TEN_15-21.pdf

ETA Advisory File Text

TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT NOTICE NO. 15-21 DATE November 17 2021 EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR WASHINGTON D.C. 20210 TO FROM STATE WORKFORCE AGENCIES ANGELA HANKS Acting Assistant Secretary SUBJECT Announcing the National Association of State Workforce Agencies NASWA Unemployment Insurance UI Integrity Center s Behavioral Insights Toolkit 1. Purpose. To inform State Workforce Agencies SWAs about the launch of the NASWA UI Integrity Center s Behavioral Insights Toolkit and to provide states with information on how to access the Toolkit resourcesK 2. Action Requested. The U.S. Department of Labor s Department Employment and Training Administration ETA requests that SWA Administrators provide information contained in this Training and Employment Notice TENF to appropriate staffK 3. Summary and Background. a.Summary The Behavioral Insights Toolkit is now available for states to use in addressing program compliance challenges and improving UI program integrity. It was developed by the UI Integrity Center which is funded by the Department and operated by NASWA. The toolkit includes a sub-collection of resources articles templates and how-to information housed within NASWA s online Knowledge Exchange Library. b.Background Behavioral Insights brings together practices from the field of behavioral science to promote UI program integrity and reduce improper paymentsK Drawing on principles from the fields of psychology neuroscience and behavioral economicsI Behavioral fnsights applies observations about human behavior to strategies that can improve decision-making and program outcomes. Behavioral Insights offers a framework for understanding people s behaviors and choicesI and the motivators and tendenciesI which underlie the decisions they makeK In the fall of 2018 ETA asked the UI Integrity Center to take on an enhanced technical assistance initiative called State Intensive Services SISFI with a goal of reducing the national UI improper payment rate by providing concentrated support and targeted assistance to states designated as High-Rate High-Impact by the DepartmentK Through this effort the NASWA team which included subject matter experts and contracted 2 behavioral insigh ts consultants conducted comprehensive on -site assessments to ex amine the states operational administrative technological policy and messaging practices . The SIS effort was suspended in March 2020 due to t he Coronavirus -19 pandemic . Despite the disruption to the SIS project there were many lessons learned and best practices gleaned from the effort that allowed the NASWA team to develop the Behavioral Insights Toolkit and share th is information with the broader UI community . The purpose of the Behavioral Insights Toolkit is to provide practical information to state UI agencies to assist them in applying the learnings and methods of behavioral insights to address program compliance challenges and improve UI program integrity. 4. Behavioral Insights Toolkit . The Behavioral Insights Toolkit resides as a sub -collection with in NASWA s Knowledge Exchange Library at https library.naswa.org bitoolkit . It includes a collection -level homepage and three additional landing pages 1 to help orient users and promote the discovery of resources. The main types of resources within the Behavioral Insights Toolkit are Overviews and How -to Information These resources include overviews of behavioral strategies an d interventions developed for UI agencies including strategies focused reducing improper payments related to work search benefit year earning BYE and separation issue errors . They include lessons learned guidance on evidence supporting the strategies and likelihood of successful replicat ions and how -to information to assist states in adapting the strategies for their own use. Behavioral Insights Articles Tools and Templates for UI These resources were developed for the UI community to support users efforts to understand and use behavioral science . Sample text messages pop -up messages videos correspondence templates and model handbook documents are available for UI agencies to customize and adapt for their own use . Examples of some of these resources include o BYE Pop -up M essages to encourage accurate earnings reporting. o Work Search Reminder Text Messages - behaviorally -informed text message language related to conducting meaningful work search activities. o Model Claimant Handbook a guide for states that want to simplify or update their claimant handb ook draws upon behavioral insights and document layout best practices to assist states in producing a handbook that is easy for claimants to read and underst and. The model handbook resource includes instructions for how to use and modify the handbook as well as an editable template that can be used by UI agencies to customize the handbook. 