Commission on Disability & Employment

November 19, 2015: 9:00 AM
Frances Perkins Rm, MDOL Commerce Dr, Augusta

State Workforce Board COMMITTEE ON DISABILITY AND EMPLOYMENT November 19, 2015 9:00 AM ? 12:00 PM Central Maine Commerce Center 45 Commerce Drive, Augusta Frances Perkins Room Call in: 877-455-0244, Conference code: 2121366385 AGENDA 9:00 Welcome, Review/approve previous meeting(s) minutes 9:05 SWB Update ? Garret Oswald WIOA Unified Plan Final Recommendations to full SWB at 11/20 Meeting 9:15 CDE Annual Report discussion 10:00 DEI Update ? Peaches Bass 10:15 BREAK ? guests to meeting arrive 10:30 Presentation: Disability Employment Data (National Overview and Maine-specific) Presenters: Debra L. Brucker, MPA, PhD, UNH Institute on Disability Ruth E. Pease, Sr. Economic Research Analyst, CWRI, MEDOL 11:30 Q&A with presenters 12:00 Adjourn Next Meeting: Thursday, January 21, 2016 9:00 ? 12:00 Central Maine Commerce Center Marion Martin Room Mark your calendars now: 2016 CDE Meeting Dates: March 17, May 19, July 21, September 15, November 17


Commission on Disability & Employment

November 19, 2015

Present: Jennifer Kimble, Jenny Ardito, Peaches Bass, Jean Coltart, Gayla Dwyer, Karen Fraser, Garret Oswald, Mel Clarrage, Avery Olmstead ( Phone), Laticia Huttman (Guest), Amy Downing (Guest)

Absent: Rachel Dyer, Donald Rice, Monica Elwell

Staff: Cheryl Moran

• Jennifer Kimble opened the meeting with welcomes and introductions. She began addressing previous meeting minutes from 09/17/15 and asked correct or change. She pointed out on the last page (BIP), there needs to be one change. All present voted in favor of approval after amended. Jennifer Kimble, Avery Olmstead and Karen Fraser met with Senator Angus King last Friday, November 13th. The main focus covered 3 areas: 1) Maine has a workforce issue (people with and without disabilities) 2) People with disabilities want to work 3) People with disabilities can be a solution. Jennifer felt Senator King was earnest, attentive and digested what was said, which was amazing! Other areas of interest are: 1) Barriers 2) Employers better at hiring/maintain 3) Early intervention/ better employer support
4) SSDI reform She will forward what the press release said and people around the table. • Avery Olmstead - thought the biggest issue in terms of employment is the assumption of having a disability which means you are sick, need to be taken care of and cannot contribute to society. If we can change the mindset.

SWB Update ? Garret Oswald WIOA Unified Plan ? a rough draft went out to the Steering Committee (he emphasized, very rough draft). We need to work it a little bit further. Also, there will be a chance for the Committee to view before sending out for public comment. He stated one State in the Region (Massachusetts) has completed the Plan. However, they stated the Plan will probably be adjusted 3 times. Garret pointed out that no one is even close to having a draft plan. Maine is in really good shape in comparison to other States. The Feds stated July 2016 still is expected to be in place but they know it will not be perfect. All they expect is making a good faith effort. Garret stressed there is a lot of concern around data. Commissioner LaBreck was very complimentary and supportive on feedback in the Region not necessarily Maine. • Karen Fraser ? stated involvement of people with disabilities is the piece that really stood out for her. She also felt Maine is in a good position. Final Recommendations to full SWB at 11/20 Meeting ? Jennifer Kimble stated the final recommendation will be signed by the Chairs of each Committee and will be submitted to the State Workforce Board tomorrow (November 20th). The goal of the recommendation is to have the CareerCenters better serve PWD and to have a well-trained, highly skilled staff person at the front end. There will be a WIOA National Convening of Workforce Leadership event that will be held in January 2016. States are invited to form teams with leaders representing core partners and key stakeholders implementing WIOA.

CDE Annual Report discussion • Jennifer Kimble ? Cheryl Moran drafted 4 questions for open discussion. 1) List any key highlights that were accomplished within the past year. 2) What do you feel are the biggest challenges for PWD in this State? 3) What do you want to see from this Committee moving forward? 4) Other or additional thoughts? Jennifer mentioned that we need to pay more attention to this. The Report is due January 1, 2016. She pointed out, if there are good things in the Report, they can be used in the WIOA State Unified Plan.

DEI Update ? Peaches Bass Peaches announced there is a position opened under the DEI Program, Disability Resource Coordinator who will primarily serve the Kennebec and Somerset Counties. Also noted, there will be an Asset Development Conference next June 2016. The focus is on Service Providers (targeting Southern and Western Maine Counties) in reference to financial capability of PWD and low-income. She stressed how she would like to have inspirational and success stories on how they improved and also include stories on how daunting.

Presentation: Disability Employment Data (National Overview and Maine-specific) Presenters: Debra L. Brucker, MPA, PhD, UNH Institute on Disability Ruth E. Pease, Sr. Economic Research Analyst, CWRI, MEDOL The presentation was conducted via PowerPoint including hand-outs. • Debra L. Brucker ? conducts research projects to improve the collection of data especially around disability. • Ruth E. Pease ? pointed out that Maine ranks 40th nationally for PWD and 11th for People without Disabilities which creates a ?gap?. In terms of a gap, Maine ranks last (50th) with ppts of 47.6%. However, gaps can be good or bad pending upon what?s behind the data. The difference between Maine vs U.S. is -3 ppts with disabilities and +4.4 ppts without a disability. Therefore, Maine is not doing that poorly. She hopes to receive new data by January 2016.

Q & A with Presenters • Mel Clarrage ? first commented on how far we have come. Then he asked how much is shared by the Community Colleges, Universities etc.? • Ruth E. Pease ? responded, her Department (CWRI) conducts outreach but unfortunately cannot reach everyone. • Peaches Bass ? Compendium and the CWRI website are very good resources. • Leticia Huttman- a lot of organizations are not aware of the CWRI website.

Other • Jenny Ardito ? announced she will be resigning from the CD & E however, she offered assistance in a consultation capacity should the need arise.

Committee members went over 2016 Meeting schedule and all agreed. Next Meeting: Wednesday, January 13, 2016 9:00am ? Noon Central Maine Commerce Center Frances Perkins Room

Meeting adjourned.

Respectfully submitted by Cheryl Moran


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