|
|
|
|
|
|
Welcome
The Unemployment Insurance Technology Modernization Quarterly Roundup is a new quarterly research update that 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. This research update is meant for those focused on improving the technological process for UI applicants and beneficiaries.
This update is produced as part of the UI Tech Coordinating Coalition, a community of practice within the Digital Benefits Network of the Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation at Georgetown University. Please see below for more information on the coalition.
We welcome comments and suggestions about the content of future editions. Please forward to those who would be interested so they can subscribe.
|
|
|
Federal Focus
State Spotlight
|
|
|
President Biden’s Budget Seeks Increases to Fund Unemployment Insurance Support
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, state labor agencies became overwhelmed with processing claims, fighting fraud, and trying to patch together outdated technology systems to deliver benefits. In the president’s fiscal year 2023 budget, he increased funding for grants to states for administering UI claims by $208 million from $2.601 billion to $2.809. The overall appropriation to states for administering unemployment insurance programs grows to $3.185 billion. The House and Senate both have bills, H.R. 8295 and S.4659, that largely enact the administration’s proposal. This funding would allow the U.S. Department of Labor to update its allocation formula to states to better reflect the cost of processing claims; states can also use new funds to pay staff. When adjusting for inflation, federal support for UI administration has declined by 30% since 1999, making this increase critical to shoring up staffing and technical capacity in state UI systems.
Deputy Secretary of Labor Julie Su explained in a blog post the need to make continued improvements in the UI system while the unemployment crisis has subsided. Su compared the UI system to a roof with a leaky house, and the time to make repairs is “between the storms.”
The U.S. Department of Labor Creates New Office to Modernize Unemployment System
Announced in September 2021, the Office of Unemployment Insurance Modernization is attached to the Secretary’s office and works closely withemployment and Training Administration, Office of the Chief Information Officer, and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management. The office recently released example initiatives and sample code from states and territories that agencies can implement to improve accessibility and claimant experience.
Creating Equity and Helping State Labor Agencies Modernize Tech Systems
The DOL has approved Equity Grants to 31 states and the District of Columbia, totalling more than $157 million to date. Broadly, there are seven topics states will address using the grants: claimant communication, equity improvements through technology, translation services, data analysis to understand equity disparities, plain language communication, backlog reductions, and workflow analysis.
The DOL has deployed its UI Tiger Teams to 30 states to work with state labor agencies in developing custom solutions to address equity, timeliness, and fraud prevention. Tiger Teams are composed of multiple experts in areas like computer engineering and project management. The DOL has allocated $200 million for Tiger Team deployment. Equity recommendations have included a focus on improving plain language and providing better translations in communications to claimants. Timeliness and fraud prevention recommendations have focused on increasing automation for making determinations and improving cross matching efforts using the National Association State Workforce Agencies (NASWA) Data Hub.
General Accountability Office labeled the Unemployment Insurance System “High Risk”
In September 2022 the GAO published a report calling for urgent attention from the DOL to address challenges in the UI system that lead to fraud, poor customer service, benefit delivery and challenges in adding new programs. GAO also added UI to to its list of high risk federal programs, an unusual out-of-cycle addition that highlights the need for improved service delivery across UI systems.
House Oversight Committee Releases First Evidence in ID.me Investigation
More than 25 state labor agencies spent a combined $45 million dollars on facial recognition software created by ID.me to combat fraud in the UI system. As documented in a report by the House of Representatives Oversight Committee issued on November 17, however, the software company had excessive wait times for claimants, downplayed wait times, and inflated UI fraud numbers to gain additional business. Other report findings included that ID.me hurt access to UI benefits because it disabled the feature that would allow claimants to schedule an appointment for identity verification because it was inefficient, as well as relied too heavily on video chats for identity verification.
Vox’s Deep Dive on Challenges in Reforming UI
“We forgot to fix unemployment insurance yet again” by Emily Stewart shares the needs and complexities of fixing UI. The article analyzes why even after historic job losses due to the pandemic shined a spotlight on the challenges with UI, and unprecedented calls to reform the program, the momentum for such action seems to be fading as the economy recovers. The article includes quotes from current and past members of the UI Tech Coordinating Coalition.
|
|
New Jersey Passes First In the Nation Unemployment Insurance Bill
In November, the N.J. legislature passed Bill S2357 to address timely payments. The bill included the following key provisions: in-person verification if digital ID verification fails, expanded opportunity for an employer to communicate to the labor agency through non-electronic formats, ,and waiver of overpayments, payments to beneficiaries that might have been improper but do not involve fraud, for conscienceable cause.
States Struggle in Combating UI Fraud
State labor agencies continue to struggle in combating syndicated UI fraud nearly three years into the pandemic. Government estimates of fraud during the height of the pandemic vary from from $45 billion to as high as $163 billion, if potential no-fault UI overpayments are included.
Colorado, Michigan, Maryland, and Virginia are still citing fraud as a major issue in the UI system. Maryland’s Secretary of Labor, Tiffany Robinson, wrote to the state’s congressional delegation in March requesting a more coordinated effort and resources from the federal government to combat fraud.
Law Professor: State UI ID Systems Denied Millions of Workers Benefits
State labor agencies quickly adopted automated identification systems to combat fraud when skyrocketing unemployment claims happened during the pandemic. However, those systems failed millions of workers due to poor design, no oversight, and an over-reliance on private vendors, argues Michele Gilman, a professor at the University of Baltimore School of Law.
|
|
Digital Benefits Hub
The Digital Benefits Hub is a dynamic, open-source library of resources, case studies, and implementation tools for public benefits professionals, including those working on UI. The Hub launched October 2022 as a partnership between the Digital Benefits Network at the Beeck Center for Social + Impact and Innovation and the American Public Human Services Association (APHSA). Explore resources, case studies, and tools for using data, design, and technology to improve public benefits — and add your own!