1 Beyond the Behavioral Insights Toolkit s homepage accessible at https library.naswa.org bitoolkit t he additional landing pages include Behavioral Strategies accessible at https library.naswa.org behavioralstrategies Behavioral Insights Principles accessible at https library.naswa.org behavioralprinciples and Behavioral Insights Educational Content accessible at https library.naswa.org educationalcontent . 3 Publications This group of resources include relevant publications curated from the field of behavioral science to shed light on core behavioral concepts and research. The UI Integrity Center is hosting a webinar titled Tooling up for Integrity How the Behavioral Insights Toolkit Can Hel p UI Agencies on Wednesday Nov ember 17 2021 from 3 00 p.m. to 4 00 p.m. Eastern Time . ETA encourages SWA staff to register and attend the webinar to learn about Behavioral Insights and how the Behavioral Insights Toolkit can be useful to address chall enges in state UI programs. Staff can register for the webinar here . 5. Accessing the Behavioral Insights Toolkit . Federal and SWA UI staff must use their existing WorkforceGPS or NASWA.org credentials to access the Behavioral Insights Toolkit in NASWA s Knowledge Exchange Library. Full access to the resources is restricted to state and federal UI staff. However SWA and ETA sta ff outside of UI can access the external Behavioral Insights publications curated for the Toolkit sub -collectio n. Basic access to Library materials is granted automatically upon logging in for the first time. a. Inf ormation for users with existing Knowledg e Exchange Library accounts There are two ways for existing Knowledge Exchange Library users with UI credentials to access the full Behavioral Insights Toolkit Option 1 o Go t o https library.naswa.org and click the log -in button in the upper right of the screen. The log -in provides the option to log in via WorkforceGPS or NASWA.org . o Hover your cursor over Collections in the menu bar and select Behavioral Insights from among the colored boxes to the right of Featured Collections to navigate to the Behavioral Insights Toolkit collection . Option 2 o Go directly to the Behavioral Insights Toolkit collection at https library.naswa.org bitoolkit . o Click the log -in button in the upper right of the screen. b. Information f or new users of the Knowledge Exchange Library Establish your credentials by going to the Knowledge Exchange Library homepage at https lib rary.naswa.org . Click th e log -in register button in the upper right of the screen and click either the NASWA.org button or WorkforceGPS.org button to establish an account . All new user accounts are reviewed by NASWA library staff to verify whether the user is authorized to receive elevated access which includes access to the resources of the Behavioral Insights Toolkit. Account reviews are completed within two business days. 4 Follow the instructions in section 5 a above to access the Behavioral Insights Toolkit. 6. Inquiries . General inquiries for ETA should be directed to Jennifer Garrett at Garrett.Jennifer.L dol.gov with a copy to the appropriate ETA Regional Office . Any questions r egarding access to Library resources should be directed to library naswa.org . Inquiries regarding the Behavioral Insights Toolkit or any of the Integrity Center s applications or resources should be directed to the state s corresponding UI Integrity Center State Liaison . Information regarding your state liaison can be found at https www.naswa.org integrity -center state -services . 7. References . Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019 Pub. L. 116 -117 Improper Payments Information Act of 2002 Pub. L. 107 -300 Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act of 2010 Pub. L. 111 -204 UIPL No. 19 -11 National Effort to Reduce Improper Payments in the Unemployment Insurance UI Program issued June 10 2011 https wdr.doleta.gov directives corr doc.cfm DOCN 3036 TEN No. 10 -17 Update on the Unemployment Insurance Integrity Center s Activities Launch of the Suspicious Actor Repository the Integrity Knowledge Exchange the National Integrity Academy and Upcoming Informational Webinars issued December 20 2017 https wdr.doleta.gov directives corr doc.cfm DOCN 5143 UI Integrity Strategic Plan Fiscal Year 2020 https oui.doleta.gov unemploy pdf ui prog in tegrity.pdf A Behavioral Insights Guide for Improving Payment Integrity https www.cfo.gov assets files Behavioral 20Insights 20Gu ide 20for 20Improv ing 20Payment 20Integrity.pdf U.S. Department of Labor Chief Evaluation Office https www.dol.gov agencies oasp evaluation topic -areas behavioral -interventions . 8. Attachment s . Not Applicable.