Commission on Disability and Employment

December 14, 2021: 9:00 AM


Meeting of a committee of the State Workforce Board. The State Workforce Board is committed to providing access, equal opportunity and reasonable accommodation to its services, programs and employment. Please contact us should you required accommodation or alternative format materials. (207) 621-5087 or TTY Users Call Maine Relay 711 SWB.DOL@maine.gov


COMMISSION ON DISABILITY AND EMPLOYMENT MEETING MINUTES 09/01/2021 VIA ZOOM

Present: Jennifer Kimble, (Chair), Don Rice, Jeanie Coltart, Amie Parker, Cheryl Peabody, Peaches Bass, Gayla Dwyer, Karen Fraser, Renee Doble, Rachel Dyer Julia Endicott, Keenan Weischedel MaineCART, Marsha Swain

SWB Staff: Chris Quint, Cheryl Davis

Welcome, Introductions, review and approve last meeting's minutes Jenn Kimble opened the meeting at 9:12am with welcome and introductions. Jenn stated the Commission will approve the 05/05/2021 meeting minutes at the next meeting on 11/03/2021. Jenn shared her screen and asked members to review. Amie Parker stated she was not listed and needs to be added. Jenn stated she will resend the minutes and to let her know if there are any more corrections or additions.

SWB Update - Chris Quint, Director SWB Josh Howe, and Dan Belyea from the Maine Community College System are trying to create a new program to expand remote work in rural areas. Chris announced he should be posting Joshs position soon. Jenn - Disability Boot Camp, where did we leave off? Digital Badging was going to be rolled out at the June SWB meeting. The SWB Annual Retreat will be held on 10/15/2021 from 9am noon at Dead River in South Portland. This meeting is open to the Public and will have a ZOOM option. This will be the first in person meeting since 03/13/2020. This meeting takes place of the regular meeting that was scheduled September 10th. The SWB website needs to be corrected. Look for agenda/information at the end of this week.

NGA-WIN Grant/Workforce Branding Initiative Chris Quint PowerPoint Highlights: Back in February, Maine was 1 of 10 states to receive this grant. This grant will allow the Maine workforce system to innovate and advance to recover from COVID. Our work will take place between now and the end of the year. There will be a Career Portal for this system. This will be connected to the Governors 10-year economic development plan. We will make sure this system is easy to access for job seekers and employers. Multiple doors or entry is a strength and barrier. Branding efforts are also a change management effort. Focused on 6 targeted populations. Data, including People with Disabilities (PWD). Will seek this committees help. We need to engage and bring in several people. Stage 1 is where they are right now until the end of the year (Build Brand Identity, Targeted Outreach). Branding standards will be completed by Stage II. Will do awareness campaigns throughout the year. Stage III will be an on-going effort/sustainable outreach base. Goal is to see a connection point of these brands. The same with the social media channels. Focused on 4 states in particular: Oklahoma, Virginia, Florida, and Minnesota. Example: Oklahoma Works Portal. Liked Virginia the best. Example: Virginia Career Works Portal. Minnesota did design their own portal through the Minnesota University System. Had first branding group yesterday. Will come back to you within the coming weeks and months. Long overdue.
Hopefully Governor Mills will buy into and support this.
Q&A Peaches Bass We really need to demonstrate inclusion across the board. Jeanie Coltart Employers will need more information to be part of the solution. Jenn Kimble Maybe theres an opportunity to include DEI lens. Chris Quint Goal is to try to re-engage people and employer outreach. Thats why it will be very important to work with the CDE. Jenn Kimble Employers have hesitant fear. How can we resolve/address this? Chris Quint Just started implementation but have not done outreach yet. Outreach effort will be ongoing. This is not easy. Will take a lot of work/effort. What we have outlined here will not solve everything but is a starting piece. Intention is to start to connect the system and how to access. Karen Fraser Accessibility How do we engage all people? Gayla Dwyer Chamber of Commerce? How are they marketing? Any communication with them? Chris Quint Unfamiliar with what you are talking about, but they will be part of this. Will contact Dana to see if he has any data. Jenn Kimble Clear message was being non-partisan. Its been very frustrating. Chris Quint This needs to live beyond. Will not rush. Need to be thoughtful and cautious.

Employment First Julia Endicott On 09/07/21, a new person will be coming on to work on a project. People that were involved are still involved. There is a real emphasis on employment home community base supports. Now there is a real push across those providers to talk about Employment First. The new person will be with them through October 29th. Foxfire Buck is no longer with their agency. Hopefully they will be hiring an attorney in the next couple of weeks. Julia will be the main contact. Lisa Sturtevant is the contact from OADS.

Review statute & bylaws, discuss goals & membership Thoughts? Peaches Bass Activities outlined in statute list so much more than this committee can do without resources. Jenn Kimble stated she does not believe this committee has ever advised the full Board. The statute under 7 A states we should make recommendations to the full State Workforce Board (SWB). Peaches Bass Back in 2017, I think this committee made recommendations to the SWB that it approved Accessibility, Non-discrimination, and Accessibility Policy. Jenn asked the question how do we move forward and what is our charge? Amie Parker stated its a real lofty charge without resources. Jenn responded we do not have a budget but believes there is money somewhere. Peaches Bass Statute committees may receive funds from nongovernmental entities. Jenn Advise change to advocate. Do not know if we can change. Statute Do not know the flexibility. Gayla Dwyer Our report has not been presented to the SWB. Jenn Strategy: Get time at the October 15 SWB meeting to do a brief on this committee. Talk about the annual report/barriers. Ask ex-officio members to help Commission and Commission to help them. Having someone employed to do work for us would be great. For example, internship. Ill reach out to Ginny Carroll (Program Policy Committee). We need to pull in ex officio members. Curious about the transportation pilot. Cheryl Davis Bylaws can be amended.

Public Awareness next steps What is DOL doing for National Disability employment month? Maybe coordinate with them. Peaches stated she has not heard a word. What can we do with our Commission page? Have resources there? Have a link to re-establish resources? Discuss having disability related topic with DOLs Communication Director Jessica Picard. Have a second conversation with Jessica regarding partnership with DOL and CD & E. Peaches Bass How to use canned PSAs. Jenn Kimble Will reach out to Libby Stone-Sterling from Voc Rehab to see if they have plans for the National Disability month (October). Strategy moving forward Have an actual outline of things we would like to do. Maybe have a smaller cohort to flesh out the outline. Will not look into this until after September 17. Let Jenn know if you would like to assist in drafting the outline for the SWB October meeting.

Membership Removal of members who do not attend. Will ask Guy Langevin, SWB Chair regarding removal of Mel Clarrage. Jenn Kimble Cheryl Peabody would like to be an official member. Asked Cheryl Davis to find out what the process is. Jeanie Coltart and Renee Doble accepted to work on the Plan.

Meeting adjourned at 11:47pm.

Next Meeting November 3, 2021 9:00am 12:00pm ZOOM

Respectfully submitted by Cheryl Davis


Attachments 12/14/2021 CDE Agenda