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Outreach Team Reports Increased Events, Spanish-Language Research and New Employer Tools
Summary
Staff reported an uptick in outreach events, new commercials and podcasts, a partnership with MDRC to study documentation-related denials in English and Spanish focus groups, and a forthcoming employer reporting feature on the employer portal.
The Connecticut Paid Leave Authority’s outreach and engagement team reported April 10 that it has increased community events, media appearances and targeted research to reduce documentation-related denials.
Jessica, the authority’s outreach lead, told the board the team has ramped up event participation for the spring and will take part in new events including the New Haven Family Stroll and Festival and the Latinas Empower Symposium this May. Recent appearances include events run with the Connecticut Veterans Industry Alliance (CVIA) and the Small Business Administration, and the team participated in a community baby shower organized by Lucinda’s House at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain.
Staff highlighted multilingual media outreach. Erin has appeared on long-form local TV interviews (WFSB and WTNH) and the team has completed Spanish-language outreach, including a radio interview on a Spanish-language program with Norma Rodriguez Reyes of La Voz Hispana. The authority’s podcast reached more than 7,000 downloads since inception; staff produce two podcast episodes per month and noted February had over 550 downloads.
Jessica said the authority is partnering with MDRC, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization, to conduct surveys and focus groups — in English and Spanish — targeting people whose claims were denied because they did not submit all required documentation. MDRC will conduct the research with an institutional review board and the authority will help identify potential participants; staff emphasized participation will not affect claim outcomes.
The outreach team also released two new commercials focusing on serious health conditions and caregiving and posted a seasonal outreach-and-engagement worker job (June–October) to support event outreach while two staff members take leave in late June–July.
On operations, Erin and staff said the authority is adding an employer-portal feature to provide employers with rolled-up reports of employee claim approvals, denials and benefit amounts, after employers attest to authorized designees to receive the data. Staff said that feature is expected to launch soon.
Board members congratulated Jessica on a new internal title (Chief Experience Officer) announced during the CEO report and praised outreach work; no board action was required on the outreach items.
