Narrative: a. 2. C.

Rapid Response is a shared responsibility between the State Rapid Response Team, the Dislocated Worker Program service providers, and other state and local stakeholders. The Maine Department of Labor is responsible for developing components of statewide and local Rapid Re–sponse 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 Emergency 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 As–sistance (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 representa–tives and staff from six local CareerCenters provide services to employers and workers affected by lay–offs and mass closures occurring throughout the state. The coordinator has developed important alliances, including a partnership with Maine AFL–CIO that pro–motes Rapid Response services to affected union officials and their workers, helps conduct workshops, and co–manages the statewide Peer Support Worker program jointly with the Bureau. 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 re–sponding to potential and actual dislocations. A number of 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 af–fected company to the Dislocated Worker Unit and the Bureau of Labor Standards; • Websites that monitor and package information about mergers, downsizing, development or in–vestment 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 infor–mation; • Credible rumors and disclosures are routinely followed up on; and • 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 certifi–cation; • 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; and Company is asked to facilitate a worker needs survey that is examined for coordination of transitional re–sources and need for allocation of financial resources. State Rapid Response staff determines the mix of appropriate responses. Businesses are informed of layoff aversion possibilities, such as employee buyouts, skill retooling where appropriate for layoff aversion pur–poses, and linking needs of the employer with State and local economic development programs and services. 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 sup–port 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 open–ings, 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 – now also a part of the Rapid Response Jump Start for larger companies. Maine CareerCenters promote the customized job fairs as a service to the affected company. Often affected com–panies 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 instrumen–tal in taking on this additional task by coordinating job fairs that link the interested employers 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 company allowing affected workers to attend the job fairs and workshops while on company time. 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 work–shops 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 that will prepare them for demand occupations. The “Jump Start” model uses the individual needs surveys to customize and schedule the above series prior to the initial session by requesting that the company encourage completion of 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 and generally on company site and on company time. The model also allows for exceptional information gathering for NEG request purposes and/or linkage with economic development activities that may benefit large numbers of affected workers. MDOL has also de–veloped a formal NEG application process. 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 down–sizing; 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; and • 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 be–tween MDOL and congressional staffers had culminated in a formal plan for implementation of Community Action Teams across the state. In the event of a natural disaster: In addition to utilizing community transition teams, the State Rapid Response lead and team members will work in collaboration with the Maine Emergency Management As–sociation (MEMA), the State Agency with responsibility for lessening the effects of disaster on the lives and property of the people of the State through leadership, coordination and support in the four phases of emergency management: mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. MEMA currently has a system in place that includes year round training of County level emergency management teams in emergency management techniques, processes and requirements. The Rapid Response team will deploy Rapid Re–sponse funds as appropriate for activities in support of MEMA, including outreach, response and recovery. Training funds will be deployed to hire temporary emergency workers as appropriate. Companies affected by the natural disaster will be provided with Rapid Response information and affected workers will be ap–prised of information on disaster unemployment assistance.