Narrative: o. 8. A.

Maine is a large geographical state, which spans 30,843 square miles.  The state is primarily rural in nature with a dispersed population of 1.3 million people and a density of 43 people per square mile.  The largest population center can be found in southern Maine in the greater Portland area where approximately 91,200 individuals reside.  Residents are primarily White (93.5%) with small representation of Black (1.5%), Asian (1.2%), and Native American (0.7%) individuals in certain geographical areas of the state.  Maine’s population growth is significantly lower than the rest of the country with a rate of 0.6% between 2010 and 2017 as compared to the national rate of 5.5%.[1]  Additionally, the 2017 demographic profile released by the US Census Bureau indicates that Maine’s median age is 44.0 years, which is the oldest in the country.

According to the Maine Department of Labor’s Center for Workforce Research and Information[2], economic conditions in much of Maine are favorable. The size of the economy and the number of jobs continue to reach new highs, driving unemployment and other measures of labor market slack to new lows. These tight labor market conditions provide a positive environment for individuals with high numbers of job openings and rising wages, but they are a challenge for employers, who are concerned about finding the staff they need. The economy continues to grow. Total output, measured by gross domestic product, has been increasing at an accelerating rate in recent years. GDP in Maine reached $64 billion in 2018.The statewide seasonally adjusted unemployment rate has been below 4% each month since the beginning of 2016, the longest period on record. Unemployment has been close to 3% throughout the second half of 2019.

The tight labor market is driving wages up. Over the last four years the average wage paid in Maine has increased at the fastest rate in decades after adjusting for inflation. In the 12 months through June 2019 the average wage per job reached $46,100. Per capita personal income has steadily increased. Over the last two decades, per capita income in Maine relative to the nation was higher in the two recessionary periods (early 2000s and 2008 & 2009) than it was during expansionary periods. That is because the downturns were not as deep here as in much of the country. For the last seven years per capita income in Maine was close to 90% of the national level. The labor force participation rate has declined in Maine for nearly 20 years and the size of the labor force has not changed appreciably in 14 years. The primary reasons labor force participation has declined, and is expected to continue to do so, are the advancing age structure of the population and lower participation in areas of the state where the economic base has eroded.

In an environment in which the labor force is shrinking, Maine does not have the luxury of tens of thousands of people less than fully engaged in the workforce.  Many will require education or training intervention to acquire meaningful skills employers need.  (CWRI, 2015). 

The passage of The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) of 2014 and reauthorization of the Rehabilitation Act of 1998, along with the subsequent release of final rules in 2016, has resulted in important changes to the practices of state vocational rehabilitation agencies including increased collaboration with other workforce development system partners and expanded services to students with disabilities.

Many changes designed to help youth and adults with disabilities access employment education, job training and support services, have been made, including: 

• Establishing a much larger role for public vocational rehabilitation (VR) as youth with disabilities make the transition from school to adult life.  Public VR funds in the amount of a 15% set-aside, must now be used for transition services, specifically pre-employment transitions services that include job exploration counseling, work-based learning experiences, counseling on post-secondary opportunities, workplace readiness training, and training on self-advocacy.  Each local VR office must also undertake pre-employment transition coordination activities and they must involve schools and workforce development system in these activities.

• Focusing supported employment state grants to VR agencies on youth.  Half the money the state receives under these grants will now have to be used to support youth up to age 24 with the most significant disabilities to achieve supported competitive integrated employment.

• VR may now provide extended supported employment services for up to 24 months (previously the limit was 18 months).

• Limiting the use of sub-minimum wage.  Section 511 is specifically intended to reduce the number of transition-age youth entering sheltered workshops and working for sub-minimum wage.  The emphasis is on moving young people with significant disabilities into integrated community employment.  The bill prohibits individuals with disabilities age 24 and younger from working in jobs paying less than the federal minimum of $7.25 per hour unless they first apply for and receive vocational rehabilitation services, among other requirements. There are exceptions but only for those already working for subminimum wage and cases where individuals may be deemed ineligible for vocational rehabilitation services.  Section 511 also prohibits schools from contracting for services, training or work experiences that involve the use of sub-minimum wage.

• Requiring state VR agencies to have formal agreements with the state Medicaid systems, and the state intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) agency.

• Adding a definition of “customized employment” in federal statute, and an updated definition of “supported employment” that includes customized employment.

• Adding a definition for “competitive integrated employment” as an optimal outcome.

• Enhancing roles and requirements for the general workforce system and One-Stop Career Centers in meeting the needs of people with disabilities, including the expectation of full programmatic accessibility.  (Lisa A. Mills, 2015)

This Act regulates a major portion of the state’s rehabilitation services, including consumer-related services that are routinely purchased from community-based service providers.   

The Bureau is engaged at all levels as the implementation of WIOA transforms existing systems into a more cohesive, effective and collaborative entity through participation in restructuring the One-Stop Career Center processes, Workforce Boards, training, employment and youth workforce activities.  DVR is a full contributor to the unified State Plan and is actively engaged in WIOA implementation across the workforce system.  

