The State of Maine has been deeply impacted by the opioid crisis. Maine’s workforce is not immune. EMDC’s workforce team has assisted individuals in recovery for more than a decade, with a special Workforce Recovery Project established in Hancock County in 2016.
Through a partnership with the Maine Department of Labor, we worked together to secure an Emergency National Dislocated Worker Grant from the U.S. Department of Labor to provide training, education and employment services to long-term unemployed and dislocated workers impacted by the opioid crisis, and to others who wish to help individuals impacted by substance use disorder.
Dislocated workers and long-term unemployed individuals are eligible for services. There are two tracks:
EMDC’s Recovery Specialist Doug Dunbar spent almost 30 years in senior positions in government. He was the deputy Secretary of State in Maine. The press secretary to the Governor of Maine and his Communications Director in Congress. He’s worked for US senators and state agencies. He’s also now a felon. So how on earth did Doug end up spending 136 days in jail? And more importantly, what happened afterwards, and what does it mean for our system of criminal justice in America? Today, a look at the system through a story that’s unique, but in many ways is going to be far too familiar to millions of Americans.
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