeaways

• Three-quarters of state RESEA programs temporarily suspended operations beginning in March 2020. This was accompanied by a precipitous decline in the number of RESEA participants at the start of the pandemic. A year later, all but one state had restarted their RESEA programs.
• Operations recovered late in 2020, but participation remained well below pre-COVID levels. The number of scheduled and completed meetings for the RESEA program did not reflect earlier figures prior to the pandemic.
• Remote service delivery was utilized to deliver RESEA services. The remote service model was widely adopted by the spring of 2021, with four-fifths of states indicating that initial RESEA meetings were typically conducted remotely by phone. Remote and virtual services are likely to remain as RESEA features after the pandemic.
• Claimant selection remained consistent during the pandemic, including the timing of claimant selection and initial meetings. A few states reported changes to work search review.

Citation

Abt Associates. (2022). Serving Unemployment Insurance Claimants During a Public Health Crisis: The Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment (RESEA) Program and the COVID-19 Pandemic. Chief Evaluation Office, U.S. Department of Labor.

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The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) sponsors independent evaluations and research, primarily conducted by external, third-party contractors in accordance with the Department of Labor Evaluation Policy and CEO’s research development process.