A Playbook for Improving Unemployment Insurance Delivery
This playbook offers a comprehensive guide to enhancing unemployment benefits systems, focusing on claimant-centric approaches, equitable access, and actionable steps for state agencies.
Developed through collaboration with over 50 advocacy groups, state leaders, and unemployed workers, this playbook presents a visionary yet attainable framework for transforming unemployment insurance (UI) delivery.
It emphasizes the importance of learning from past challenges, such as those experienced during the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and the COVID-19 pandemic, to inform future improvements. Key recommendations include setting claimant-focused metrics, launching demonstration projects to identify effective practices, and ensuring processes are designed to serve the most vulnerable populations. The playbook also highlights the economic impact of effective UI systems, noting that during the pandemic, the CARES Act prevented 12 million families from falling into poverty and generated $1.61 in local spending for every dollar spent on UI. By adopting the strategies outlined, states can create more responsive, equitable, and efficient unemployment benefit systems.
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