The Re-Employment Assessment Project

(ODJFS and SkillsMAX)

Serving ODJFS Clients

The REA pilot program was implemented through local area One Stops in all 88 Ohio counties through a partnership of the Unemployment Compensation (UC), Local Operations (LO) and Workforce Development (WD) offices utilizing SkillsMAX as a service provider.

The REA pilot program consisted of the following:

1. Web based assessment designed to identify possible barriers to employment,

2. One-on-one, face-to-face interview with state staff,

3. Customized work search plan based on the claimant’s identified need,

4. Follow-up phone call, 14 and 30 days after work search plan is entered.

This was applied to 10,000 unemployed claimants as a pilot. The unemployed claimants were selected from a pool of individuals deemed “likely to exhaust” their unemployment benefits. The State of Ohio agreed to an in-depth study of the REA pilot project by the USDOL which indicated the following:

  • Claimants who received REA services returned to work faster than similar claimants who received unemployment benefits only
  • There was a 7% increase in the employment rate of participants
  • This resulted in a savings to the Unemployment Insurance (UI) trust fund and a return on investment (ROI) ratio of 5:1
  • A $4.6M savings in UI Trust Funds on the 10,000 person pilot alone
  • 96% of clients indicated the services were beneficial

The success of the pilot program also resulted in continued funding from the US Department of Labor (USDOL) for FFY 06 and FFY 07. To date, 50,000 claimants have participated in the REA program. As a result of partnerships within the offices of the Ohio Department of Job and Family services, local area One Stops, and SkillsMAX, the REA pilot program showed an increase in services provided to customers, an increase in the customer base for UC Reemployment Services, and high levels of reported customer satisfaction.

“What a great example of cooperation between agencies and great service to our Customers!”

CSR, Ashtabula One Stop

 

“SkillsMAX has been awesome for us!”

REA Staff, ODJFS

 UCRS Survey

 See full REA-ROI Report

 

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