Located in:
- Program-Specific Requirements for Wagner-Peyser Program (Employment Services)
All Program-Specific Requirements provided for the WIOA core programs in this section must be addressed for either a Unified or Combined State Plan.
c. Describe the State’s strategy for providing reemployment assistance to UI claimants and other unemployed individuals
Current Narrative:
Indiana provides comprehensive statewide reemployment assistance that seeks to support all claimants in returning to work as quickly as possible in high wage, high demand jobs. Indiana operates two RES programs that meet the needs of claimants: RESEA is the federal program and Jobs for Hoosiers (JFH) is the State of Indiana program. The Jobs for Hoosiers program (established in 2013 via the Jobs for Hoosiers Act, IC 22-4-14-3.5) is Indiana’s State Reemployment Services program and is designed to work in tandem with the federal RESEA program. It requires individuals at their fourth week of receiving unemployment benefits to report to a local WorkOne. The program introduces unemployed Hoosiers to WorkOne services and training opportunities during a one-day orientation and provides access to additional reemployment services, if desired. It addresses the needs of Hoosier claimants less likely to exhaust their current UI claim, while offering the opportunity for claimants to learn about reemployment services and activities available through the WorkOne. Both RESEA and JFH were designed to help UI claimants return to work sooner and enter a high-wage, high- demand career path; reduce weeks of unemployment; improve the solvency of the UI trust fund; and reduce fraudulent UI claims. Program participation is mandatory upon selection, unless the claimant qualifies for a Manual RES Waiver based on one of the following reasons: moved out of state, currently enrolled in state approved training, return to work date within 60 days of separation, or in good standing with a Union Hiring Hall.
The State of Indiana’s reemployment strategy consists of the following: After UI claimants have received unemployment for four weeks, they are selected for RESEA or JFH through profiling. Claimants are sent a notification to their home address on record to participate in one of the two RES programs. Claimants are scheduled through Indiana’s case management system to come into one of the WorkOne at week six of their claim and are required to attend a group orientation of services and fulfill additional program requirements which include:
- Claimants working one-on-one with a case manager to discuss and deliver current Labor Market Information (LMI),
- Enrolling in Indiana’s Labor Exchange System – Indiana Career Connect,
- Creating an Individual Reemployment Plan (IRP),
- Tracking work search activities, and
- Referral to ongoing reemployment services.
Claimants are also required to attend follow-up meetings as scheduled to review progress and make necessary adjustments to the IRP until employment is obtained.
If claimants have not been successful in obtaining employment by week fifteen, they will again receive a mail notification and are required to come back into the WorkOne at week seventeen for subsequent RESEA, which includes a one-on-one meeting with a career manager to reassess the claimant’s work search, resume, and reemployment plan to help the individual return to work prior to exhausting their UI benefits.