Introducing DHHS’ new Coordinating Entity for Workforce Development System

The Maine Department of Health and Human Services (Office of Adult Mental Health and Office of Adults with Physical and Cognitive Disabilities) and the Maine Department of Labor (Bureau of Rehabilitation Services) is pleased to announce that it will be partnering with Syntiro, a nonprofit located in Readfield, to provide professional development for employment specialists including a comprehensive mentoring program for new employment specialists. A statewide calendar of events will provide information regarding upcoming ACRE Employment Specialist certification opportunities and advanced topical training.

The program will be collaborating closely with the Institute on Community Inclusion at UMass Boston and KFI in Millinocket to carry out the mentoring program. Griffin-Hammis Associates will be conducting the ACRE certified ESC training in the spring of 2012.

Syntiro is uniquely qualified to carry out the requirements of the Coordinating Entity. Syntiro has provided statewide professional development since 1986 and we have increasingly utilized state of the art technology including teleconferencing and webinars to deliver a wide range of learning opportunities across the state and nation. Its headquarters are centrally located in Readfield and key staff are located in home offices across the state. Current initiatives represent a wide range of topics and funding streams and are organized in four divisions: College Access; Professional Development; Self Determination, Health & Policy; and Collaborations. Syntiro’s Center for Self Determination, Health & Policy, brings significant national experience in health care transition and employment to this effort. The Center is home to Syntiro’s Employment Network under the Ticket to Work. The Center hosted the Healthy & Ready to Work National Resource Center funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau from 2006-2010. The Center and its principal staff have collaborated with Maine’s Title V Children with Special Health Needs program and Title V programs from across the country for more than 15 years to conduct research, professional development, public health infrastructure activities, and technical assistance in the area of transition including development and support of the first in the nation Youth Advisory Council dating back to 2000.

Project updates, mentoring and protégé applications and the training calendar are available on this site. For more information, please contact Project Assistant Jenny Hartung at (207) 685-3171 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

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