Benefits Program: UI: Unemployment Insurance
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Policy 
Tackling the Time Tax: How the Federal Government Is Reducing Burdens to Accessing Critical Benefits and Services
This report summarizes progress made with agencies and members of the public to identify and reduce burdens that individuals, families, and small businesses face every day when interacting with government programs.
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Diversity, Equity + Inclusion 
Mass Layoff in Maine: Lessons Learned from the Maine Department of Labor and Peer Workforce Navigators
This report explores the Maine Department of Labor’s (MDOL) remarkable response to this layoff through collaboration with the Peer Workforce Navigator project—a coalition of community-based organizations in partnership with the MDOL—which made a huge difference in the lives of these laid off workers. The report also examines aspects of the state’s unemployment insurance (UI) system that might be improved to account for similar situations in the future.
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Unemployment Insurance Technology Modernization Quarterly Roundup
This quarterly research update aims to highlight key learnings related to improving unemployment insurance (UI) systems in the areas of equity, timeliness, and fraud, and monitor for model UI legislation and policy related specifically to technology. Subscribe to receive future editions.
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Human-Centered Design 
Customer Experience Principles for Unemployment Insurance
The blog post sets up a foundational perspective on CX principles for the state UI agencies.
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Policy 
Federal Standards Needed to Provide Equitable Access to Unemployment Insurance
This report explains how revised federal performance standards can be a powerful tool for increasing equitable access to UI benefits.
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Policy 
Proposed Performance Standards for Equitable Access to Unemployment Insurance
This proposal recommends a set of new federal performance standards that would measure and improve UI access. The proposal is intended to supplement existing federal UI standards, but all UI standards and metrics should be periodically reevaluated and updated as the conditions facing unemployed workers and benefit delivery change.
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Communications 
Unemployment Insurance Email Template Kit v1.0
This kit contains a collection of styles, components, and building blocks to quickly create action-forward emails for Unemployment Insurance programs within the U.S. An email library of 50+ examples are also provided for you to get started. Customize with your state logo and colors that are already in the file. Report of project is included.
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Digital Identity 
Dataset: Digital Authentication and Identity Proofing in Public Benefits Applications
On May 19, 2023, the Digital Benefits Network published a new, open dataset documenting authentication and identity proofing requirements across online SNAP, WIC, TANF, Medicaid, child care (CCAP) applications, and unemployment insurance applications.
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Policy 
TANF Data Collaborative UI Wage Data Toolkit
This GitHub repository includes resources that users of the UI wage data toolkit may find helpful. It covers a variety of topics, including equity, data security, programming, and data QC tips. It also serves as a place for our team to continue to post information that the TANF Data Collaborative (TDC) pilot sites found useful during our partnerships with them.
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Data 
Expanding TANF Program Insights: A Toolkit for State and Local Agencies on How to Access, Link, and Analyze Unemployment Insurance Wage Data
This toolkit is designed to assist state and local TANF agencies in accessing, linking, and analyzing employment data from unemployment insurance (UI) systems. The toolkit provides practical guidance on using UI wage data for program monitoring, reporting, and evaluation, and it may be valuable for other human services agencies and policymakers interested in improving workforce outcomes. The report highlights four key sections, covering the purpose of the toolkit, challenges in accessing UI wage data, methods for linking data sources, and instructions for preparing data for analysis. Additionally, an accompanying GitHub repository offers open-source code and resources for data processing and analysis. This toolkit serves as a starting point for TANF leaders who want to access and analyze UI wage data and offers the essential building blocks you will need to get started on your data analysis journey.
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Unemployment Insurance IT Modernization Strategy
A guide to the strategy to help states move from monolithic, brittle unemployment insurance systems to modular, flexible solutions.
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Human-Centered Design 
Administrative Burden Scale
The Better Government Lab at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University has developed a new scale for measuring the experience of burden when accessing public benefits. They offer both a three-item scale and a single-item scale, which can be utilized for any public benefit program. The shorter scales provide a less burdensome way to measure by requiring less information from users.