Michigan's UIA director, Julia Dale, is leading the agency through transition by prioritizing lived experience, hope, grit, and values. Virginia's SNAP Program Manager, Michele Thomas, highlighted the success of Sun Bucks, a summer EBT child nutrition program that fed over 700,000 kids in its first year.
The UI Technology Coordinating Coalition hosted a virtual conversation on April 13, 2023 focused on recent developments in unemployment insurance (UI) modernization efforts with guests from the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of UI Modernization and the Illinois Department of Employment Security.
The Texting Playbook provides guidance and well-researched strategies to help state agencies implement texting in support of Medicaid, SNAP, WIC, and other benefits programs. It provides an overview of how to start texting clients; the types of messages to send, including real examples; Federal Communications Commision (FCC) policy guidance; how to encourage opt-ins and collect consent; how to avoid coming across as spam; and a cost analysis of texting.
During this event, researchers addressed questions with findings from data collected from state UI agencies across the country and focus groups with women who have experienced unemployment.
This article explores ongoing efforts to modernize state unemployment insurance (UI) systems, addressing long-standing inefficiencies and challenges exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
This paper describes the policy choices, business practices, and technology innovations that the State of New Jersey is employing to ensure that the right people get benefits — accurately and on time.
The Technology Transformation Service at GSA recently created a new Public Benefits Studio to focus on fostering a more cohesive, coordinated experience for the public, across programs.
This dashboard provides a comprehensive view of underlying trends in unemployment across Michigan. It serves as an invaluable resource for understanding the impacts of unemployment on various industries, occupations, and communities. By providing detailed insights into sectors experiencing layoffs, claimant demographics, and the regions most affected, the dashboard equips us with the data needed to develop targeted solutions tailored to the needs of Michiganders.
This article shares insights from Minnesota-based focus groups, revealing that low-income women navigating unemployment insurance often face confusion and uncertainty around eligibility, complex administrative processes, and additional challenges related to childcare, housing stability, and mistrust of benefit systems.