Upturn’s Benefits Tech Advocacy Hub
Benefit systems, including UI, are increasingly using AI to make decisions about claims that can often lead to unfair benefit denials to those in need. Recognizing this disparity, Upturn worked with Legal Aid of Arkansas and the National Health Law Program to create the Benefits Tech Advocacy Hub to share best practices and give advocates the tools to fight back. The hub provides examples and case studies for constructive ways to engage with state agencies earlier in the project life cycle to avoid the process that leads to systems encoding mistakes or discrimination in their design.
Century Foundation Dashboard
The Century Foundation first released its UI Data Dashboard in October 2020 to illustrate how well the UI system was functioning during the height of the pandemic. The dashboard includes important data about timeliness of payments, as well as the percentage of workers receiving benefits and the amount of benefits in different states. The dashboard proved very popular among advocates, policymakers, and the media. In August 2022, it was re-released with an enhanced interface including a racial equity explorer and access to state fact sheets. The dashboard is a one-stop shop for understanding how well states are providing beneficiaries with the UI benefits they need, and gives users the ability to compare states.
NELP UI Hub
The National Employment Law Project (NELP) launched a UI hub in October 2022 that contains policy advocacy briefs and model legislation that can be used to strengthen state UI programs. The advocacy brief and model legislation topics include dependent allowance overpayments, waivers, and monetary eligibility.U.S. Digital Response U.S. Digital Response (USDR), formed during the pandemic to provide pro-bono technology assistance to the public sector, includes an active UI program. To date, USDR has partnered with nine state workforce agencies and the DOL to develop software solutions and publish “experience guides'' to improve UI delivery. USDR also supports the claimant experience by providing plain language and translation support, reducing call center volume, automating fraud and risk management, evaluating vendor offerings, and streamlining vendor onboarding. Their team is also offering pro-bono user research services to government partners.
Digital Identity in Public Benefits Research
The Digital Benefits Network recently announced a new, ongoing research agenda to provide up-to-date, in-depth learnings about identity verification and authentication practices across core social safety net programs, including in SNAP, WIC, TANF, Medicaid, UI, and child care applications.
The announcement also included a collection of introductory digital identity resources for benefits practitioners and decision makers, including a glossary of digital identity terms; a “What is Digital Identity?” primer, a short explainer about digital identity in public benefits programs; and high-level overview of federal engagement around digital identity topics. In early 2023, the team will release an assessment of login and identity proofing practices across UI applications, followed by information about the other programs.
What’s Next for Digital Identity
Watch the recording of the December Digital Benefits Network Community Call, which focused on a key question: “What’s next for digital identity in public benefits?” The call included a dynamic conversation from civic tech, legal, and public sector perspectives on navigating the current and future needs of digital identity in UI and other benefit programs, including hearing from April Dunlap, Policy Administrator for Arizona’s Department of Economic Security and Professor Michele Gilman, Venable Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Faculty Research and Development at the University of Baltimore School of Law.
Better Identity Coalition Releases ID Blueprint for State Policymakers
The Better Identity Coalition has created a new set of policy recommendations for state government officials detailing the role states can play in helping to solve digital identity challenges. The Blueprint focuses on a handful of common-sense initiatives that are practical for states to implement and will be meaningful in their impact. Better Identity in America: A Blueprint for State Policymakers will be available on the Better Identity Coalition website on December 13.
|
|
|
Do you have content you’d like to see in the next roundup? Send it our way!
|
|
|
Contact
Reach our team at uitechconveners@georgetown.edu
We look forward to hearing from you,
Marcus Courtney and Adam Bobrow, Conveners of the UI Tech Coordinating Coalition
Ariel Kennan, Fellow, Digital Benefits Network
Shanelle Roberson, Community Manager, Digital Benefits Network
The Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation at Georgetown University
About the Coalition
The Unemployment Insurance Technology Coordinating Coalition is a community of practice of the Digital Benefits Network of the Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation at Georgetown University that engages cross-sector practitioners, including states, legal advocates, labor unions, technologists, think tanks, and other nonprofits through bi-weekly calls, annual convenings, closed-door sessions, research, and technical assistance in order to improve the technology delivery of the UI system.
Membership: We are 36 members from 28 separate organizations that include groups working as advocates for beneficiaries; technologists working to improve UI systems; think tank experts on UI, workforce and labor issues, and poverty alleviation; labor union representatives; industry representatives; and civil liberties groups.
Our Mission: Advance technological solutions at the federal and state levels with coordination between the two to ensure all eligible unemployed workers—and especially those from BIPOC groups that have historically been excluded from UI—receive their benefits on time.
Our Goal: Coordinate national experts and key state partners who are offering solutions of improved service delivery through new technology to offer coordinated solutions.
Coalition in Action:
-
The Coalition has met consistently every two weeks since December 2020—a total of 47 times and counting.
-
Former members of the Coalition are currently working at the U.S. Department of Labor and at the Government Services Administration (GSA).
-
The Coalition has facilitated interactions between the members and representatives of state agencies involved in UI delivery in seven states.
-
The Coalition has also hosted interactive discussions with the White House National Economic Council’s staff and UI-focused staff at the Department of Labor.
-
In October 2022, the coalition formally joined the Digital Benefits Network at the Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation at Georgetown University.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
