New Experimental Evidence on the Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment (RESEA) Program

Session Submission Type: Panel

Abstract

Unemployment insurance (UI) provides a safety net for people who lose their job through no fault of their own. The weekly payments made through the UI system help workers finance their new job search. Some UI claimants -- usually those who are deemed likely to exhaust their UI benefits before finding a job -- also receive support through the Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment (RESEA) program.

The RESEA program aims to improve job search outcomes by (1) providing job search assistance, (2) ensuring that people are actively searching for work in effective ways, and (3) connecting people to additional resources that may help them, like resume workshops and interview preparation.

Section 306 of the Social Security Act sets the RESEA program’s goals and requires states to evaluate their RESEA programs. Many states have initiated randomized controlled trials to comply. Since 2022, more than 200,000 people nationwide have been assigned to treatment or control groups in these evaluations.

Initial results from Washington, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nevada, North Carolina, and Tennessee are beginning to build evidence about the RESEA program’s effects. Three of the four papers featured on this panel will discuss new experimental evidence from these states and more. The fourth will present experimental results from an evaluation of the Reemployment and Eligibility Assessment (REA) program, which was the RESEA program’s predecessor.

As evidence accrues in more states and over time, new insights begin to emerge about why the program is effective and how it can be improved. In addition to program effects on job search outcomes, this panel will focus on themes that are beginning to emerge across evaluations. These include the program’s relative effectiveness for workers from different sectors, job tenure in the new position that RESEA connects a worker to, how the program’s effectiveness depends on ease of finding a job, and more. These key themes can allow policy-makers to begin building new understandings about how to improve the program moving forward.

 

Policy Area

• Employment and Training Programs

Chair

• Siobhan Mills De La Rosa, American Institutes for Research

Discussant

• Ying Liu, Employment Security Department Washington State

Organizer

• Matthew Klein, The Employment Security Department

Individual Presentations

• New Evidence from RESEA Evaluations in Four States - Presenting Author: Marios Michaelides, Actus Policy Research

• Machine learning identification of who benefited most from the Reemployment and Eligibility Assessment (REA) program - Presenting Author: Andrew Clarkwest, Abt Global; Non-Presenting Co-Author: Correne Saunders, Abt Global; Non-Presenting Co-Author: Heinrich Hock, Abt Global

• New Evidence from Washington State's RESEA evaluation - Presenting Author: Matthew Klein, The Employment Security Department

• Impact Evaluation of Tennessee's Resea Program - Presenting Author: Rebekah Snider, The Policy & Research Group