Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment - Program Overview

What Is the Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment?

The Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment (RESEA) program identifies unemployment benefits claimants who are likely to exhaust all unemployment benefits and connects them with reemployment services to help them quickly return to work. RESEA has four purposes:

1. Improve employment outcomes for unemployment benefits claimants and reduce the amount of time claimants need unemployment benefits
2. Strengthen the integrity of the Unemployment Insurance (UI) program and reduce improper payments through detection and prevention of improper payments to ineligible individuals
3. Promote alignment with the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) for career seekers
4. Establish RESEA as an entry point for unemployment benefits claimants into other TWC and workforce system programs.

How Does RESEA Work?

The RESEA program uses statistical modeling to rank unemployment benefits claimants based on their likelihood to exhaust all unemployment benefits. This process includes a statistical evaluation of numerous work and related factors, including but not limited to, work history, occupational field, wage, and location. Each Local Workforce Development Board (Board) is assigned a cutoff score. All claimants with a score at or above the Board cutoff score are required to participate and will receive a letter to introduce them to the RESEA program. The RESEA program provides the following services:

• An orientation that describes the RESEA program and information about and access to services available through the local Workforce Solutions Office. The orientation may be conducted in person, virtually, or through a pre-recorded webinar.
• An Initial RESEA meeting with a case manager is required of all RESEA participants. This meeting may be held in person or remotely using resources such as Zoom or Skype. At this meeting:

• an eligibility review will be conducted on a one-on-one basis, including a review of work search activities, to ensure continued eligibility for unemployment benefits;
• customized labor market and career information will be provided based on an assessment of the claimant’s needs;
• the claimant will be co-enrolled in the Wagner-Peyser Employment Service program;
• an Individual Employment Plan (IEP) will be developed based on the claimant’s needs; and
• referrals to other workforce services, resources, and trainings, including enrollment in WIOA services, as appropriate, will be offered to the claimant.

See Job Search and Unemployment Benefits for more information about services to career seekers and claimants.

If an unemployment benefits claimant, who is selected to participate in RESEA, does not report for or complete RESEA, a notification is sent to UI, which contacts the unemployment benefits claimant to determine the reason for not reporting or completing the required RESEA services. If the unemployment benefits claimant does not have good cause as decided by TWC, UI will find the claimant to be ineligible to receive UI benefits for the week in which RESEA services were scheduled. If the unemployment benefits claimant does not respond to the UI contact or complete all required RESEA services, future UI payments are suspended until the issue is resolved. Unemployment benefits claimants may contact Workforce Solutions Office staff before their scheduled RESEA orientation and ask to be rescheduled if a conflict exists.

TWC’s RESEA program is Texas’ version of the federal Worker Profiling and Reemployment Services (WPRS) initiative. Federal reporting requirements for WPRS are detailed in DOLETA’s Unemployment Insurance (UI) Reports Handbook No. 401.