Commission on Disability & Employment

June 23, 2016: 9:00 AM
Frances Perkins Room, MDOL Commerce Drive, Augusta, ME

State Workforce Board COMMITTEE ON DISABILITY AND EMPLOYMENT June 23, 2016 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 9:15 WIOA/SWB Updates ? Garret Oswald 9:45 Membership and LWB awareness building - discussion 10:30 Break 10:45 DEI Update ? Peaches Bass 11:15 Updates: 5+ Councils ? Empowerment Forum APS Mental Health Employment Data Forum 11:30 Other Business 12:00 Adjourn Next Meeting: Wednesday, July 20, 2016 9:00 ? 12:00 Central Maine Commerce Center Frances Perkins Room

COMMITTEE ON DISABILITY AND EMPLOYMENT

6/23/16

Present: Jennifer Kimble, Charles Woodbury, Peaches Bass, Jeanie Coltart, Don Rice, Gayla Dwyer, Wendy Jordan, Karen Fraser (phone), Rachel Dyer (phone)

Staff: Cheryl Moran, Garret Oswald

• Jennifer Kimble ? opened the meeting with welcomes and introductions and asked for approval of the 1/19/16 meeting minutes. Don Rice motioned. Jeanie Coltart seconded. Minutes approved after corrections.

WIOA/SWB Updates ? Garret Oswald Garret stated that WIOA is moving along but not as fast as expected. The USDOL has bumped the deadline of receiving the regulations to June 30th one day prior to program implementation which is July 1st. The Regional Office in Boston stated that this Plan was the best Maine ever submitted. Weeks later we were notified of numerous edits. We requested the criteria three times on how the Plans are being approved. Still we heard nothing however; we are the first ones to be monitored in August. The Law states if the Plan is not approved 90 days after submission, it will be approved automatically. So far there has been a deafening silence out of Boston however, we feel we will hear from them right at the deadline July 1st. • Karen Fraser ? if Boston could have communicated a month ago, we would have been able to correct adjustments. • Don Rice ? because of WIOA (on a positive note), Partners are talking and better serving people together. We are beginning to break down the silos which are having positive results even though we have no regulations. • Garret Oswald ? already, the Feds are cutting into the WIOA funding (3.78%) before taking hold.

SWB • Garret Oswald - stated he still is in the process of hiring Paul?s replacement as Project Manager for the implementation of the Plan. • Jennifer Kimble ? asked about the position. • Garret Oswald ? stated that the Project Manager position is temporary up to 9 months but it does not rule out becoming permanent. The candidate needs to have strong project manager skills. He stated that he will forward a copy of the job description. We have a compliant State Workforce Board (SWB). The Board meets every other month. The attendance has been exceptional. We now have a great opportunity with all the resources available. The agenda for each meeting is split. The first half discusses Maine issues such as educational attainment. The second half focuses specifically on WIOA. We are having our first monitoring in August.

Membership and LWB awareness building ? discussion • Jennifer Kimble ? stated that it makes sense to have a presence from the Commission to be present at the LWB meetings. It would be a way to recruit more members. It would be great to have representation from each Region. • Jeanie Coltart ? suggested having a person that has experience with advocacy like herself but not connected to an Agency. This would avoid restriction. • Don Rice ? if a person does not have ties, they are able to speak freely. • Peaches Bass ? how to connect better with the LWB?s? Have a teleconferencing option and what makes it worth from a business?s perspective. And how do you make your Board pay attention to disability specifically? • Jennifer Kimble ? suggested that we need to communicate with the Director of SRC-DVR. • Peaches Bass ? feels that all committees need disability representation. • Garret Oswald ? this Committee needs to get on the agenda of the 3 LWB?s and bring the issues (awareness campaign) to them. • Jennifer Kimble ? starting with the awareness campaign, open up how people think about disability, specifically employers. • Peaches Bass ? in reference to disability, ask the LWB?s don?t you want to address the core portion of WIOA? • Gayla Dwyer ? training wise, we need to educate staff in the field. • Garret Oswald ? we are exploring ZOOM for all committee meetings. Hire-a-Vet Campaign model needs to be used for all committees. I would like this Committee to take the lead to track hiring.

DEI Update ? Peaches Bass • Wendy Jordan ? provided a flyer on Business Information Forum Recruiting & Tax Incentives which will be held at the Lewiston, Skowhegan, Wilton and Augusta CareerCenters in October. Topics of discussion will be: o Labor Shortage o Untapped Populations o Training Opportunities o Tax Credits

Peaches announced that they have hired 2 new staff, Charles Woodbury and Wendy Jordan. The Financial Freedom Forum was held on June 7th. Eighty-six registered and 76 attended (largely service providers). The Forum was a huge success, uniformly well-received. She will provide a follow-up.

In August, the Feds will conduct a routine monitoring (compliance review) which will be very specific and in-depth. DEI Highlights: o Focus more on outreach ? some business related. o Focus more on service providers that deal with mental health and substance abuse conditions.

Updates • Jennifer Kimble ? o 5+ Councils ? Empowerment Forum will be held on August 18th in Auburn. FMI: www.caresinc.org/forum o APS Mental Health Employment Data Forum ? Jennifer shared a PowerPoint presentation that was held on June 21st. The presentation shared data from MMC Vocational Services? statewide mental health employment program. The presentation can be found here: http://www.qualitycareforme.com/documents/APSMaineDataForumPresentationCommunityEmploymentServicesData.pdf

Other Business • Jennifer Kimble ? noted that Senator Volk brought something to the full SWB regarding a National Disability Task Force and suggested inviting Senator Volk to the next meeting to discuss. • Garret Oswald ? stated that he will get back to her and ask about the initiative coming out of the task force and what has happened in the interim.

Meeting Adjourned Next Meeting: Wednesday, July 20, 2016 9:00 ? 12:00 MDOL Central Commerce Center Frances Perkins Room

Respectfully submitted by Cheryl Moran

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