Partner Express -November 2019

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Adult Career Pathways Updates


SFY20-21 Grant Onboarding and Technical Assistance

Adult Career Pathways Program Coordinators (ACP) provided on-boarding for applicants awarded grants for the SFY20-21 cycle. Ninety-four participants attended, as follows:

Location

Date

Attendance 

Mankato

October 17

                 14

Brainerd

October 21

                 10

St. Paul

October 24

                 32

Minneapolis 

October 25

                 38


Training lasted for approximately four hours and addressed the contracting process, program requirements, and introduction to Workforce One, a Workforce One demonstration, and information specific to Pathways to Prosperities grants. APT coordinators encouraged participants to contact them with questions or to request refreshers.

Early and frequent conversations with your coordinator can help prevent problems from growing, or even from starting. Coordinators are available for questions, consultation, and on-site technical assistance, when necessary. We want grantees to be successful and technical assistance the best way we know to make this happen!

Thank you to all who attended.  We enjoyed seeing returning grantees and meeting new ones!

Progress on SFY20-21 Grants

Nearly all direct appropriations grantees have received contracts, and nearly all grantees for the SFY20-21 cycle have submitted work plans and budgets.  ACP program coordinators are reviewing work plans and budgets and requesting changes needed to comply with statutory and regulatory authority or with program requirements; or simply to streamline processes. Grants for which budgets and work plans have been approved have moved to ACP’s fiscal area, which will prepare contracts and send for signature. We are hoping to move as quickly as possible so that grantees have access to funds and can start enrolling participants into their programs.

Tracking Support Services

Please remember to enter all support services disbursements into case notes and on the Support Service tab of Workforce One.  Monitors will verify that support services claimed for reimbursement are supported by information entered into Workforce One. 

Displaced Homemakers – Keeping Sensitive Case Notes Private

WF1 data are private and should never be shared with anyone.  However, certain data, data that may put someone at risk, need special protection.  Revealing the address, place of service, phone number, etc., of certain Displaced Homemaker program customers may put them in danger.  Other data may be highly personal or sensitive. For situations such as this, Workforce One (WF1) allows you to set a case to “private.” This prevents anyone not assigned via WF1 case assignment from seeing most of the record, including case notes and any information that could be used to learn the customer’s whereabouts. Put in a WF1 helpdesk ticket for any record you want set to private due to concerns about violence or other sensitive matters. The link to the helpdesk ticket is https://www.mnworkforceone.com/FormsLetters/FormSummary.aspx?nc=1d3fdb14& and is located in the footer of WF1.  Include only the Record ID in the ticket. Never include the social security number associated with the record in a ticket or any other communication.

Do not use the “private” functionality except in special situations. Even if a record is not set to private, only staff who work for the agency that is serving the person and who have access to the program can view the case notes. Individual case notes can also be set to private. When this is done, only the person who entered the case note, the users assigned via case assignment in WF1, and DEED’s monitors can view it.

Failing to enter case notes is not an option.  If interactions providers are having with customers and the reasons services are provided are not documented in WF1, there may be findings when the provider is monitored. Services need to be justified and customers must receive regular contact while they are getting services. Putting these items on paper is actually less secure than storing them in WF1 because paper can be lost, left on a desk, etc. WF1 has safeguards in place to ensure that only authorized staff can view sensitive information and auditing.

Only staff serving customers may be given access to WF1 and only for the purposes of doing their jobs. If you are a WF1 user, log in with your own account.  Never provide your access or data to which you have access to others who do not have direct access or a business-related need to know (e.g., a supervisor/manager working for the agency who needs to know how many people are being served, etc.) Users who share data with unauthorized persons or view records for any purpose other than work are in violation of data practices and WF1 user policies. Ex-partners/abusers have no right to data contained in WF1. WF1 has extensive auditing capabilities, allowing DEED to learn of every record that a user accesses and of the changes the user makes to that record.


TAA Updates

Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) Petitions

TAA/Rapid Response Staff are researching thirteen companies for possible trade-impacted layoffs.

  • Pending DOL’s investigation (15):
    • 95169 – Corn Plus, Winnebago
    • 95096 – Infor.com, St. Paul
    • 94627 – Toppan Merrill, St. Paul
    • 94780 – Target Corporation, Minneapolis
    • 94871 – Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Eagan
    • 94916 – United Healthcare, Minnetonka
    • 95210 – Quad Graphics, Shakopee
    • 94232 – Wells Fargo Business Payroll Services, Bloomington
    • 95275 – Nestle, Brooklyn Park
    • 95298 – Smith & Nephew, Plymouth
    • 95285 – Dee Incorporated, Crookston
    • 95306 – CenturyLink, Minneapolis
    • 95313 – Del Monte Foods, Sleepy Eye
    • 95331 – Tenneco (Federal Mogul), Lake City
    • 95338 – Refinitiv, Eagan
  • Requested Worker lists from:
    • 94941 – Delta Air Lines, Eagan
    • 95233 – Wells Fargo, Shoreview
    • 92876 – Medtronic (older, active petition)
    • 94263 – J.W. Hulme (older, active petition)
    • 94239 – Carlson Wagonlit Travel (older, active petition)
    • 93479 – Unitron-Sonova (older, active petition)
  • Notified Workers from (fewer than 10 workers, no info sessions)
    • 94996 – Navico, Minneapolis
    • 95094 – Cambria, Le Sueur
  • Upcoming or recent informational sessions:
    • 95074 – Pace Industries, Arden Hills, October 14
    • 93704 – Electrolux, St Cloud, October 15 and Resource Fair on October 24
    • 83245 and 92207 – IBM, Rochester, TBD (older petitions; recently received updated worker lists from 2012-18). TAA is launching a media campaign to reach these workers. We’re using Facebook and LinkedIn ads, and the local newspaper.

Fall Roundtables

TAA is touring the state this fall providing technical assistance with a Roundtable Tour. Registration is still open for our final session on Friday, November 8 at 1st National Bank in St Paul. To register, visit https://mn.gov/deed/events/taa-roundtable/

We enjoyed seeing everyone who has attended! Thank you for your great discussions, and ideas on how we can collaborate to better serve customers around the state.

  • Watch for a survey via email
  • The PowerPoint and resources will soon be added to the Counselor Portal
  • If you traveled 15 miles or more one-way, or paid for parking, TAA can assist!
    • Travel must be at least 15 miles one-way from eligible attendee’s home or office, whichever is closer to the Roundtable address
    • Providers will need to reimburse eligible attendees first, then providers need to submit an invoice prior to December 13, 2019, to deed.taa@state.mn.us to be reimbursed. Providers, when invoicing TAA include a:
      • Map for each attendee showing the mileage (if carpooling, only one map is needed for the group) and,
      • Copy of the parking receipt, if applicable
      • DEED employees, email deed.taa@state.mn.us for how to be reimbursed

DOL Monitoring Report

TAA was monitored by Department of Labor (DOL) from July 29th to August 2, and DOL specifically looked at how TAA and DW work together in Minnesota. They also focused on TRA and performance. We received the report on October 9th and are drafting our response to DOL which is due in early November. Stay tuned for future communication and updates based on their findings. Thank you to everyone who prepped and/or sent DW files as Department of Labor requested; we really appreciate the teamwork. DOL was impressed with how DW and TAA collaborate. Thank you!

Topics you’d like addressed?

The Partner Express is a resource designed with you in mind. If you have suggestions on topics you’d like TAA to address, please let us know! We are here to help: deed.taa@state.mn.us or call 651-259-7543. Applications, news, resources, and forms are available on the Counselor Portal: https://mn.gov/deed/programs-services/dislocated-worker/counselors/