In Summer 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor announced a series of actions to modernize and reform a cornerstone of our economic infrastructure, the unemployment insurance system. Over the last year alone, the unemployment insurance system has helped nearly 53 million workers stay afloat during a pandemic and economic crisis and put nearly $800 billion into the economy – staving off an even deeper recession.

The American Rescue Plan Act provided $2 billion in funding to the department to prevent and detect fraud, promote equitable access, ensure timely payment of benefits and reduce backlogs.

“The pandemic underscored the need for modernization of the 53 different systems that administer unemployment insurance benefits in the United States, and it exposed significant vulnerabilities in state technology to criminals looking for an opportunity,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh. “The Biden-Harris administration and Congress provided the means to reform this critical safety net for future crises, and our department is committed to executing that mission in a way that leaves no community behind.”

The department has outlined several strategies in its comprehensive approach to improving the UI system, including tools to address immediate fraud concerns.

Identity verification is a critical tool in paying unemployment benefits to eligible individuals. Yet too few states have the resources, expertise, and capacity needed to effectively work with vendors to address the wide-ranging attacks that the UI system has experienced from organized criminal enterprises. The department issued a blanket purchase agreement to work with three vendors to employ cross-matching technology to verify applicants’ identities at the time of filing for unemployment programs and tools to identify suspicious attributes after claims are filed.

V3Gate, partnering with ID.Me, is compliant with the National Institute of Standards’ Identity Assurance Level 2 and Authenticator Assurance Level 2, and these vendors will work with states to: develop identification verification options that do not require computer access, offer customer service in claimants’ native languages and provide accessibility standards to serve the disability community.

Contract Number

1605TA-21-A-0002

Period of Performance

07/15/2021-07/14/2026

Contract Type

BPA

NAICS Code

541519

Points of Contact

Department of Labor
COVID-19@dol.gov

V3Gate
khartmann@v3gate.com

ID.me
publicsector@id.me