Located in:
- Program-Specific Requirements for Wagner-Peyser Program (Employment Services)
All Program-Specific Requirements provided for the WIOA core programs in this section must be addressed for either a Unified or Combined State Plan.
a. 2. Describe how the State will utilize professional development activities for Employment Service staff to ensure staff is able to provide high quality services to both jobseekers and employers
Current Narrative:
Employment Service Professional Staff Development:
The Maine Department of Labor, Bureau of Employment (MDOL,BES) services has established a formal staff-development initiative for all new and existing Wagner-Peyser staff members to ensure staff have an understanding of the requirements of WIOA and the basic and individualized services that are offered by employment services staff to job seekers, workers, and employers.
A formal training curriculum is delivered over several days, that covers:
- Bureau of Employment Services Workplace Culture and Expectations
- Overview of Labor Exchange and provision of Career Services
- Introduction to the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act
- Overview of the Unified Plan (Plan) and the role of employment services
- Introduction to Maine JobLink (MJL, Maine’s labor exchange and case management system
- Introduction to ReEmployME, the Bureau of Unemployment Compensation (BUC) claims system and how to provide support to individuals seeking to file unemployment insurance (UI) claims
- Career information and expectations, including overview of career information tools from labor market and occupational information to career decision making tools.
- Overview of the Trade Adjustment Assistance Act and Training Readjustment Act
- Understanding rapid response and layoff aversion
- Understanding WPRS and RESEA reemployment services. Maine had to stop the RESEA program for a couple of years due to lack of federal funding. However, the program recently underwent extensive changes at the federal level and Maine is in the process of updating and restarting the RESEA program in FY 2020. This is a partnership program between the BUC and the Bureau of Employment Services.
- Introduction to standards of procedure in one-stop information centers
- Overview of veteran’s services and referral requirements
- Migrant and seasonal farmworker program outreach and partnering with the National Farmworker Jobs Program
- Intro to training programs (Maine Apprenticeship, Competitive Skills Scholarship, Title IB Adult, Dislocated Worker and Youth programs, Job Corps, YouthBuild, and more.
- Overview of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit and Federal Bonding Program