Related Tags
Topic
Research Methods
Study Population
DOL Partner Agency
U.S. Regions
Country
About the Study
In 2022, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Office of Unemployment Insurance to fund contractor Mathematica to conduct the UI Navigators Implementation Study. The implementation study examines UI Navigator grants to seven states to better understand how UI agencies partnered with community-based organizations (CBOs) to reduce disparities in access to UI benefits and services and to explore barriers in implementation. It also included an evaluability assessment for an impact study on the effectiveness of UI Navigator models.
In June 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) awarded $18 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to seven state UI agencies in Maine, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Wisconsin as UI Navigator grants to increase equity in access to UI benefits and services. In conjunction with community-based partners serving as subgrantees, the grantees’ efforts are to focus on potential claimants who are identified through personal, geographic, and work characteristics and who belong to groups that have been historically underserved, marginalized, and adversely affected by persistent poverty and inequality (Employment and Training Administration 2022).
This study is one in a series of studies under the Navigator Evidence-Building Portfolio project, which aims to build the evidence base about the potential of Navigators to improve outcomes and equity in workforce programs. This Department of Labor-funded study was a result of the annual process to determine the department’s research priorities for the upcoming year. It contributes to the labor evidence-base to inform employment and training programs and policies and addresses Departmental strategic goals and priorities.
- How do UI navigators promote equity in access?
- How were UI Navigator Program models implemented?
- What are the strategies and activities navigators deployed?
- What barriers did workers face accessing benefits and to what extent did navigators remove those barriers?
- What were job seekers’ experience with navigators?
- What were barriers to successful implementation and potential solutions? What were promising strategies?
- Unemployment Insurance Navigators Serving Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers: Findings from Wisconsin and New Mexico (Research Brief, August 2024)
- Addressing Barriers to Unemployment Insurance Program Access Through Community-Based Navigation: Findings from New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania (Research Brief, August 2024)
- Unemployment Insurance Navigator Outreach and Engagement Strategies: Findings from Maine, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin (Research Brief, August 2024)
- Unemployment Insurance Navigators Addressing Technology Barriers: Findings from New Mexico and Pennsylvania (Research Brief, August 2024)
- Unemployment Insurance Navigators Implementation Study: Design Report (Implementation Design Report, September 2023)
Project Duration: 60 Months
Contract End Date: August 2027
Contractor: Mathematica
For More Information: ChiefEvaluationOffice@dol.gov
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.