W-2 STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING

MAY 9, 2012

MINUTES

Present:  Jan Lehrer, Linda Remington, Courtney Windorski, Danielle Gerrits, Chris Machamer.

Meeting was called to order by Chris Machamer in the absence of the regular chairperson.  Jan Lehrer was introduced and welcomed as the newest member, representing the Waupaca County DHHS Board.  The updated list of members was handed out.

The Open Meeting statement was read, stating that this had been adhered to.

Moved, seconded and passed to approve the agenda as stated.

Moved, seconded and passed to approve the minutes of the previous meeting as presented.

Job Center Report and Job Seeking Skills Report – Dick Turner was unable to attend the meeting.  No reports available.

Updates on Waupaca W2 program—

· Chris Machamer reported on the recent RFP that was distributed by the Department of Children and Families.  The RFP requires Waupaca County to be in a geographic region of 17 counties and any bids must be for the entire region.  Waupaca County DHHS Board approved on May 2 to not have DHHS apply for the program with this structure, but to allow them to cooperate with any agency that obtains the contract to be part of the service delivery plan, if possible.

· Machamer also reported on the recent monitoring of the W-2 Program on April 30.  There will be a written report issued by the Regional Office when they get it written.  There may be a compliance finding for an unmet Performance Standard for Wage Stabilization.  There were no consistent problems found in other cases, but an occasional issue with a case here and there.

W2 Caseload and Performance Standard Report—

· Courtney Windorski reported on the Performance Standards and gave some handouts showing job entry rates, customer satisfaction and educational attainment.  Waupaca is exceeding standards in all these areas. 

· Windorski reported that Nicole Davis is now full time in the Waupaca office, so we hope to see even better performance on the performance standards.

W2 employment strategies—Danielle Gerrits of Forward Services was introduced.  She explained how she is now serving Waupaca County as well as Shawano County.  She is holding an Employability Workshop Series of 4 sessions, one per week.  The sessions are Applications, Resumes, Cover Letters and Follow-ups, and Interviewing skills.  These are 3 hours each.  Clients will be assigned to participate as part of their W2 Employability Plan, and can start at any point.  As part of her process, she conducts the Search Smart Labs where clients will apply for jobs under her guidance.  When they complete the entire series, they are sent back to the Case Manager.  Then they meet with her for one-on-one Job Development.  She reviews jobs they have applied for and tell her where they could use her follow-up to encourage employers to hire them.  She will send a letter and information about the WOTC tax credit information, or pay a personal visit.  She will also run a soft-skills class quarterly, and can help with setup of work experience sites. 

W2 Caseload Skillset—Windorski presented a handout of the skillset of the current W-2 clients for discussion.  This was a request of the previous Steering Committee meeting. 

The next meeting will be July 11.

Meeting adjourned.

Recorded by:

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Chris Machamer, Coordinator                                               Date

Approved by:

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Tony VanKampen, Chair                                                         Date