In this issue:

• Is your agency looking for a few extra million UI integrity dollars?
• States keep choosing Aware to beat fraud
• NDNH proves highly effective in identifying overpayments
• Kentucky agency shares Barts experience at IAWP conference
• NASWA's 70th Annual Conference to take place in Boise, Idaho
• Did You Know?
• Aware's one-click audits target both internal and external fraud
• Indiana hosts UI Technology Conference
• Enterprise Product Assurance Program supports clients in modernization efforts

Welcome to the July 25, 2006, issue of BullsEye, the On Point Technology newsletter. Our goal is to keep you up-to-date on the latest unemployment insurance news and developments at On Point Technology.

Is your agency looking for a few extra million UI integrity dollars?

While every state has a penalty and interest fund, money generated for the fund is usually based on penalties and interest on employers' delinquent taxes and late reports. Most do not collect interest on overpayment of UI benefits.

In 2003, Washington passed legislation allowing the state's Employment Security Department to utilize their portion of penalty and interest money recovered from repayment of overpaid benefits specifically to strengthen the integrity of their UI program. Examples of how your state can stretch administrative dollars include hiring additional fraud investigators or purchasing new technology.

According to RCW 50.20.195 Assessed Interest — Use, all receipts from interest assessed against unemployment insurance claimants shall be deposited in the administrative contingency fund and shall be used for the purpose of RCW 50.20.190(6).

A portion of the State of Washington Statute, RCW 50.20.190(6) Recovery of Benefit Payments, states: When an individual fails to repay an overpayment assessment that is due and fails to arrange for satisfactory repayment terms, the commissioner shall impose an interest penalty of one percent per month of the outstanding balance. Interest shall accrue immediately on overpayments assessed pursuant to RCW 50.20.070 and shall be imposed when the assessment becomes final. For any other overpayment, interest shall accrue when the individual has missed two or more of the individual's monthly payments either partially or in full. The interest penalty shall be used, first, to fully fund either social security number crossmatch audits or other more effective activities that ensure that individuals are entitled to all amounts of benefits that they are paid and, second, to fund other detection and recovery of overpayment and collection activities.

You can view the statute in its entirety online. Imagine what more your state could do to protect its UI trust fund by passing this type of legislation!

States keep choosing Aware to beat fraud

Kentucky and Alaska recently selected On Point Technology's Aware product to combat organized fraud and detect identity theft in their unemployment insurance programs.

The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development issued a Request for Proposal for Identification Fraud and State Unemployment Tax Act (SUTA) Dumping Detection Software. On Point Technology was awarded the contract after Alaska determined Aware was the only product that met their requirements. The same facts allowed the Kentucky Department of Workforce Investment to justify a sole source purchase of Aware.

On Point Technology began the projects with State kick-off meetings to present the project plan and discuss each State's unique data model. As a result, On Point Technology is now defining the data extraction process and identifying the data sources needed to support its one-click audits. Aware's FraudIT and Workforce Reporter tools will allow Kentucky and Alaska to fulfill their goals in pursuing organized fraud and identity theft in their UI programs. The timeline for Aware to be executable in these states is four months.

NDNH proves highly effective in identifying overpayments

As On Point Technology travels the country participating in conferences, performing on-site demonstrations of our package software solutions, and generally engaging in discussion with UI agency personnel, we are frequently asked for our impression of how effective the National Directory of New Hires (NDNH) is going to be. We don't have to speculate in our response because there is hard evidence available.

The results of a pilot study conducted in March 2005 by Texas, Utah and Virginia were determined by an independent analyst to show that, "... NDNH can be of significant benefit to the states in identifying and reducing improper UI payments."

The percentage increase in additional overpayments found using the NDNH W-4 New Hire Report data over the overpayments found using the State Directory of New Hires (SDNH) W-4 data was dramatic in all three states.

Texas' data produced a 114 percent increase in the number of additional overpayments identified, with a value of $1.6 million. Utah's 41 percent increase was valued at $0.4 million, and Virginia's 73 percent increase was valued at $0.8 million.

The NDNH pilot report can be found on the U.S. Department of Labor's Web site .

The Kentucky Education Cabinet recently selected On Point Technology to implement the NDNH interface. Kentucky is the second customer to integrate Barts' fast path processing with an NDNH crossmatch.

Kentucky agency shares Barts experience at IAWP conference

During the International Association of Workforce Professionals' (IAWP) 2006 Annual Conference held last month in Louisville, Kentucky, James Inman of the Kentucky Office of Employment and Training gave a presentation on his Agency's experience with On Point Technology's Barts package software product. Kentucky went live with Barts in May of 2005.

