Located in:
- Program-specific Requirements for Adult, Dislocated Worker, and Youth Activities under Title I-B
The Unified or Combined State Plan must include the following with respect to activities carried out under subtitle B—
a. 2. C. Describe how the State will utilize Rapid Response funds to respond to layoffs and plant closings and coordinate services to quickly aid companies and their affected workers. States also should describe any layoff aversion strategies they have implemented to address at risk companies and workers.
Current Narrative:
The ODJFS Rapid Response Unit oversees Ohio’s Rapid Response service delivery system by
- Ensuring compliance with Federal and State requirements;
- Implementing program initiatives; and
- Providing support, guidance, technical assistance, and financial resources to the local Rapid Response Teams.
Each local workforce development system must have a State/Local Rapid Response Team comprised of State and local partners. All areas must have a complete array of Rapid Response services available for local employers and impacted workers. The State allows local areas to apply for Rapid Response funding to respond to layoffs and closures or to avert layoffs, if formula funding is not sufficient. This funding enables local areas to implement strategies such as re-employment assistance, training services, employee skill upgrades, expansion of service delivery at transition centers, and early warning networks to identify worksites in danger of potential layoff.
Rapid Response encompasses the strategies and activities necessary to plan for and respond as quickly as possible following an announcement of a closure or layoff or natural or other disaster that results in mass job loss. This is covered in TEGL 03-15 and WIOAPL 15-15.3 Rapid Response Program Requirements - Employer Closure, Mass Layoff, Disaster Mass Job Dislocation, and Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) Events.
When circumstances allow, Rapid Response may provide guidance and/or financial assistance to establish community transition teams to assist the impacted community in organizing support for dislocated workers and in meeting the basic needs of their families, including heat, shelter, food, clothing, and other necessities and services that are beyond the resources and ability of the OhioMeansJobs centers to provide.