Womens Employment Committee

March 23, 2020: 9:30 AM
Frances Perkins Rm, 45 Commerce Dr., Augusta, ME

WOMEN'S EMPLOYMENT COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES

03/23/2020

Present (via zoom): Gilda Nardone, Joni Boissonneault, Darylen Cote, Karen Keim, Laurie Glidden, Destie Hohman, Abbie Turner, Terri Mann

Staff: Christopher Quint, Joshua Howe, Cheryl Moran

Gilda opened the meeting with welcome and introductions. Updates in response to Coronavirus Darylen Cote: Recently retired Member of Permanent Commission Status of Women - everything on hold Karen Keim: Works 2 days at home but struggling MEOC we are still working have virtual counseling sessions Reaching out to seniors because they really want to talk Joy Gould: Community Concepts is still open They provide general services located in Lewiston Remote calls/Skype Seeing agency closures housing issues Chris Quint: Director, SWB Has been working remotely from home week 2 of home schooling At DOL, Unemployment numbers up very fast Helping with communications Joni Boissonneault: Working from home Challenge with kids at home Portland Housing wellness checks via phone Flex funding for participants allowed to use for emergency funds Destie Hohman: Education fund not terribly impacted Theres lots of work especially at the federal level paid leave Laurie Glidden: Most staff and departments are working from home staff is alternated from day to day Call or email from clients can be used for verification to change their rent immediately Abbie Turner: Teacher at Southern Maine Community College Entry Center working with DOC on transitioning out of incarceration into the community Will be meeting with MEOC later They do a lot of work with New Ventures Maine on financial management and financial literacy Josh Howe: Workforce Program Coordinator, SWB Since we do not serve the people directly, Im able to work from home Erin Benson: ACAP Is working at the office but the office is closed to the public They meet crisis head on...they help people that have been on work experiences because unemployment does not pay Amy Hughes: Director of Civil Rights, MDOT Worked from home todayskeleton crew This has affected them differentlystill conducting outreach and training programs Ann Danforth: Maine Equal Justice Compile resources about public benefits to low-income SNAP/TANF Hosted a webinar with Commissioner Laura Fortman on recent changes to UI will have another session Gilda Nardone: New Ventures Maine As part of the University System, have moved pretty much on-line number of courses, workshops, financial and business classes Most of the staff is telecommunicating Has had an impact on Totally Trades Conferences 3 have been canceled or postponed Lewiston is still on since end of May Rainy Day Savings Accounts have been flexible will match no matter if it has been a month or two open accounts virtually Cash collation sites have been all suspended but will let us know when up and running Tax date has been extended to July 15 Darylen Cote stated she is concerned about students not having access to the Internet. Karen Keim stated Universities and Community Colleges are very concerned will send resource guide. Maine Equal Justice site is the best site she has seen. FSET allowed to provide computer/internet rules have temporary changed. Must be on Food Stamps not TANF. Please tell students not to drop out. Waivers are being applied. SWB/WIOA Update Chris Quint Chris stated he will put together a longer update for the committees because the committees will be involved. March 13 will be the next SWB meeting. The Workforce Board strategy and plan will be achieved within this strategy (3.1.1) Slides were provided. If committee members would like to be part of this, please let him know. Timeline now influx. Darylen Cote stated we need to integrate with other sub-committees if we are going to be part of this. Gilda Nardone stated if people have the energy to serve on these committees, we need to be dispersed. We need to set up another time in between to discuss this. How is all this going to fit together and with the SWB? Josh Howe WIOA Josh stated the Unified State Plan was submitted this morning. Ninety (90) days to review (Feds). The Plan consists of 260 pages with 70 pages of instructions. Each core program has a component. How are we going to operationalize these programs? Good question. Sarah Griffin is the Consultant. We should be able to pull down more funding. We are working with DHHS and the Gorham Foundation. Funding has been an issue for Maine being a small state. Funding is allotted differently with different states. Josh clarified that DOLs own 10-year plan will be well-connected to the DECD plan. Permanent Commission Status of Women Update Darylen Cote Darylen stated she still is working on the report that was due last year to the Legislature: Health, Education, Economic, and Sexual Assault. The status of women in each of these categories plus 5 recommendations one in particular, Parents of Scholars. She has attended 2 of these meetings. Theyve decided to go ahead, move forward, and meet virtually. MEOC Presentation - Terri Mann Highlights: Hope Contract designed to help individuals in training and financial support o Role of Hope offers students with barriers that are struggling so they can stay in school o Work with schools to get students enrolled quickly and past bills paid Erin Benson commented stating the single most important thing with Hope that no one else offers is relief to many Admission Directors especially if students want to return to school. Schools are connected with their navigators. Other benefits o Similar to CSSP and WIOA support o Dental care - $2000 lifetime limit must be medically necessary o Application itself simple but can be complicated o Grandparent may be eligible for Hope services as well o Cap on number of people that can participate Cap set at $500 but rolling $500 o 115 current students enrolled in various programs o Time for approval is remarkedly quick 8 days o Student received access to support very quickly car repair o Reached out to Adult Ed and private business to get word out o Struggle: students must be accepted into program prior to application (high demand programs) and able to be employed after o Does transitioning to college transitions count? Do not believe its enough stands alone o Must complete high school o With a criminal background, are they eligible? Each case is individual based o 45 days to have application completed o Why some applications are being rejected? Incomplete or not articulate o Child only needs to be in the home 1 day per month would count at parenting o Determination eligibility is based on DHHS o Send folks to Terri immediately Gilda asked to please keep us up-to-date. Terris final thoughts: Were here to serve all students.

Gilda Nardone - Continue to communicate through email. Being part of Google group will be easier. Minutes tabled for next meeting. Next meeting: Gilda Be strategic about participating in sub-committees.

Meeting adjourned

Next Meeting May 11, 2020 9:30 Noon Frances Perkins room 45 Commerce Drive Augusta, ME

Respectfully submitted by Cheryl Moran

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