(a) Rapid response is described in §§682.300 through 682.370, and encompasses the strategies and activities necessary to:

(1) Plan for and respond to as quickly as possible following an event described in §682.302; and

(2) Deliver services to enable dislocated workers to transition to new employment as quickly as possible.

(b) The purpose of rapid response is to promote economic recovery and vitality by developing an ongoing, comprehensive approach to identifying, planning for, responding to layoffs and dislocations, and preventing or minimizing their impacts on workers, businesses, and communities. A successful rapid response system includes:

(1) Informational and direct reemployment services for workers, including but not limited to information and support for filing unemployment insurance claims, information on the impacts of layoff on health coverage or other benefits, information on and referral to career services, reemployment-focused workshops and services, and training;

(2) Delivery of solutions to address the needs of businesses in transition, provided across the business lifecycle (expansion and contraction), including comprehensive business engagement and layoff aversion strategies and activities designed to prevent or minimize the duration of unemployment;

(3) Convening, brokering, and facilitating the connections, networks and partners to ensure the ability to provide assistance to dislocated workers and their families such as home heating assistance, legal aid, and financial advice; and

(4) Strategic planning, data gathering and analysis designed to anticipate, prepare for, and manage economic change.