Hunter
12/14/21
Iowa Workforce Development has announced it will launch its new Reemployment Case Management (RCM) program next month.
According to a press release form IWD, the program will begin the week of January 9th. It will offer extensive job search assistance to newly unemployed Iowans with the goal of getting them back to work more quickly.
The program’s goal is to minimize the amount of time spent receiving unemployment benefits.
In the release, Governor Kim Reynolds addressed the workforce shortage in the state. She said, “We are taking a holistic approach in revitalizing our reemployment process to ensure that Iowans have the access they need to match them with the successful career paths and opportunities that await them across our state.”
Reynolds and Workforce Development Director Beth Townsend announced the program in October. When fully implemented, the program will include 18 new Career Planners who are assigned to meet individually with Iowans seeking reemployment beginning with the first week of their unemployment claims. New technology is being added to Iowa’s existing IowaWORKS system, which is aimed at making it easier to match an unemployment claimant’s work history with the skills in demand by Iowa companies with open jobs.
Union members will be excluded from participation in the program, per Iowa law. Most other unemployment claimants will be required to meet with the Career Planners weekly in order to receive their benefits. In addition, the current requirement for unemployed Iowans to engage in two work searches per week will be doubled to four. At the same time, Workforce Development is narrowing the list of what qualifies as “reemployment activity” from 27 items to 12.
The program also stipulates that failure to respond to phone calls from Career Planners could delay the process of helping claimants find new work – and ultimately, could lead to unemployment claims being frozen until the proper information is provided.
Director Townshend says the new program’s goal is to give unemployed Iowans both the extra help and the extra incentive to find a new career as quickly as possible.
For details on the progam, go to www.iowaworkforcedevelopment.gov. A link to a frequently asked questions document: