Commission on Disability & Employment

March 16, 2022: 10:00 AM

COMMISSION ON DISABILITY & EMPLOYMENT MEETING MINUTES 12/14/2021 VIA ZOOM

Present: Jennifer Kimble, (Chair), Rachel Dyer, Cheryl Peabody, Gayla Dwyer, Jeanie Coltart, Don Rice, Peaches Bass, Renee Doble, Julia Endicott, Karen Fraser

SWB Staff: Chris Quint, Cheryl Davis

Welcome, Introductions, review and approve last meetings' minutes Jenn Kimble opened the meeting at 9:03am with welcome and introductions. Don Rice motioned to approve the 05/05/2021 meeting minutes. Renee Doble seconded. Minutes were approved unanimously. Peaches Bass motioned to approve the 09/01/2021 meeting minutes. Don Rice seconded. Gayla Dwyer stated since the 07/14/2021 meeting was cancelled, it should be stated in the 09/01/2021 minutes. Minutes were approved after adding the cancellation of the 07/14/2021 meeting.

Employment First update & next steps - Julia Endicott, DRM Julia stated she has the presentation available for anyone who would like to see it. Update: Conducted 39 interviews from September to the end of October. Recommendations need to be done; some are. Bring together a Steering Committee to see what next steps need to be taken. A lot of people are very engaged and dedicated. How can efforts align and improve employment outcomes to avoid duplication? Theres been conversation on how to move this forward. Hosted a forum...Karen assisted. o 80 attended via ZOOM. o Had 6 breakout groups that talked about what was needed. o Pretty clear that something needs to be done. Will get minutes out to people. Jenn stated she is very concerned about the ownership piece, having the same conversation repeatedly and never getting anything done. Our current structure didnt allow us to do anything. Julia stated it must be something lawful to not have the same conversation. It takes resources to implement. Theres still a lot of confusion of what Employment First is versus practices, policies, laws intangibles. Really talking to people about employment, having that conversation. We do not have the full answer yet. Thats the hard part not to have duplication. Streamline as much as possible. Jenn Public awareness, we need to get this moving. Karen We all own it. Who coordinates is where we need to get our act together? With the act and coalition, we have learned a lot. Lets zero in and see what we can get done over the next year. We have come along way with incremental gains. Julia There needs to be priorities and a sustainable structure. Who coordinates is really the question? Gayla We need to highlight those successes. That will show what we have accomplished. Julia - smaller employers do not have an HR Department, this is a challenge. Gayla The communication part in Employment First is so critical. Peaches stated we need to search for people or an organization that will have leadership and commitment to that role. Julia stated Maine is ahead of a lot of states (sub-minimum wage). We should look at other states to see where they are.

SWB & Committees structure update Chris Quint, DOL At the SWB October 15 retreat, the SWB decided to look at the current committee structure and provide recommendations to better align the committees to work with the Board.
From October 15 December 10, we had Board meetings to look at examples from other states. Proposed new structure the Board agreed upon: 1. Worker Employment and Training 2. Industry Leadership 3. Workforce System Coordination Committee These will be chaired by Board members and have Board members on the sub-committees. Since the CDE and Maine Apprenticeship Program Council are stand alone committees, they will remain as they are. We will figure out a way to integrate your work with the Board to have a better connection with Board. The Executive Committee will have a Chair and Vice Chair. Jenn will be part of this committee. We want representatives from the Local Workforce Boards (LWBs) to serve on each of those 3 committees. The Executive Committee will flesh out partners of this committee.

We have received 3.7 million dollars over the next 2 years in ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds.
Q & A Julia This structure is a tangible to build upon. Jenn Im wondering how much of this structure will outlive this Administration? Chris Nothing can be guaranteed. Thats the frustration; however, establish structures than can withstand. Be thoughtful and be able to lean on partners that can push back regardless of political parties. Karen Bylaws can help make it harder to change out things. Chris Have statutory language in the SWB. GOAL in the 2023 Session: Will look to make statutory changes happen and Bylaws align. If there are any existing changes in the CDE Bylaws, they can be on the table. Jeanie Interviews online, another item to bring to the table. Chris Get the Structure and System in place first then you can try to change whatever topic fits the committee to address. Ask, what could be our work plan for this year?

Josh Howes position was posted today.

For the immediate future, make out with what resources we have now. Job of the SWB is to coordinate and integrate the System. Jenn To move things is a challenge with the CDE. If there was a staff person that could move things, it would help. Chris Over the years, the committees had no direction from the SWB. The integration piece was sorely lacking. Important 3 words of the SWB: 1. Coordination 2. Integration 3. Connection

Follow-up discussion re: CDE/SWB/EFM Jenn Thoughts around changes for the committees or opportunities Julia was talking about? Peaches Sounds like it will be playing out over a period of many months. Will be a critical year. We should talk about how to integrate some activity of Employment First with the SWB. Karen The CDE is in statute. Peaches Maybe its time to look at the statute to see if it reflects this committee of what it can do. Jenn The challenge is thinking about making changes and what its going to look like. Lets look at the statute and talk about it at the next meeting.
Karen At one time, every state had a Governors Committee. Jenn When the statute was created initially, what was the original purpose? It would be interesting to find out. Karen What purpose do you want this group to have? Then think of the wording. Jenn Are we an advocacy group and is this what our charge is? I believe advise, and advocacy is our charge. Jenn asked Cheryl Davis to find the statute and send the link to the group. Karen provided the link: https://legislature.maine.gov/legis/statutes/26/title26sec2006.html Julia believes it should not be the same people having the same conversations in these committees. Karen The intent over the next year is how does this play out? There needs to be some kind of communication, experts on the subject matter. We definitely need to figure this out. People cannot be in 3 places at the same time. Be intentional on how communication happens.

Report out on Public Awareness small group discussion/plan Jenn provided this handout. Jenn, Renee Doble, and Jeanie Coltart participated.
"What can you do" campaign videos/PSAs things that could be linked somewhere on the State website. The two drafted PSAs spoke with Jessica Picard, MDOL Communications Director in reference to these. 30-second PSA testimonial. We need to find someone willing to work with us. A dedicated resource to send these things to Jessica Picard. Request a monthly e-blast can talk to Jessica Picard in pushing this out to the CareerCenters. Jessica could be helpful in that retrospect. We should continue to tap Jessica as a resource. Pull the Governor in to ask for help could she come to our meeting so we can share something with her? Renee We have some ideas. The question is how do we make it happen? Julia Is there ARPA funds we could tap into? Karen There is a lot of money being worked on, initiatives, inclusion piece. Im not aware of any funds for PWD. Julia Thinking about other ways people can be reached. Testimonials, how to use Social Media and where to house it? Peaches All people should matter. Words matter. How to move forward? Karen Have Jessica Picard present a calendar and structure to this group and have Chris Quint in the loop. The Maine Jobs and Recovery Plan urging everyone to pay attention. Many, many dollars will be coming into this state. This is an opportunity like no other. Jenn stated she will reach out to Chris Quint and Samantha Dina and will CC Karen specifically on this topic.

Adjourn Meeting adjourned at 12:00pm. Peaches Bass motioned. Don Rice seconded.

Next Meeting February 9, 2022 9am Noon Via ZOOM

Respectfully submitted by Cheryl Davis

Attachments CDE Agenda 03/16/2022