Evaluation of Impacts of the Reemployment and Eligibility Assessment (REA) Program

Last registered on March 06, 2024
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Evaluation of Impacts of the Reemployment and Eligibility Assessment (REA) Program
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0013119
Initial registration date
February 29, 2024

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
March 06, 2024, 4:33 PM EST

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country
United States of America
Region
Indiana, New York, Washington, Wisconsin

Primary Investigator

Name
Jacob Klerman
Affiliation
JA Klerman Consulting
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2013-02-06
End date
2019-09-08
Keywords
Labor
Additional Keywords
Unemployment Insurance. Reemployment Services. Reemployment and Eligibility Assessment. Casework
JEL code(s)
J65
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
To increase compliance with program rules, speed reemployment, and increase earnings, the Department of Labor’s Reemployment and Eligibility Assessment Program (REA) provided funds to states to operate programs providing casework services to eligible Unemployment Insurance (UI) claimants. Previous evaluations had shown clear evidence that the REA program cuts UI durations and increases employment and earnings. How the REA program achieved those impacts was less clear. Candidate explanations included: (1) the assistance provided by caseworkers at the required REA meetings; (2) verification of compliance with UI program rules at the required REA meetings; and (3) penalties for failure to attend required REA meetings. To understand how the program achieved its impacts, the evaluation conducted four-armed random assignment. The four treatment conditions were: (1) Control; (2) Partial (minimal assistance); (3) Single (no more than one meeting); and (4) Multiple (more than one meeting, as per state policy). The evaluation was conducted separately in four states (Indiana, New York, Washington, and Wisconsin; with states varying in which treatment conditions they implemented) and randomly assigned nearly 250,000 UI claimants.
External Link(s)
Evaluation final report
Evaluation final report appendix volume
Evaluation implementation report

Registration Citation

Citation
Klerman, Jacob. 2024. "Evaluation of Impacts of the Reemployment and Eligibility Assessment (REA) Program." AEA RCT Registry. March 06. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.13119-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

Sponsors

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The core of the Reemployment and Eligibility Assessment (REA) program is a, mandatory, in-person, meeting between one or more caseworkers and an eligible Unemployment Insurance (UI) claimant. At the meeting, one or more caseworkers review the Unemployment Insurance claimant's initial and ongoing eligibility and provide assistance with job search. The evaluation tested four versions of that meeting: (1) Control--no meeting; (2) Partial--a meeting with minimal assistance; (3) Single--a single meeting; and (4) Multiple--up to three meetings (as per state policy about who is scheduled for additional meetings).
Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention Start Date
2015-03-28
Intervention End Date
2015-11-08

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Total UI weeks through 26 weeks after initial UI claim; quarter employment by quarter since UI claim
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
UI paid (binary) in each week since initial UI claim; quarterly earnings by quarter since initial UI claim
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
To increase compliance with program rules, speed reemployment, and increase earnings, the Department of Labor’s Reemployment and Eligibility Assessment Program (REA) provided funds to states to operate programs providing casework services to eligible Unemployment Insurance (UI) claimants. Previous evaluations had shown clear evidence that the REA program cuts UI durations and increases employment and earnings. How the REA program achieved those impacts was less clear. Candidate explanations included: (1) the assistance provided by caseworkers at the required REA meetings; (2) verification of compliance with UI program rules at the required REA meetings; and (3) penalties for failure to attend required REA meetings. To understand how the program achieved its impacts, the evaluation conducted four-armed random assignment. The four treatment conditions were: (1) Control; (2) Partial (minimal assistance); (3) Single (no more than one meeting); and (4) Multiple (more than one meeting, as per state policy). The evaluation was conducted separately in four states (Indiana, New York, Washington, and Wisconsin; with states varying in which treatment conditions they implemented) and randomly assigned nearly 250,000 UI claimants.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
By computer, embedded in state selection and scheduling systems for the REA program.
Randomization Unit
Eligible (individual) Unemployment Insurance claimant
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
200,000 Unemployment Insurance claimants (across four states, not clustered)
Sample size: planned number of observations
200,000 Unemployment Insurance claimants (across four states, not clustered)
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Control: 59,295; Partial: 51,855; Single: 50,709; Multiple: 116,782
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
0.13 UI weeks for Treatment/Single contrast (80% power for a 2 sided test at .05, assuming equal allocation of sample of 100,000 for these two treatment conditions). Standard deviation of 7.3 weeks Mean outcome is roughly 15 weeks, so this is a power to detect an impact of about 0.9 percent of the mean outcome.
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Abt Associates
IRB Approval Date
2014-12-16
IRB Approval Number
0688
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
Yes
Intervention Completion Date
September 08, 2019, 12:00 +00:00
Data Collection Complete
Yes
Data Collection Completion Date
September 08, 2019, 12:00 +00:00
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
278,641
Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
No
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms
Control: 59,295; Partial: 51,855; Single: 50,709; Multiple: 116,782
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

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Program Files

Program Files
No
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Abstract
Evaluation final report
Citation
Klerman, Jacob Alex, Correne Saunders, Emily Dastrup, Zachary Epstein, Doug Walton, and Tara Adam, with Burt S. Barnow. 2019. Evaluation of Impacts of the Reemployment and Eligibility Assessment (REA) Program: Final Report. Cambridge, MA: Abt Associates
URL
https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/OASP/evaluation/pdf/REA%20Impact%20Study%20-%20Final%20Report.pdf
Abstract
Evaluation final report appendix volume
Citation
Saunders, Correne, Emily Dastrup, Zachary Epstein, Doug Walton, Tara Adam, and Jacob Alex Klerman, with Burt S. Barnow. 2019. Evaluation of the Reemployment and Eligibility Assessment (REA) Program: Final Report Appendices. Cambridge, MA: Abt Associates.
URL
https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/OASP/legacy/files/REA-Impact-Study-Implementation-Report.pdf
Abstract
Evaluation implementation report
Citation
Minzner, Amy, Jacob Alex Klerman, Zachary Epstein, Glenn Savidge-Wilkins, Valerie Benson, Correne Saunders, Cristina Cristobal, and Siobhan Mills. 2017. REA Impact Study: Implementation Report. Cambridge, MA: Abt Associates.
URL
https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/OASP/legacy/files/REA-Impact-Study-Implementation-Report.pdf

Reports & Other Materials