_PRA Part B - RESEA2 Revised-7.10.25

Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment (RESEA) Evidence Building Portfolio Project

OMB Control Number 1290-0NEW

OMB Expiration Date: TBD

SUPPORTING STATEMENT B FOR

Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment (RESEA) Evidence Building Portfolio Project

OMB CONTROL NO. 1290-0NEW

B1. Respondent Universe and Sampling Methods

As part of the U.S. Department of Labor’s ongoing efforts to develop strategies to support the legislative evidence requirements for the Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment (RESEA) program, DOL has contracted with the Abt Global study team to conduct two multi-state evaluations of RESEA programs: an Impact Study and a Cost Study.¹ The Impact Study (comprising the Component Study and the Behavioral Study) will examine the impact of subsequent meetings (vs. just having a single initial meeting) and remote RESEA meetings (as opposed to holding meetings in person) on program implementation, participant engagement, service receipt, and service improvement in up to 14 states. Up to 10 states will participate in the Component Study and up to four states will participate in the Behavioral Study. The Cost Study will evaluate the costs of RESEA program implementation in up to seven states to build on prior cost studies and fill in gaps in cost-related research in RESEA.

Each of these studies will collect qualitative data from program staff, and the Impact Study will collect data from participants. The instruments for the qualitative data collection are included in this OMB package. No statistical methods will be used to select sites or interview candidates. The remainder of this section describes the selection approach for each study, as summarized in Exhibit 1

Exhibit 1. Respondent Sample & Estimated Response Rate by Study

Data Collection Activity	RESEA Respondent Universe	Universe Estimatea	Selection Method	Estimated # of Respondents Invitedb	Estimated Response Rate	Estimated Sample Sizeb
RESEA Impact Study: Component
Semi-structured program manager interview protocol	Program managers in all AJCs across the nation	4,600	All RESEA program managers at study sitesc	90	90%	81
Semi-structured program staff interview protocol	Front-line staff in all AJCs across the nation	3,450	Staff who conduct initial RESEA meetings at study sitesc	270	90%	243
Participant interview protocol	Participants in all states & territories with AJCs during the week of the site visit & another week for possible virtual interviews.	13,962	Participants volunteer after learning about the opportunity from local RESEA staff or evaluation staffc	360	50%	180
RESEA Impact Study: Behavioral
Semi-structured program manager interview protocol	Program managers in all AJCs across the nation	4,600	All RESEA program managers at study sitesc	36	90%	32
Semi-structured program staff interview protocol	Front-line staff in all AJCs across the nation	3,450	Staff who conduct initial RESEA meetings at study sitesc	108	90%	97
Participant interview protocol	Participants in in all states & territories with AJCs during the week of the site visit & another week for possible virtual interviews.	47,030	Participants volunteer after learning about the opportunity from local RESEA staff or evaluation staffc	180	50%	90
RESEA Cost Study
AJC director-level interview protocol	AJC director-level staff in AJCs across the nation.	4,600	All local program managers with knowledge of the RESEA program components and costs at local sited	63	90%	57
State Employment Service staff interview protocol	State-level RESEA employment service staff in 50 states, District of Columbia, and 3 territories	216	State-level employment service staff who oversee the RESEA program	21	90%	19
State office of UI staff interview protocol	State UI staff in 50 states, District of Columbia, and 3 territories	216	State-level UI staff with knowledge of RESEA program components and costs	21	90%	19
Caseworker interview protocol	Caseworker staff in in all AJCs across the nation	3,450	All local staff with knowledge of the RESEA program components and costs at local sited	105	90%	95
Post-interview survey	Employment service, State office of UI staff, and case worker staff in up to 7 states that participate in interviews	210	Interviewed staff that did not answer all the questions during the interview, estimated to be 30% of those interviewed	63	90%	57

Key: AJC=American Job Center. RESEA=Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment. UI=Unemployment Insurance.

^a The staff universe estimates are based on an estimate of 2,300 AJCs across the nation as of June 2025, and we assumed on average three program manager level positions with RESEA management responsibilities per AJC and on average 1.5 RESEA front-line staff per AJC. For the Cost Study, we additionally assume on average 4 employment service staff at the state level and 4 UI staff at the state level with RESEA responsibilities. Estimates are rounded to the nearest whole number. The RESEA participant universe is based on the total RESEA participant count between October 1, 2023, to September 30, 2024 from state RESEA workload reports.

