Unemployment Insurance Navigator Outreach and Engagement Strategies
Findings from Maine, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin
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Key Findings
- Several states reported using Unemployment Insurance (UI) Navigator grants to fund active and intentional outreach and engagement strategies to share information about the UI program.
- To address barriers to UI access, UI Navigators in Maine, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin worked to serve as trusted messengers.
- Key outreach strategies included: (1) engaging potential claimants at community events, (2) using Facebook groups and Messenger, (3) sending mass text messages, and (4) conducting outreach to employers and at employment sites.
This spotlight brief describes outreach and engagement strategies that UI Navigators reported using in Maine, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin to share information about the UI program and UI Navigation services with underrepresented groups and to address several barriers to UI program access.
This brief is part of a study funded by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), Chief Evaluation Office, that explores the implementation of Unemployment Insurance (UI) Navigator Grants, which seven states received in 2022. The DOL’s Employment and Training Administration funded these three-year competitive grants, which aim to support efforts to promote equitable access to UI benefits. Visit the Navigator Evidence-Building Portfolio website for additional information about the study’s design and related publications. A full study report will be available in early 2025.
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