Located in:
- III. Operational Planning Elements
The Unified or Combined State Plan must include an Operational Planning Elements section that supports the State’s strategy and the system-wide vision described in Section II(c) above. Unless otherwise noted, all Operational Planning Elements apply to Combined State Plan partner programs included in the plan as well as to core programs. This section must include—
- b. State Operating Systems and Policies
The Unified or Combined State Plan must include a description of the State operating systems and policies that will support the implementation of the State strategy described in section II Strategic Elements. This includes—
- 6. Program Data
- A. Data Alignment and Integration
Describe the plans of the lead State agencies with responsibility for the administration of the core programs, along with the State Board, to align and integrate available workforce and education data systems for the core programs, unemployment insurance programs, and education through postsecondary education, and to the extent possible, the Combined State Plan partner programs included in this plan. The description of the State’s plan for integrating data systems should include the State’s goals for achieving integration and any progress to date.
- A. Data Alignment and Integration
- 6. Program Data
- b. State Operating Systems and Policies
III. b. 6. A. i. Describe the State’s plans to make the management information systems for the core programs interoperable to maximize the efficient exchange of common data elements to support assessment and evaluation
Current Narrative:
Core partners of this Unified Plan presently utilize disparate case management and management information systems (MIS): Adult Education uses MaineSTARS, Vocational Rehabilitation utilizes AWARE, and Wagner-Peyser and Title I-B formula program providers use the Maine JobLink, a product of America’s Job Link Alliance (AJLA).
Resources for new systems or system enhancements in a small state such as Maine are constrained (states with relatively small populations cannot cover the fixed costs of purchasing and maintaining operating systems as readily as larger states, which receive substantially higher funding allotments). These facts notwithstanding, Maine’s core partners recognize that achieving the type of integrated and efficient service levels articulated in this plan will require ‘breaking down the data siloes’ and achieving greater levels of system integration.
In the autumn of 2016, Maine received a $1.1 million-dollar Reemployment and Systems Integration (RSI) Dislocated Worker grant (DWG) to investigate and implement a common registration and case management portal across the multiple core programs. The working group for this project gathered information from other states on their pursuit of similar initiatives and worked with vendors to review available options for solutions. A request for proposals (RFP) containing the State’s requirements for a system was developed and a vendor secured through competitive bid. The system, named WORK Services: Workforce Opportunities, Referrals, and Knowledge Services, integrates the disparate case management systems and incorporates a public facing portal.
Currently in a limited release with a plan for statewide rollout in 2020, the system allows some connection of the core partner data systems and sharing of information among partners (with informed consent by the participant). This enhances and streamlines WIOA reporting, reduces duplication for participants and staff, simplifies the registration process, has capacity to add partner agencies over time and ensures data governance that maintains data security and personal privacy compliance. Because of Maine’s rural geography, it also provides access for people who may have difficulty traveling to a physical site or need to utilize services outside normal business hours.
The portal allows individuals to submit initial personal information and find programs based on their answers to high level screening questions. These questions identify individuals who might benefit from programs, including identifying people with disabilities and those who have not achieved a secondary education and/or those interested in education and training opportunities.
Further work is anticipated to integrate with the state’s unemployment compensation system, ReEmployME into the WORK Services system as intended by the RSI DWG grant.
The Center for Workforce Research and Information (CWRI), MDOL’s labor market information provider, will add data on participants of core partners to the Maine Education and Attainment Research Navigation system or MaineEARNS, thereby linking the records of core program participants with their corresponding wage and employment records for program evaluation and reporting purposes.
MaineEARNS also provides information on employment and wage outcomes for Maine workers who graduated from the University of Maine System and Maine Community College System after July 2008. Students, parents, educators, administrators, policy makers, and anyone interested in earning education credentials and employment in Maine will be able to use this data to research, plan and make informed decisions. Interest has been expressed by at least one private university to join in the collections and reporting. It is this same system which is being used to meet the requirement for the annual Eligible Training Provider reporting requirement. Interest has been expressed from the University of Maine System to begin collecting and reporting on the awarding of micro-credentials and including them in the MaineEARNS system.
Maine has made strides in developing the capacity for core programs and other partners to share an integrated data system that will allow each agency to collect, utilize, protect, and report out data specific to their agency while also being able to share and utilize common data from other partner agencies. Agencies are acutely aware of issues of confidentiality and privacy in the sharing and reporting of information and take measures to ensure that participants provide consent to share information between agencies.
Ultimately, Maine will have to develop the capacity for core programs and other partners to share an integrated data system that will allow each agency to collect, utilize, protect, and report out data specific to their agency while also being able to share and utilize common data from other partner agencies. The core partners are committed to this process and have established a data systems workgroup containing members from each core partner tasked with researching available software and other technology solutions. It is still early in the process for systems alignment, but to date, the group has been formed and begun meeting. First steps in the timeline include researching available software and identifying which data system model might work best in Maine. Additional information regarding specific data system models is included in part two of the data alignment and integration section.