^b Estimates are the maximum number expected. Estimates are rounded to the nearest whole number.

^c We will conduct interviews at three local sites in each state. For states that have more than three local sites participating in the Impact Study, we will select sites to ensure variation by geography and size of the RESEA population served.

^d We will select AJCs that represent variation in reported cost drivers for inclusion in the study. Common cost drivers may include urbanicity, rental costs, and local unemployment rate.

Impact Study site selection:

The population of states being considered for the Impact Study (both the Component and the Behavioral Study) is a total of 52 states and jurisdictions that are operating an RESEA program (Unemployment Insurance Program Letter 8-24). The Abt study team is specifically interested in states that have not been able to launch their own impact evaluations. This subset of states tends to be overrepresented by smaller states that may lack the internal resources to fund large-scale evaluations than do larger states. Restricting our sample exclusively to small states would present challenges regarding statistical power and external validity. As a result, the study team seeks to recruit 3-10 small states from the bottom two thirds of the RESEA program size distribution and 1-4 larger states from the top third of the RESEA program size distribution.

In addition to seeking states that vary in size, the recruitment team outlined the following inclusion criteria: not currently evaluating components of their RESEA program, demonstrated interest in evaluating the targeted interventions (single/multiple meetings, remote/in-person modality, or a behavioral intervention), and the capacity to participate in a high-quality evaluation. Using these criteria, we expect to select up to 10 states for the Component Study and up to four states for the Behavioral Study.

If there are more than three local sites participating in the Impact Study within a given state, then we will work with RESEA program leaders to select three local sites that vary by geography and size of the RESEA population served. Then staff and participants to be interviewed at the sites participating in the studies will be selected via a discussion with the local RESEA program director. We will ask the program director to select front-line staff who are available during the days of the site visit and have experience conducting RESEA initial meetings (or the behavioral intervention in the case of the Behavioral Study). We will also interview the RESEA program director at all selected sites (i.e., American Job Centers).

We will work with the RESEA program director to decide on the approach for selecting participants to participate in the voluntary interviews. One option is for the site to share the opportunity with participants, and another is for evaluation staff to attend a public event and seek volunteers at the event (e.g., RESEA orientation).

Cost Study site selection:

As with the Impact Study, the population of states and jurisdictions operating an RESEA program is 52 states and jurisdictions. The cost study will include up to seven states, all of whom will be participating in the component-level impact study of subsequent meetings.

Within each state, we will select up to three American Job Centers (AJCs) to participate in the study. During the study recruitment phase, we will ask state staff about what programmatic, operational, or contextual factors they perceive drive the local cost of their RESEA program. Based on states’ responses in selected states, we will work with state staff to select AJCs that represent variation in reported cost drivers for inclusion in the study. For instance, if states report that variation in local staffing and rental costs drives intra-state program cost variation between AJCs, we will identify an AJC in a low-cost, medium-cost, and high-cost area to account for these differences.² We will use data from the three selected AJCs to serve as proxies for other AJCs in the state with similar characteristics.

We will select staff to be interviewed at each selected site via a discussion with its RESEA program director. We will ask the program director for staff who are available and have knowledge of the RESEA program components and costs. We will also interview the RESEA program director at all selected sites.

We will select interview respondents who do not provide complete answers during the interview to receive the post-interview survey. For example, this may occur if a respondent does not have the information available during the interview (e.g. a salary amount). We estimate that we’ll send the survey to 30% of respondents.

B2. Procedures for Collection of Information

This section describes the data collection procedures for the RESEA Impact and Cost Studies. We will collect data through semi-structured interviews with RESEA program staff and participants at selected sites.

Each participating state will be assigned liaisons from the RESEA study team who will be responsible for traveling to the site to conduct interviews with program leadership, staff, and other stakeholders or in the case of the cost study responsible for conducting virtual interviews. For each study, this is a one-time data collection effort. During these staff interviews, the RESEA study team will gather details about RESEA program implementation, including the RESEA components and the resources states have used to implement the program. Interviews will be a mix of semi-structured questions and open discussion questions guided by the protocols.

The specific procedures for each protocol are described below.

