Narrative: III. a. 2. A.

Workforce Development Infrastructure

Commissioners of the core programs are represented on the State Workforce Board. This ensures a level of equal representation and collaboration to initiate state-level system changes. The State Workforce Board also has the WIOA Implementation Policy Committee (WIPC). This committee is made up of the program directors of the core partner agencies and executive directors of the local workforce boards. This group generates and examines policies to meet WIOA requirements and guide program alignment. System-facing policies are presented to the State Workforce Board for consideration and validation.

The WIOA Program Partner Committee, made up of the lead administrators of all WIOA-required partners and leads from additional partner agencies, is convened on an as-needed basis to inform the board and/or work in collaboration to implement the goals of WIOA. Partners have made commitments to achieving an integrated and seamless workforce system through a written memoranda of understanding that provides the framework for how partners collaborate to serve workforce participants and employers. Partners will develop policies and procedures that improve shared customer flow.

The core partners recognize it important that  employees and clients of their agencies understand the vision, the services available to users of the system, and the role and responsibilities of each partner relative to the success of the vision. To that end, they will:

• Work together with the local area one-stop operators to create and disseminate a common message about Maine’s workforce development system
• Provide extensive professional development and cross-training between workforce partners so each can deliver a consistent message on services and practices (i.e. data/resources, recruiting, training opportunities, retention, educational opportunities, layoff assistance)
• Ensure agency points of contact have a broad knowledge and can be responsive and effective in connecting customers with workforce resources
• Contribute to informational websites for external stakeholders
• Develop marketing materials that highlight a collaborative approach to service delivery
• Post partner information on each other’s website
• Create and disseminate marketing materials in alternate formats that are accessible to individuals with disabilities and reflect cultural competence
• Create and disseminate educational materials for employers regarding the benefits of employing priority populations, including veterans, older adults, youth, individuals with disabilities, formerly incarcerated, and New Mainers, paying specific attention to the needs of small businesses in rural areas of the state
• Use the compilation of data and evaluation with rapid cycle metrics as the cornerstones to increase the effectiveness of Maine’s workforce development system. The core programs are committed to sharing data as allowed by law with vigilance regarding confidentiality and information security. The partners will establish mechanisms for tracking benchmark performance indicators. MaineEARNS and W.O.R.K. Services are two examples of activities involving the core programs that will help analyze and improve Maine’s workforce development system.

Industry Outreach

Developing and sustaining close relationships with employers is essential to coordinating integrated responses to their needs. Using input from employers, the system will develop education and training programs to equip existing and future workers with necessary skills and align education and training programs that support industry-identified career pathways.

Employers will be engaged as system partners in a variety of ways to identify skill needs, validate stackable credentials, and act as training providers of work-based learning activities such as work-experience, on-the-job training, internships, apprenticeship, and customized training.

Business partners will be engaged at both the state and regional levels, through utilization and implementation of ongoing employer assistance initiatives such as the State Workforce Assistance Team (SWAT), a team made up of partners from education, workforce development, and economic development, and through strategic meetings with industry and trade associations and business-led forums.

A collaborative outreach campaign will be developed with involvement of workforce resource partners, education and training providers, and economic development entities. The outreach campaign will include development and delivery of oral presentations and marketing tools collaboratively created by the partners. They will present an easy to access, seamless system of employer services that blend workforce, education, and economic development resources in response to business needs. Recognizing the needs of employers to attract and retain a diverse talent pool, resources will include proven strategies and best practices in building an inclusive workforce.

Implement direct contact with businesses and their representatives.

State and local boards and business outreach team leads will generate the input and involvement of employers through:

• Meeting with individual businesses at local, regional, and state levels
• Hosting and/or attending regional industry forums that address workforce development needs
• Strategic planning and formal communications with industry and trade associations
• Events sponsored by state and local workforce boards
• Employer advisory committees to the Career and Technical Education (CTE) schools, Maine Community Colleges, and the University of Maine system
• Chambers of Commerce and the Maine Workplace & Disability Connection

Lifelong Learning and Employment

Many Maine employers have identified an immediate need for skilled workers. Concurrently, many Maine adults with the need for employment do not have the time or means to enter traditional training programs or to commit to earning two or four-year degrees. Both employers and workers need alternatives to gain the skills, knowledge, and ability required for jobs within specific industry sectors. Through collaborative efforts, core partners will promote the use of stackable credentials, micro-credentials, Maine College and Career Access, Registered Apprenticeship, and other training programs that integrate and contextualize academic and workforce skills. These best practices of program delivery accelerate learning through concurrent rather than sequential pathways.

The core partners see great promise in their work to develop and institutionalize portable, industry recognized credentials that can be earned in a relatively short period of time. While recognizing the need for entry-level workers, the Maine workforce system is not interested in creating a system of credentials that lead only into entry-level positions. In full-support of the goal to develop a system of lifelong learning and continued connection to employers, Maine is focused on developing a system that addresses accelerated pathways to employment.

To fully implement and support the activities noted above, Maine’s core partners are committed to:

• Adopt and articulate a shared vision of an aligned lifelong learning system that clearly delineates each partner’s role and responsibilities in the development of a seamless continuum of programs and supports leading to employment
• Demonstrate shared leadership and commitment to institutionalizing this lifelong learning system
• Work within the workforce system (including required one-stop partners, non-required organizations and employers) to construct and deploy the activities listed above
• Focus on the development of portable, stackable credentials of value for in-demand occupations. The U.S. Department of Labor defines a “stackable credential” as “part of a sequence of credentials that can be accumulated over time to build up an individual’s qualifications and help them move along a career pathway or up a career ladder to different and potentially higher-paying jobs” (Training and Employment Guidance Letter 15-10, U.S. Department of Labor).
• Work within Maine’s academic arena to support and expand on the work being done to develop portable, stackable, in-demand micro-credentials that are accepted by employers and lead to digital badges bearing post-secondary credit
• Establish pathways to employment that contain agreed upon multiple entry and exit points that enable all learners to participate as a result of earning various credentials and degrees
• Give priority consideration to referring adults to the Maine College and Career Access program to receive, according to their learning and employment goals, the academic, employability skills and introductory hard skills needed to enter a postsecondary education or training program without the need for remedial coursework
• Recognizing the need for individuals to possess foundational skills for success in employment and meeting life challenges, all core partner programs will be developed with consideration regarding the inclusion of foundational skills in math, reading, and literacy which may best be provided prior to entering a credential or other job training program, or concurrently
• Develop a system of accountability to ensure that education and workforce training initiatives provide the knowledge and skills necessary for employability
• Provide equal access to these opportunities through the implementation of universal design from the program design stage through implementation and reflect cultural competency
• Integrate work-readiness skills into programs offered throughout the lifelong learning process
• Identify and integrate into the workforce system, those supports needed for workplace success; childcare, transportation, mental health, intensive academic and career advisement and other services

• Use and promote data and continuous improvement strategies. Partners are data-driven and focused on continuously improving efforts by measuring participants’ interim and ultimate outcomes as well as process indicators
• Support professional development. Partners support robust and ongoing professional development for relevant practitioners and administrators
• Develop a process of promoting credentials as a pathway to employment
• Create differentiated strategies that support equity in rural areas