Narrative: III. a. 2. B.

As authorized by WIOA, the State Workforce Board is also comprised of non-required WIOA partners. Their expertise, knowledge, and resources in the areas of developing an integrated and accountable workforce system will be of great benefit. The State Workforce Board will also make use of every opportunity, including presentations to the Joint Committees of Labor and Housing and Innovation, Development, Economic Advancement and Business, to educate the entire legislature about workforce development activities, challenges and infrastructure to ensure alignment and avoid duplication.

Further, the core partners are well-connected to both required and optional one-stop partners, which allows for optimal use of other resources that can support Maine’s workforce and employers. Partnerships with other state agencies, such as the Departments of Health and Human Services, Corrections, Education, and Economic and Community Development, are critical to maximizing federal and state resources while reducing duplicative or parallel efforts. Sources of funds that can be leveraged by mapping across agencies and programs will be identified. SNAP Employment and Training expansion in partnership with DHHS is one example. Pursuing other federal procurement opportunities and funds, such as the Lewiston Choice application, and meeting with philanthropic organizations to understand their priorities are other activities that will be undertaken. These partnerships are also critical to addressing statewide issues of housing, transportation, childcare and access to broadband, which were identified in the many listening sessions conducted for the Governor’s economic development plan, as well as the WIOA State Plan. An important part of this strategy is the development of career pathways that include secondary and career and technical education, adult education, apprenticeship, post-secondary education, work-based learning, and other opportunities within industry sectors that are responsive to employer and job seeker needs.

Maine partners have taken great strides toward inculcating the “Whole Family Approach to Jobs” as a best practice for serving low income individuals and their families. Also referred to as a two-generation approach, it brings human services, education and workforce stakeholders together to:

• Identify program and policy alignment opportunities at the local, state and federal level that will improve employment equity and economic stability for low-income parents and work toward undoing intergenerational poverty for families
• Promote state policies and systems alignment that will improve access to and success in education, training and employment for parents
• Develop a regional learning community focused on whole-family approaches to employment equity that will include employer stakeholders

Maine’s Whole Families Working Group conducted research to assess the impact of benefits cliffs on families that rely on social service supports. The study reviewed the interplay between several state and federal programs and found that childcare and health benefits programs had the most extreme cliffs with downward slopes across all benefit programs, negatively impacting parents’ financial security and capacity to work outside the home. The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) at the state and federal levels was shown to be an effective policy lever to ease the cliff effect but more needs to be done.

Maine enacted a bipartisan package of bills, referred to as the Invest in Tomorrow package (LD 1772, LD 1774), in 2019. The new laws look to address the state’s benefits cliffs. The package eliminates the gross income test for TANF, invests $2 million in whole-family pilot programs and increases the income disregard in TANF to support parents’ transition to work. It also authorizes an increase in TANF funds for transitional food assistance and establishes a working group to align programs and improve accountability for better outcomes for families. In addition, the Legislature enacted LD 765, which requires the Maine Department of Health and Human Services to convene a stakeholder group to study asset limits in various state social service programs, including TANF and SNAP.

It is important for employers to understand how the benefits cliff creates work disincentives for low income working families. These employers understand that a very slight increase in wage could move the employee out of the income bracket to retain subsidized childcare or food stamps which they use to survive. Employers who participate in whole family approaches to jobs are better able to support and retain their employees through involvement with employee supports such as affordable childcare, providing non-cash incentives for exemplary work, supporting employees to advance their skills through tuition assistance or formal training opportunities leading to upward mobility along a formal career ladder.

To prepare a robust system of lifelong learning, agencies beyond the core partners need to be included in the process of developing stackable credentials. Maine is a geographically large state. The challenge of distance and limited resources have resulted in a tradition of collaboration and cooperation. Non-core partners are needed as each brings expertise, adds value to the partnership and greatly increases the success of developing a highly integrated lifelong learning and employment system. Partners vital to meeting this strategy include, but are not limited to, Department of Health and Human Services, state and local libraries, state and local workforce boards, state and local chambers of commerce, secondary educational institutions, Maine’s Community College and University Systems, Department of Corrections, industry associations and labor associations. Due to our current shared vision to improve the state’s economic viability and the prosperity of residents (many of whom are common clients), a variety of collaborative efforts between these agencies are already in place. These provide a firm foundation to build upon.

The Maine Department of Labor is recognized by USDOL as a State Approving Agency (SAA) for USDOL Registered Apprenticeship Program in Maine. Registered Apprenticeship allows trainees to earn while they learn a skilled occupation under the watchful eye of a mentor. The Maine Apprenticeship Program (MAP) has experienced unprecedented growth, nearly doubling the number of apprentices served with the last year. In part because of the tight labor market, demand from businesses interested in adopting registered apprenticeship to recruit, hire and train a skilled workforce continues to increase. Apprenticeship provides an alternative, structured pathway for youth and adults to earn a credential of value and good wages while meeting employers’ needs. As a truly viable career pathway in Maine, apprenticeship programming continues to expand with the following activities currently underway:

• Partnership with the Bureau of Rehabilitation Services (BRS) to develop apprenticeship opportunities for BRS customers with disabilities. The pilot project is gaining momentum and the first BRS apprentice has been placed in an apprenticeship as a bridge carpenter. The pilot is an example of expanding apprenticeship opportunities for priority populations through braiding workforce resources. This project will be replicated statewide
• Expansion of existing registered apprenticeship programs offered within the prison system to better prepare formerly-incarcerated individuals for successful re-entry to employment
• Development and expansion of quality youth apprenticeship programs, in collaboration with Career and Technical Education (CTE) schools and community colleges, that provide youth with a paycheck and structured on-the- job learning that allows them to apply relevant and affordable classroom training that results in dual credit toward high school graduation and an associate degree. Also pursue support of out-of- school youth apprentices with WIOA funding and services
• Focus on the registration of additional community colleges as registered sponsors of apprenticeship to facilitate small business access to apprenticeship programming and affordable related technical instruction
• Work with system partners and employers to establish entry level apprenticeship programs that articulate into more advanced apprenticeship training programs