The Peer Workforce Navigator Project is featured in an October report from the Center for American Progress, a nonpartisan policy institute based in Washington, D.C. The report concludes that Maine’s Navigator program significantly boosted re-employment outcomes for workers and strengthened partnerships between community and government.
The Center for American Progress report says:
- Evidence shows Mainers who engaged with the Project were not only able to access unemployment support faster and more easily, but they also found new jobs more quickly and at higher rates when compared to other workers in the region.
- Navigators serving as “trusted messengers” make effective referrals to state and local resources, break down barriers, and increase outreach outcomes.
- Navigators fostered a helpful two-way relationship with the Project and state agencies, building trust between community and government.
- Navigator programs are an important interim investment in the modernization of state UI systems that can reduce administrative burdens both for consumers and state agencies.
Maine Equal Justice is a founding member of the Peer Workforce Navigator Project (PWN), a coalition of six organizations working in partnership with the Maine Department of Labor. Each organization employs a Peer Navigator who helps workers connect to Unemployment Insurance (UI), education and training, and the public benefits that make employment and financial security possible.
PWN is made possible in part by federal funding and Governor Janet Mills’ Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan. Maine’s grassroots unemployment efforts during the pandemic–from statewide Facebook groups staffed by volunteers and community organizers to immigrant youth doing on-the-ground outreach to elders–were the model for the US DOL’s Unemployment Insurance Navigator grants for pilot programs in Maine and six other states. The report’s findings confirm that Maine is leading the nation in both the implementation and outcomes of these programs.
The Center for American Progress report offers a number of policy recommendations, the primary takeaway being that states must provide flexible, stable, and ongoing funding for these Navigator programs. The Project's current funding structure allows Maine’s Navigators to work on both unemployment and reemployment activities. For more information about PWN, please visit their website, https://workforcenavigator.org/.
More about the report and findings
The report is co-authored by former US DOL Deputy Director, Michele Evermore, Alex Hertel-Fernandez, an Associate Professor of Public Affairs at Columbia University, and the American Worker Project’s Senior Advisor, David Madland. This team of leading labor scholars co-designed a survey of both PWN clients and recently unemployed workers in six Northeast states. They also conducted interviews over the course of two years with community members, volunteers, Navigators, and MDOL staff. Their comparative data and qualitative research on Maine’s program provide the basis for a number of statewide and federal recommendations also included in the report.
The report highlights what PWN calls their “braided approach,” a recommended best practice, where community Navigators assist people simultaneously with Unemployment Insurance and other income supports like housing navigation or food security resources. All of these resources are essential as people enroll in career training or find good, stable employment opportunities. Navigators serve as “trusted messengers,” a hub of referral resources to the many state and local offices and programs that often exist in silos or fail to outreach to specific communities.
PWN helped people find good jobs faster
Navigator clients applying for UI benefits were more likely to find a new job after a layoff compared to similar unemployed workers who did not use the Navigator program. This is notable considering the many barriers PWN clients faced compared with the unemployed worker population as a whole. PWN organizations work with populations traditionally excluded from the workforce, including workers with limited English proficiency, new immigrants, people of color, people who are recently incarcerated or in recovery, and working parents without college degrees.
Unemployment benefits are a vital resource for Maine’s workers and Maine’s economy
Not only did Navigators ensure benefits made it efficiently into the hands of workers who needed them, they also helped these workers more efficiently find good jobs. The Navigator program underlines the full value of these benefits; to provide for basic needs while creating productive scaffolding for workers to find good, sustainable employment in their field.
PWN improved the enrollment rate and delivery of state benefits to laid off workers
Navigator clients were substantially more likely to report applying for and receiving UI benefits, an easy UI application experience, and most importantly, the delivery of timelier benefits. This is significant because the stated purpose of the federal UI Navigator grant is to improve access to these benefits for marginalized populations. Navigator clients also felt less stressed during their unemployment application process compared to other workers, though they still reported challenges and barriers with the agency.
Navigator programs are an important interim investment in the modernization of state UI systems
Their work to reduce application issues can help increase Maine’s overall UI recipiency rate. PWN’s relationship with MDOL meant that Navigators helped identify systematic barriers that claimants encountered for the agency, thus improving the state’s ability to rectify these barriers and improve overall delivery of benefits for more Mainers. Researchers claim that Navigator programs, if well managed, have the potential to reduce administrative burden on both the claimant and on the stage agency as well.
PWN’s deep community relationships led to innovative workforce partnerships
Such partnerships, if invested in, can help further diversify Maine’s workforce and increase economic mobility. By resourcing community organizations through the Navigator grants, a virtuous cycle was formed. Navigators have deep connections to workers, but such positive outcomes were only possible because of their close cooperation with government employees and how Navigators were authorized to connect workers to an array of MDOL resources and personnel.