Speaking to an audience of approximately 50 conference attendees, Mr. Inman discussed the structure and functionality of Barts, and how the application has been deployed in Kentucky. He also spoke about some of the results, gains and improvements the Agency has experienced during the initial year of using Barts.

Mr. Inman also mentioned during his presentation that Kentucky has entered into an agreement with On Point Technology to install our Aware software product and discussed how the Agency deems that this tool will help uncover social security number abuse, identity theft and organized fraud.

From feedback we've received, reports indicate his presentation prompted a lively discussion and a good number of questions, reflecting the workforce community's heightened interest in UI benefits overpayments (both fraud and non-fraud).

Several attendees requested copies of Mr. Inman's presentation. If you would like a copy of the presentation, you can contact him at james.inman@ky.gov.

NASWA's 70th Annual Conference to take place in Boise, Idaho

On September 4, On Point Technology staff will travel to Boise, Idaho, to participate in the 2006 National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA) Annual Conference.

We're looking forward to the opportunity to demonstrate our full suite of UI integrity package software products, which includes Barts, Aware, and Recover. We also welcome the chance to meet with our many friends and acquaintances in the workforce community and discuss plans, experiences and ideas.

Rich Hobbie and the NASWA staff have prepared an exciting program agenda that includes such pertinent topics as immigration, re-employment, economy and labor market information, and rapid response. Also on the conference schedule is a session we're especially eager to experience called "Principles of a High Performing IT Operation."

Director Roger Madsen and his staff at Idaho Commerce and Labor have, as usual, assembled an event that includes great entertainment and a food menu that defies comparison, continuing their long-standing reputation as "the host with the most." We're sure the meeting will be a success. You can still register for the conference online at http://cl.idaho.gov/2006naswa.

If you have any questions about On Point Technology's products or would like to receive materials beforehand, please contact Bob Yokavonus at 908-526-0426 or robert.yokavonus@onpointtech.com. We look forward to seeing you in Boise!

Did You Know?

The U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration's Unemployment Insurance Program Letter No. 25-06 established a Fiscal Year 2007 target for benefit overpayments requiring overpayments detected to be at least 60% of the estimated, detectable recoverable overpayments.

Aware's one-click audits target both internal and external fraud

Everyone knows disasters bring out the best and worst in human behavior. Hurricane Katrina was no exception. In one of the state UI agencies impacted by Katrina, a state contract worker has been accused of issuing 80 fraudulent Disaster Unemployment Benefits cards, in return for bribes of up to $300. Every state should anticipate the occurrence of similar problems after the next disaster. On Point Technology can help you prepare.

On Point Technology's Aware package software product contains several one-click audits that search out both external and internal fraud. Aware also has the ability to analyze your agency's transaction files, which may contain patterns suggesting fraudulent activity by an agency employee. For more information on Aware, or to schedule a demonstration of the software, contact Bob Yokavonus at 908-526-0426 or robert.yokavonus@onpointtech.com.

Indiana hosts UI Technology Conference

Last month On Point Technology visited Indianapolis, Indiana, to participate in the 19th Annual UI Technology Connection Conference. We demonstrated our suite of UI integrity software solutions: Barts, Aware and Recover. Our demonstration of a new Barts feature that is being implemented in Arkansas and allows employers to respond to wage audit notices via the Internet also caught the interest of many UI Program and Information Systems staff in attendance.

On Point Technology would like to thank the committee, under the able direction of Florida's Operations Review Specialist, Sandy Durrant, for putting on an excellent conference. The agenda was not only timely and relevant, but sufficiently diverse to provide topics of interest to everyone participating. As usual, the State Updates segment—where representatives from the attending state agencies discuss their past, present and future activities—was a conference highlight.

Special thanks to Ron Giachetti, Investigations Supervisor for the Office of Special Investigations of the State of Washington's Employment Security Department, for his top-notch presentation, in which he noted Washington's use of On Point Technology's Aware software for locating instances of organized UI benefit fraud. We're already looking forward to next year's conference in Norfolk, Virginia.

Enterprise Product Assurance Program supports clients in modernization efforts

One of the most frequently asked questions we hear is, "We're contemplating undertaking a UI modernization project sometime in the next couple of years and are wondering what happens if we install On Point Technology products in our current IT environment and then change it?"

The answer is very simple. For active participants in our Enterprise Product Assurance Program, On Point Technology will reconfigure its products to work in your new environment at no additional cost—we don't know of any other company that offers a program like this! If you would like more information, please contact Bob Yokavonus at 908-526-0426 or robert.yokavonus@onpointtech.com.