CARSON CITY -The American Institute for Full Employment announced it is presenting its 2014 award to the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation (DETR) for its exemplary work in helping unemployment insurance claimants find employment.
Each year, the American Institute for Full Employment gives its Full Employment Award to a state that demonstrates exceptional commitment and innovation in helping unemployment insurance claimants return to work and avoid long-term unemployment, Institute President John Courtney said.
"In the past few years, many states have instituted notable policies and initiatives for the active, early and meaningful engagement of unemployment insurance claimants in reemployment strategies," Courtney said. "However, one state (Nevada) stood out with their initiative to more effectively integrate their reemployment services that are highly replicable."
Among the reasons cited for the award, Nevada was among the first states to implement the reemployment and eligibility assessment (REA) initiative in 2005, said Renee Olson, Employment Security Division (ESD) administrator. ESD pioneered the integrated approach to delivering reemployment services (RES) by having the same staff provide the REA and RES to eligible unemployment insurance claimants.
"Team members in ESD and Nevada JobConnect are dedicated to providing high quality service to people who need assistance in job training and employment," Olson said. "The recession had a catastrophic effect on the state, leaving thousands out of work. We are glad we have been able to find innovative ways to help our residents during these tough economic times."
IMPAQ International studied the results of Nevada's integrated service delivery model in 2012 and identified the integration of services as the driving factor in the program's remarkable success rates.
Olson said ESD continues to operate its innovative program in which unemployment insurance claimants are REA eligible if they: 1) received one week of benefits under a new claim, 2) have no work return date, 3) are not active in other training programs, 4) are not attached to a union hiring hall, and 5) not selected to participate in Worker Profiling and Reemployment Services program.
The Institute noted that the IMPAQ study found that approximately 16 percent of the REA eligible claimants were selected for REA-RES services and that the socioeconomic characteristics of the treatment and control groups were very similar. The study found that claimants who received REA-RES services collected 3.13 fewer weeks of unemployment insurance and $873 less in total benefits than those in the control group. The savings generated from the initiative produced more than four times the cost of the initiative.
"We are pleased to receive this honor from the American Institute for Full Employment," Olson said. "We remain diligent in our efforts to improve services to the unemployed by finding innovative opportunities to help them with training and other workforce needs."[[In-content Ad]]