Impact Study protocol:

• Program manager interview protocols & program staff interview protocols. We will collect data through in-person semi-structured interviews of staff who manage and administer the RESEA program, which will include staff from both the reemployment services and the Unemployment Insurance (UI) sides of the program. If a respondent is not available on site (e.g., the person is out sick), we will conduct the interview by phone or video conference. Prior to data collection, respondents will be informed about the purpose of the study and asked if they agree to be interviewed. The data collected during the interview will be qualitative, and no estimation or statistical procedures will be used while processing and analyzing the data collected. These protocols will be tailored to the staff person’s role on the RESEA program for the Component Study or the behavioral intervention for the Behavioral Study:

  • 1-RESA Component Study- program manager interview protocol

  • 2-RESEA Component Study- program staff interview protocol

  • 5-RESEA Behavioral Study- program staff interview protocol

  • 4- RESEA Behavioral Study-program manager interview protocol

• Participant interview protocols. We will collect data through in-person semi-structured interviews of participants of the RESEA program or participants of the RESEA program’s behavioral intervention. Prior to conducting the interview, the interviewer will review a consent form with the participant that explains the purpose of the voluntary interview and that their response will be anonymous and handled securely. The data collected during the interview will be qualitative, and no estimation or statistical procedures will be used while processing and analyzing the data collected. The protocols to be used are:

  • 3-RESEA Component Study- participant interview protocol

  • 6-RESEA Behavioral Study- participant interview protocol

Cost Study protocol:

• Stakeholder interview protocol for the Cost Study. We will collect data through virtual semi-structured interviews of staff who manage and administer the unemployment and workforce services component of the RESEA program. This will include four staff interview protocols:

  • 7-RESEA Cost Study AJC director level interview protocol

  • 8-RESEA Cost Study State Employment Service (ES) staff interview protocol

  • 9-RESEA Cost Study State Office of UI staff interview protocol

  • 10-RESEA Cost Study Caseworker interview protocol

These protocols will be tailored to the staff person’s role.. Prior to data collection, respondents will be informed about the purpose of the study and asked if they agree to be interviewed. The data collected during the interview will be qualitative, and no estimation or statistical procedures will be used while processing and analyzing the data collected.

• Post-interview survey for Cost Study interview respondents. We will create a customized survey for each interview respondent, who does not provide complete information during the interview. The survey will include questions that the respondent did not answer during the interview. The customized survey will be administered using a secure internet-based survey platform. The generic survey that will be customized is:

  • 11- RESEA Cost Study post-interview survey

B3. Methods to Maximize Response Rates and Deal with Nonresponse

This section describes the expected response rate for each of the data collection instruments in this package and our strategies for maximizing the response rate and addressing nonresponse. Obtaining a response is built on the engagement our study team establishes while recruiting and selecting sites (as described in section B1). During the recruitment and selection stage, our study team clearly communicates the purpose of the DOL-sponsored study and its important contribution to expanding the RESEA evidence base. Further, one of our site selection criteria is to select states that are interested in the study and its results.

Consequently, we expect the response rates to the staff interviews to be 90% to 100% because staff are working in states whose leaders have expressed interest in the study. Given these response rates, the study team does not anticipate a need to make adjustments to account for nonresponse.

We expect the response rates for the participant interviews to be lower, at about 50%, because participants have competing demands on their time. We will provide participants with a $25 gift card incentive for the 30 minute interview to encourage response, but we will not otherwise address nonresponse because study findings will be limited to the individuals providing data. Although the information collected during interviews will provide valuable insight into specific claimants’ perceptions about the RESEA program, these claimants are a purposively and self-selected group. Therefore, the evaluation cannot use interview data to generalize beyond the participant sample to make inferences about impacts or the experiences of a broader population.

The remainder of this section describes our approach by interview protocol.

Impact Study interview protocol:

• Program manager interview protocol & program staff interview protocol for the Component Study & Behavioral Study. We expect a response rate between 90% and 100%. This estimated range is based on the study team’s past experience with implementation studies, which includes studies about RESEA and its predecessor Reemployment and Eligibility Assessment (REA) program. Additionally, the study team will ensure the scheduling process is convenient. Interview scheduling will begin up to six months in advance of the planned site visit to ensure that we establish an interview schedule that accommodates RESEA staff schedules. Further, we will select a convenient location, usually a conference room at the local site (i.e., AJC). As described earlier, we may also conduct some interviews by phone or video conference if that works better for scheduling. The lower bound of our estimate is 90% because in practice sometimes staff are absent on the day of the site visit and rescheduling is not always possible, though the study team will make multiple attempts to reschedule interviews.

