LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A new state reemployment program championed by Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts has won a national accolade.

The National Foundation of Unemployment Compensation and Workers Compensation honored the program at a recent gathering in Kansas City, Missouri. Ricketts was presented with the J. Eldred Hill Jr. Award for excellence in public policy.

Nebraska’s first-in-the-nation program requires jobseekers who receive unemployment benefits to enroll in a personalized “reemployment plan” through the state Department of Labor. Staff members work with the unemployed person to identify their goals and connect them with other services that could help them find a new job.

Jobseekers also have to post a resume on the state’s employment services system, which employers can search.