Narrative: a. 2. B.

Statewide Activities- Rapid Response is a shared responsibility between the State Rapid Response Team, the Dislocated Worker Program service providers, and other state and local stakeholders.

MDOL is responsible for developing components of statewide and local Rapid Response activities, which include: providing resources to deliver Rapid Response services at the local level, developing budgets, structuring the Rapid Response process, coordinating the development of National Dislocated Worker Grant Applications, negotiating alliance-based contracts that support Rapid Response capacity, and providing policy direction for Rapid Response delivery and its integration with Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) and WIOA dislocated worker programs.

Regional Rapid Response services are coordinated by the Rapid Response Coordinator through the Bureau of Employment Services central office. At the local level, two full-time regional Rapid Response representatives and staff from local CareerCenters provide services to employers and workers affected by lay-offs and mass closures occurring throughout the state.

 In addition to provision of policy direction and functional oversight, the coordinator also provides statewide staff development and training. Local Rapid Response staff make initial and follow-up contacts with employers, provide referral services to economic development agencies, document visits and communicate them to appropriate local and State agencies, conduct reemployment orientations and workshops, and facilitate transition into training and job development activities offered by the local one-stop system.

Regional Rapid Response representatives are responsible for coordinating all Rapid Response sessions and ensuing transitional services for the affected workers. However, the full team of representatives may be called upon to act as a statewide team and respond in partnership on behalf of any local area or region that requires expanded assistance with Rapid Response service delivery and initial worker adjustment services.

Early Intervention: Maine has built an extremely effective communication system for identifying and responding to potential and actual dislocations. Several avenues exist for identifying companies that may be impacted by downsizing, including:

• A confidential list that identifies companies from which UI has documented 20 or more initial claims

• Formal notices required by the WARN act or the Maine Severance Law that are submitted by the affected company to the Dislocated Worker Unit and the Bureau of Labor Standards
• Websites that monitor and package information about mergers, downsizing, development or investment in offshore facilities that affect the corporate parent companies of Maine subsidiaries are scanned on a regular basis, along with state and local press releases that provide similar information
• Credible rumors and disclosures are routinely followed up on
• Early information sharing from economic development and other business assistance entities at the state, regional, and local levels is also encouraged. They are usually the first to know when companies are facing issues that may result in job loss
• WARN notices and credible rumors, or any information generated from the above sources trigger an immediate contact with the affected company by the local representative, who gathers information about the nature and size of the layoff

A formal Plant Brief guides the initial interview with the company and collects information that prompts specific response steps, as follows:

• Gathering of general company information, including type and sector that is used to track industry patterns

• Reason for downsizing, which prompts a referral to one-stop system business assistance services
• If trade adjustment assistance for firms is warranted, a direct referral to NETAAC (A federal program that provides business assistance to trade-affected companies hoping to avert additional layoffs) may be triggered along with other services that may avert additional layoffs
• Affirmative responses to Trade Petition questions result in facilitation of a petition for trade certification
• Information regarding severance packages (i.e., number of weeks of vacation pay, average cost of health insurance and types of health packages to be offered by the company) provide guidance to prepare UI representatives for specific employee questions that may be fielded
• Demographic information is gathered about the workers who will be attending the session in order to customize each session to the particular worker audience (i.e., age and education levels, length of time with company, language or other barriers, and whether any affected are on active duty)
• Worker task statements are requested and used to scan for skill demand (or lack thereof) in the local labor market and to determine the anticipated retraining or skill development action steps that may be necessary for reemployment purposes
• Company is asked to facilitate a worker needs survey that is examined for coordination of transitional resources and need for allocation of financial resources

State Rapid Response staff determines the mix of appropriate responses. Businesses are informed of layoff aversion services and information, and assistance is offered on such strategies as: employee buyouts, skill retooling where appropriate for layoff aversion purposes, and access to other business services available at the State, regional or local level. Private-sector local board members and elected officials could be asked to facilitate resolution of problems when there may be an opportunity to intervene to avert a lay off or shutdown. Information from the first contact is also provided directly to the Governor’s office for similar reasons. Finally, the information is used to develop a customized package of services from Rapid Response orientations and workshops to training and then job development.

Maine has incorporated a “Jump Start” approach to Rapid Response allowing workers to pursue immediate readjustment/reemployment pathways. At the close of each initial Rapid Response session, participants are encouraged to sign up for next steps.

For those who feel confident to immediately seek new employment, a series of workshops designed to support this goal is offered. This series explains the labor market and how individual knowledge, skills, and abilities transfer to jobs in demand. It also Informs the workers about where and how to look for job openings, how to complete applications, develop resumes, and how to excel at interviewing.

Outplacement is conducted almost immediately via referral to the jobs that have been identified through the initial labor market scan conducted usually by the Center for Workforce Research and Information and via customized job fairs. Often affected companies are inundated with calls from other companies wishing to hire their exiting workers. The affected company is usually too overwhelmed to coordinate such services. The CareerCenters have been instrumental in taking on this additional task by coordinating job fairs that bring interested employers into contact with the specific laid off workers. In several instances these have been offered right at the worksite of the affected company. These job fairs have proved successful with over 25 percent of employees gaining immediate reemployment and the company allowing affected workers to attend the job fairs and workshops while on company time. In a recent event over 75 percent of employees had found new employment prior to their actual layoff date.

The second transition pathway is targeted to those who may have greater difficulty dealing with job loss and/or have broader barriers to immediate reemployment. This pathway links workers to a series of workshops covering such topics as coping with job loss, career decision making and understanding labor market trends, and gaining perspective through individual assessments leading to opportunities and resources for skills upgrade and retraining. These will prepare them for in-demand occupations.

Individual needs surveys are used to customize and schedule all Rapid Response services prior to layoff, and employers are encouraged to allow affected workers to complete the surveys in advance. Many companies have provided long term advance notice; in cases like these, the Rapid Response team is able to work with the company and affected workers on an ongoing basis to provide info sessions, workshops and/or TAA briefings at appropriate times. These are generally on company site and on company time.

The model also allows for exceptional information gathering in the event a National Dislocated Worker Grant is needed, and provides opportunity to collaborate with economic development to identify companies who may be in need of the specific workforce and be willing to relocate to the affected area to hire and train affected workers.

Affected workers from smaller layoffs are offered similar service pathways, but may be referred to existing workshop series offered on an ongoing basis by their local CareerCenters. If the layoff occurs without our notification, each worker is contacted individually and invited to a formal Rapid Response info session or to an orientation to services offered on a regular basis by their regional CareerCenter. It is the goal of Maine’s Rapid Response program to contact every laid-off worker regardless of size of company closure or downsizing; each will be invited to access the full array of available services.

In addition to reemployment related services, it has been the custom of Maine’s Rapid Response team to link with the local community to launch or participate in Community Transition Teams on behalf of the affected workers. The activities of these teams include the following:

• Production of resource booklets that feature local community programs and services, printed and provided to each of the affected workers
• Coordination of resource fairs that provide an opportunity for affected workers to access a range of services from heating and housing assistance to small business development assistance all in a one-stop location
• Coordination of fundraising events from dinners and barbecues to dances and auctions from which the proceeds can go toward an emergency services fund for affected workers
• Coordination of a variety of non-employment related workshops, such as consumer debt workshops offered by the regional credit union, to health clinics and stress management workshops offered by local health service providers.

Maine’s congressional staffers have been outstanding partners in this effort, and recent collaboration between MDOL and congressional staffers has culminated in a formal plan for implementation of Community Action Teams across the state.