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.
a. 3. Describe strategies developed to support training and awareness across core programs and the Unemployment Insurance (UI) program and the training provided for Employment Services and WIOA staff on identification of UI eligibility issues and referral to UI staff for adjudication
Current Narrative:
Many unemployed Missourians may not be eligible for UI benefits; however, they would benefit from Wagner-Peyser and Title I services. Although the Division of Employment Security (DES) is limited in the assistance it can provide, Missouri Job Centers (MJCs) under the Office of Workforce Development (OWD) offer valuable and much-needed help to the unemployed and underemployed. DES includes information regarding reemployment services available at MJCs in many brochures, publications, posters and web pages. Additionally, all citizens that file a claim for UI benefits are pre-registered in OWD’s jobs.mo.gov website, and therefore are effectively referred to OWD regardless of their UI eligibility. DES and OWD have an ongoing effort to provide the most current information on the labor.mo.gov website, OWD’s jobs.mo.gov website, and through social media (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc.) to assist claimants and other individuals seeking job center services with their reemployment process.
DES and OWD’s subject matter experts (SMEs) have prepared a series of webinars that will be presented to all job center staff, including non-merit state staff to assist them with acquiring a working knowledge of the Unemployment Insurance (UI) program and how to better serve the UI claimant. These webinars are provided weekly to staff on Wednesdays through Wise Up Wednesdays and Apprenticeship MO Office Hours.
Non-merit state staff members from the DES and OWD continue to work together to coordinate and improve efforts for MJC staff to identify potential eligibility issues concerning a claimant’s status of being able and available for work and/or refusing suitable work or a referral to apply for suitable work. An automated process is in place for OWD staff to refer potential issues to the DES for investigation. Claimants may be determined ineligible to receive UI benefits when barriers to reemployment are discovered or they refuse to apply for suitable work as directed by MJC staff. This collaboration between the DES and OWD helps to ensure the integrity of the UI benefits program.