• Participant interview protocol for the Component Study & Behavioral Study. Because the participants will be volunteering their time to participate in an interview, we anticipate a response rate of about 50%. This estimated range is based on the study team’s past experience with recruiting participants for interviews. We will use multiple strategies to achieve or surpass this response rate:

  • We will offer a $25 gift card for people who participate in the interviews. We chose this amount because we expect people will have competing demands on their time. We picked an amount greater than $17.45, which is half of the July 2024 average hourly earnings of all employees on private non-farm payrolls (i.e. 50%*$34.90).³

  • We will provide RESEA program staff with outreach materials to describe the opportunity, such as email text or a one-page flyer describing the opportunity.

  • If needed, we will conduct outreach directly to participants via email to present the interview opportunity and incentive to them. Some of the interviews may be conducted via video conference or phone. This will allow the study team and participants the flexibility to conduct the interviews on days other than the site visit days.

The Impact Study will not include adjustments for nonresponse based on these data because (1) staff response rates are expected to be greater than 90%, and (2) the study will not seek to generalize inference from participant interviews beyond the sample of respondents.

Cost Study interview protocol & survey:

• Stakeholder interview protocol and post-interview survey for the Cost Study. We expect a 90% to 100% response rate for each staff level (i.e. AJC directors, employment service staff, state office of UI staff, and case workers) interview. Similarly, we expect a 90% to 100% response rate for the post-interview survey. These estimated ranges are based on the study team’s past experience with implementation studies, which includes studies about REA and RESEA. Concurrently, the study team will ensure the scheduling process is convenient. Interview scheduling will begin up to three months in advance of the planned site visit to ensure that we establish an interview schedule that accommodates RESEA staff schedules. Further, staff will have flexibility to schedule visits at a time that works for them because we are conducting visits virtually. The lower bound of our estimate is 90% because in practice sometimes some staff members may be absent during the virtual site visit window and rescheduling is not always possible, though, the study team will make multiple attempts to reschedule interviews. The Cost Study will not include adjustments for nonresponse based on these data because staff response rates are expected to be greater than 90%.

B4. Tests of Procedures or Methods to Be Undertaken

This section describes our approach for ensuring that the data collection using the instruments in this packages are administered as planned and is consistent across data collectors conducting the interviews.

Protocol development & site visit interviewer training:

The interview protocols were developed by experienced staff familiar with RESEA program operations and with experience on other state-level RESEA evaluations. Therefore, we are confident that the protocols are comprehensive and reliable.

Further, to ensure the interview protocols are used consistently across data collectors, the study team will conduct a training of all site visitors. The goal of the site visitor training is to equip data collectors to collect information that aligns with the protocol and provides enough detail to describe the RESEA program components (e.g., the RESEA initial and subsequent meetings, modality of the meetings). Topics to be covered in the training include the underpinning research questions and objectives, site visit planning (e.g., outreach and scheduling process with sites), conducting interviews with the protocols, and recording and summarizing information obtained through the interviews. Concurrently, because the protocols are designed to be semi-structured, they have built-in flexibility to adapt the flow to the respondent’s role and knowledge of the program.

Interview staffing:

All interviews will be conducted by a pair of researchers that includes at least one researcher who has prior experience conducting interviews with staff and participants of workforce programs (such as RESEA).

B5. Individual(s) Consulted on Statistical Aspects and Individuals Collecting and/or Analyzing Data

The individuals that were consulted in designing the selection and data collection approach that underpins the instruments in this OMB package are listed in Exhibit 2. Individuals Consulted

Exhibit 2. Individual Consulted

Individual	Employed by
Andrew Clarkwest, Principal Investigator	Abt Global 6130 Executive Blvd. Rockville, MD 20852
Heinrich Hock, Principal Investigator
Correne Saunders, Project Director
Zach Epstein, Senior Associate
Leela Hebbar, Senior Associate
Michael Hallsworth, Chief Behavioral Scientist	Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) 195 Montague St., Suite 1123 Brooklyn, NY 11201
Siobhan De La Rosa, Senior Researcher	American Institutes for Research (AIR) 1400 Crystal Dr., 10th Floor Arlington, VA 22202

1 The RESEA evidence requirements were enacted in 2018 amendments to the Social Security Act, which permanently authorized RESEA (Public Law 115-123).

2 We anticipate that common cost drivers may include urbanicity, local unemployment rate, local industry, and population characteristics, like average age of claimants.

3 July 2024 Average Hourly Earnings of All Employees on Nonfarm Payrolls, Private Service Sector, Seasonally Adjusted, July 2024 (Table B-3), https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t19.htm

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