Narrative: e. 3. B.

The MLRs continue to contact farm workers at their work sites, living areas and gathering places. The MLRs collaborate with advocacy groups including County Social Service agencies (SNAP), Migrant Education centers, Health Service centers, local community agencies, Migrant Head Start, Migrant Legal Services and other service providers to enable them to provide outreach and locate farm workers that are missed through WorkForce Center outreach efforts. The cooperative referral arrangements with these agencies are based on long-standing agreements. Minnesota has a Memorandum of Understanding with Motivation, Education and Training, Inc. (MET) the NFJP grantee.

The SMA and MLRs hold informational meetings twice per season at the camps to provide information relevant to the MSFWs such as the Employment Service Complaint Process, the Unemployment Compensation application process and the full range of employment services available at the local one-stop centers. The meeting notice is posted in advance, and held in the evening and or a weekend day, to accommodate shift work schedules. Other MSFW service provider agencies attend and present regarding agency service eligibility, type of services and benefits available. The meetings are well attended by the workers and their families and provide the outreach workers an opportunity to exchange agency contact information with other agency staff.

The MLRs play a significant role in assisting MSFWs with the Employment Service Complaint Process and the Unemployment Compensation application process. They may be unfamiliar with timeframes for filing, the appeals process or deadlines for applications. The majority of these farmworkers are limited English speakers, and most are also illiterate, the wages earned here is for the most part their total yearly earnings. LEP customers often lose their benefits because they do not understand nor respond to the information they receive. They are not aware to request that correspondence regarding services be written in their language. Many times these customer will have to reapply for a benefit/service or start over with the process, which can cost time and decrease the amount of benefits. Therefore, it is imperative that the MLRs identify these LEP customers in the registration process and inform them of their options for assistance including Language Line availability as well as translator assistance

The MSFW Program (bilingual) Resource Guide provides staff and agency contact information. The information is important and sometimes crucial to MSFWs, whether they are seeking agricultural or non-agricultural employment. The MLRs post contact information with local businesses and agencies that are frequented by the MSFWs. In addition to the types of employment services available, this includes tear-off tabs with their names and phone numbers. These postings are written in English and Spanish. This is consistent with our commitment to universal access to labor exchange services and the requirement to ensure that all job seekers with LEP and/or little or no computer knowledge or access to computer-based labor exchange services will be still be provided services and assistance.