The experience of one community member illustrates this virtuous cycle: A leader in Maine’s Gabonese community learned about the Project because she was already a volunteer with Maine Equal Justice. When she referred a recently laid off friend to MEJ’s Navigator, her friend had such a positive experience that the MEJ volunteer referred several more friends, and even started volunteering with PWN herself. Her husband enrolled in the Union Construction Academy, a Maine AFL-CIO program also supported by PWN and MDOL. This community leader later enrolled herself in MDOL’s CSSP and WIOA programs after learning about them through PWN. She is now in her final semester of school and seeking a career in banking.
PWN organizations were able to launch creative workforce initiatives that accommodated the specific needs of their clients. For example, following a number of local layoffs, two Navigators collaborated with the local USPS Distribution Center to launch the “Postal Jobs Boot Camp.” One Navigator, employed by the AFL-CIO, had strong ties with mail handlers and their union representatives, meanwhile another Navigator, employed by Maine Equal Justice, was an anchor in Portland’s immigrant community. Together they recruited three 20-person cohorts to attend boot camp sessions where workers received a stipend to tour the Scarborough production facility, learn about different jobs and how unions work. The Navigator team and USPS staff then helped interested workers submit job applications on-site. The boot camps have had great results: the Scarborough facility has been able to hire more people of color and immigrants and keep them on staff. Meanwhile, in the community, Navigators often hear people asking when the next boot camp is and how they can apply to the “good post office jobs.”
PWN has had similar results with recruiting diverse workers in the trades. The most prominent example of this is their partnership with the Maine AFL-CIO’s Union Construction Academy. A significant portion of each class are former PWN clients, as Navigators often funnel workers who they helped get UI into the program. Navigators support UCA staff and students, and help them access state benefits students need to successfully participate in the program and onboard to careers. They help people enroll in CSSP to pay for uniforms, books and tools they might need for a union Apprenticeship or they help find solutions for students in need of things like car repair and childcare.
Navigators help build worker power
Data also pointed to evidence that Navigator programs can increase worker power. Researchers found that workers supported by a Navigator were more likely to speak up at work and take interest in collective action. While they were no more likely to vote for a union than other workers, these advocacy skills are still significant workplace advantages. Worker power also means developing workers’ self-advocacy skills and abilities to improve their career opportunities; a stated goal of the Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan. Navigators often talk to workers about their rights, about what a “good job” means, how to find jobs with benefits and how to use those benefits to support themselves and their families. These conversations likely contributed to the findings that Navigator-involved workers were more likely to advocate for better pay and working conditions at their workplace.
PWN fostered a mutually beneficial relationship between the Project and state agencies, building trust between community and government
Researchers observed that the partnership between PWN and MDOL made one another’s work more efficient and effective, especially in reaching underserved communities. After collaborating with the Navigators, Maine Department of Labor staff noted an overall improvement in the agency’s cultural competency. The UI and workforce system can be complicated, but having trusted people from the community serve as validators helped MDOL staff communicate with the public more effectively, and state staff reflected that they felt better able to help and serve more diverse constituents.
PWN also helped to build bridges between divergent MDOL programs, not just for claimants, but for staff as well. State reemployment staff, who typically work separately from UI program staff, noted that the Project bolstered their connection to the UI program. Meanwhile, PWN clinics for laid off workers often brought BUC staff and BES staff into the same room, as UI claimants were seeking resources that both departments could offer.
State policy recommendations
The report offers a number of policy recommendations, the primary takeaway being that states must provide flexible, stable, and ongoing funding for these Navigator programs. The Project's current funding structures allows Maine’s Navigators to work on both unemployment and reemployment activities, which is crucial for addressing the economic needs and barriers to employment for so many laid-off workers.
As PWN completes their pilot period, coalition partners will be working hard to engage stakeholders and thus ensure permanent and flexible funding. Ongoing funding will not only support existing work, but can provide opportunities to include other organizations in the coalition as new populations and new employment needs are identified in our state.
Employment and wage growth are at an all time high right now, but workers still struggle to make ends meet as the cost of living increases. A more robust Navigator program is vital not just during times when Maine’s economy is healthy, but such programs are key to resilience during future economic downturns. The pandemic laid bare the cracks in the unemployment system, leaving vulnerable workers less likely to get benefits and to struggle to pay for food, housing, and basic needs. But the Navigator program, which emerged out of this time, shows significant ability to help reduce barriers for these workers. Navigator programs can be part of future-proofing the Department of Labor now so critical government services can function when a crisis hits. Investing in the Peer Workforce Navigator Project is an investment in Maine workers and Maine’s economy.
Maine Equal Justice focuses its work on many of the issues that affect people’s daily lives – access to adequate health care, housing, transportation and childcare; food and income security; and higher education and training. Maine Equal Justice is a 501 c 3 nonprofit organization. Our EIN is 04-3346273. 