Demand for community inclusion and access to employment by people with disabilities and their supporters continues to be strong across the country with consumer choice and opportunity for full participation being important for all.  The advocacy and advice of the State Rehabilitation Council, Independent Living Council, and Disability Rights Maine, as well as groups, such as Maine APSE and the Alliance for Full Participation, help to ensure that rights are being respected, laws are being followed, and practices are being improved to increase the successful employment of people with disabilities. 

In June 2014, Maine’s legislature enacted the Employment First Maine Act (Sec. A-1. 26 MRSA c.3), which was a natural progression in Maine’s focus on competitive integrated employment as a valued outcome for the state’s citizens with disabilities.  It set forth that the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Education must implement employment as a core component of services and supports provided and is the first and preferred service or support option offered to individuals with disabilities. 

The Act also convened a time-limited coalition of interested parties, including employers, state agency representatives, advocacy organizations, and people with disabilities, to review and make recommendations regarding the improvement of the administration of employment services and the employment outcomes of people with disabilities.  Before its sunset in October 2016, the Employment First Maine Coalition produced a report summarizing the work that was completed and identifying twenty-seven recommendations for consideration by the Governor, the Legislature and state agencies, primarily identifying strategies that encourage the employment of youth and adults with disabilities, engage the business community, and improve EFM performance measures.  (See complete report at:  http://employmentfirstmaine.org/). Since that time, the Commission on Disability and Employment, which is a subcommittee of the State Workforce Board, has been monitoring progress on the recommendations with the Departments of Education, Labor, and Health and Human Services. 

According to the Center for Workforce Research and Information[3], from 2013 through 2017, an average of 208,600 persons with one or more disabilities resided in Maine, equal to about 16% of its civilian non-institutionalized population of 1.3 million. This proportion was higher than that of the United States, where an estimated 13% of residents had a disability.  Of additional note, is that the age distribution of civilian noninstitutionalized population with disabilities differs from the general population (with and without disabilities), with higher shares of persons over 64 and lower shares in cohorts 64 or younger. In Maine, nearly 40% of the population with disabilities is over 64 years, more than double the comparable share of the general population (18%).

Workers with disabilities in Maine are less likely to be employed than adults without disabilities.  Fewer than half work or seek work; the unemployment rate among adults with disabilities is three times that of other working age adults. From 2013 through 2017, 33% of working-age Mainers with disabilities was employed compared to 80% of those with no disability. Those who do work earn less than those with no disability; median earnings of Maine workers with disabilities were $18,434 in a twelve-month period, compared median earnings of $31,217 among Maine workers with no disability.  

Adults with a disability are more likely to live in or near poverty, regardless of work status, and are less likely to have postsecondary education than adults with no disability.

While DVR services are an important resource for individuals with disabilities who are looking to enter, or re-enter the Maine workforce, VR services are only one option in an expanding array of employment supports and services.  Co-location in Maine’s network of Department of Labor (MDOL) One-Stop CareerCenters has provided DVR the opportunity to work in partnership with several other programs that support employment of people with disabilities.

The CareerCenters provide several employment programs that serve people with disabilities. The newly redesigned Maine Job Link is an online accessible CareerCenter tool to allow job seekers from around the state to be matched with real-time available open (currently over 11,000) positions.  The Job Link has 42,700 active job bank registrants of whom 505 are self-disclosed job seekers with disabilities.  This represents 1.1% of total Job Link registrants.  Data reported on the ETA 9002 for Program Year 2019 showed that under the Wagner-Peyser Act, Maine served 2,627 individuals who disclosed a disability.  This represents only 3.4% of all individuals served – and a significant decrease from the 4,525 individuals served in 2008.  However, while the number of individuals with disabilities served was much lower than during the recession, the proportion of those with disabilities served remained almost unchanged. 

While the Bureau of Employment Services (BES) collects data on self-reported disability, it does not require that individuals disclose having a disability.  As a result of past work through collaborative efforts, including two rounds of the Disability Employment Initiative grant funding, there is increased awareness and attention in the CareerCenter to increasing access to expanded services for customers with disabilities.  There are concerns about the accuracy of the current case management database; the system defines disability status within the context of vocational rehabilitation.  Individuals who have a disability, which does not constitute a significant barrier to employment, are often not recorded as having a disability at all.  Administrative override is required to update a person’s disability status when they disclose post-enrollment.

Research has shown, that the  number of people with disabilities served by CareerCenters is under-reported.  According to 2016 estimates from the American Community Survey, people with disabilities comprise 13.7% of Maine’s working age population.  ((ACS), 2012-2016).  We would be hard pressed to assert that we are serving them in numbers commensurate with their presence in the general population.

[1] US Census Bureau.  Maine Quick Facts.  https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/ME.  Retrieved January 24, 2018.

[2] Center for Workforce Research and Information, https://www.maine.gov/labor/cwri/publications/pdf/Maine2019AnnualWorkforceReport.pdf

[3]https://www.maine.gov/labor/cwri/disabilities/index.html