Law, Health Policy & Disability Center
University of Iowa College of Law
http://disability.law.uiowa.edu/dpn/
and
The Burton Blatt Institute
Syracuse University
http://bbi.syr.edu
One–Stop Toolkit
Resources of the Week Technical Assistance Project E–Mail listserv
8 February 2008
Good morning everyone,
Below please find the web site and publication of the week, as well as other resources that we hope will be useful as you work on systems change activities to help improve employment opportunities for persons with disabilities.
To subscribe and / or view past resources of the week archives, access: www.onestoptoolkit.org and click on the link to "Resources of the Week" on the right hand side of the home page.
To view an indexed list of the resources of the week by subject matter, visit the L.P.H.D.C. web site at http://disability.law.uiowa.edu/lhpdc/resources/wig/default.asp. It currently includes 20 categories, covering over 300 annotated references. Each category opens to a new window with each Resource of the Week which covered material in that area.
Have a good day and weekend!
Laura Gleneck
Program Associate
Law, Health Policy & Disability Center
University of Iowa College of Law
P: 617–489–0086
F: 617–489–1374
[ E–mail Lgleneck@mail.law.uiowa.edu ]
[ E–mail LFarah8@aol.com ]
[ http://www.onestoptoolkit.org ]
[The full announcement is located under the section heading "Publications of the Week."]
Navigators, we all know that often whether or not a business will choose to hire a job seeker with a disability is based on whether it will be “worth it” to their business. In spite of all of the great things we can share, they want to know the bottom line, i.e., the costs and benefits of hiring a worker with a disability.
In a first-of-its-kind study unveiled to Chicago-region business leaders on January 28, a team of researchers at DePaul University discussed research results that found employees with disabilities from the healthcare, retail and hospitality sectors in the region were just as dependable and productive as employees without disabilities. In addition, researchers also discussed research results that showed accommodation costs associated with workers with disabilities were often minimal and well worth the expense.
These groundbreaking study results contradict many perceptions held by employers about employing persons with disabilities, and show that this pool of workers has much to give to employers to meet current and future workforce demands.
This study was commissioned by the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce's disabilityworks initiative, and made possible through a grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. A subsequent financial contribution was made by the Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities.
According to the Executive Summary, in the United States, one of the greatest challenges experienced by individuals with disabilities is employment. Research indicates that employer attitudes contribute to this pervasive problem. Specifically, some employers have misperceptions about the abilities of individuals with disabilities and the costs associated with the provision of accommodations. Understandably, employers are concerned with the bottom line. The purpose of the Economic Impact Study was to examine the economic costs and benefits of workers with disabilities within three sectors (healthcare, retail, and hospitality). This project included two phases of research:
Navigators, also check out the A.D.A. resources in the “Resources of Interest” section, especially the A.D.A. Portal (http://www.dbtac.vcu.edu/adaportal/), which consists of more than 7,400 documents and the A.D.A. Resource Training Center (http://www.adacourse.org/), which represents your one-stop shop for courses, events and tools on the Americans with Disabilities Act.
ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS: The governing bodies of Indian tribes (and consortia of those governing bodies) located on Federal and State reservations.
SUMMARY: The purpose of this program is to provide vocational rehabilitation (V.R.) services to American Indians with disabilities who reside on or near Federal or State reservations, consistent with their individual strengths, resources, priorities, concerns, abilities, capabilities, and informed choice, so that they may prepare for and engage in gainful employment, including self-employment, telecommuting, or business ownership.
Access the URL to read the full notice, which includes application and submission information.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2008
SUMMARY: This final rule implements changes to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (T.A.N.F.) program required by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (D.R.A.) (Pub. L. 109-171). The DRA reauthorized the T.A.N.F. program through fiscal year (F.Y.) 2010 with a renewed focus on work, program integrity, and strengthening families through healthy marriage promotion and responsible fatherhood. On June 29, 2006, A.C.F. published an interim final rule implementing the required statutory changes with a 60-day comment period that ended on August 28, 2006. We have considered all comments received during this period and made necessary changes as reflected in this final rule.
A discussed in more detail throughout this preamble, the final rule includes a number of important changes to address these policy concerns. These include: Allowing time spent in a bachelor's degree program to count as vocational educational training; allowing up to an hour of unsupervised homework time for each hour of class time in all educational activities; expanding State flexibility by converting the six-week limit on job search and job readiness assistance to an hourly equivalent; adding the flexibility for a State to exclude a parent who is a recipient of Social Security Disability Insurance (S.S.D.I.) benefits from the definition of a work-eligible individual, as is the case with a recipient of Supplemental Security Income (S.S.I.); clarifying that excused holidays are limited to 10 days in a year; and enhancing State flexibility by allowing a State to account for ``excused hours'' rather than an ``excused day.'' We have summarized the public comments and our response to them throughout sections III through VIII of this final rule.
Access the URL to read the full announcement.
The purpose of this Training and Employment Notice (TEN), which was sent out on January 31st to all State Workforce Agencies, State Workforce Liaisons and One-Stop Center System leads, is two-fold:
BACKGROUND: In 2003, recommendations from The White House Task Force Report on Disadvantaged Youth charged all Federal youth serving agencies with developing more effective interagency collaborations to better serve targeted youth populations, with priority given to serving the neediest youth:
In 2004, E.T.A. adopted and announced its new strategic vision to serve out-of-school and at-risk youth under the Workforce Investment Act (W.I.A.) (T.E.G.L. No. 3-04) highlighting and implementing activities in four priority areas:
Recognizing the need to involve other federal agencies in this collaborative initiative, E.T.A.’s outreach and recruitment strategy led to the creation of a national cross agency group which evolved into the Shared Youth Vision Federal Partnership.
Access the URL to link to the full version of the TEN.
The A.D.A. Collection consists of more than 7,400 documents. Use the search box to enter keywords and search the entire A.D.A. Collection. You can choose to search "Everything" or to search an A.D.A. category, such as "Only Employment". Use the drop-down list to see your choices!
You can also browse any of the 9 A.D.A. categories shown in the left column. Use the links in the left column to browse to the individual categories and documents in the collection.
The site also includes several additional collections (over 15,000 documents) shown in the right column. By selecting the collection of your choice you can search just the documents in that particular collection.
Your One-Stop for courses, events and tools on the Americans with Disabilities Act. Find a wealth of A.D.A. training materials including audio conferences, case law updates, case studies, courses, handouts, statistics & quotes, tips, and solutions pages for targeted audiences.
This section of the Southeast D.B.T.A.C.’s (A.D.A. and Information Technology Center) website is committed to developing and sharing resources which exemplify effective implementation of the Americans with Disabilities Act and support for improving access to technology for individuals with disabilities.
This represents an online course developed by the U.S. Department of Justice that explains how the A.D.A. applies to businesses.
Access to Recovery (ATR) is a three year competitive discretionary grant program funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment. A.T.R. is a presidential initiative which provides vouchers to clients for purchase of substance abuse clinical treatment and recovery support services. The goals of the program are to expand capacity, support client choice, and increase the array of faith-based and community based providers for clinical treatment and recovery support services.
BACKGROUND: President Bush proposed a new substance abuse treatment initiative, Access to Recovery, in his 2003 State of the Union Address. The program was launched in August 2004 when the President announced the first three year Access to Recovery grants to 14 states and one tribal organization to provide people seeking drug and alcohol treatment services with vouchers to pay for a range of appropriate community-based clinical treatment and recovery support services. Since then, approximately $300 million in funds have been awarded and more than 170,000 people with substance abuse problems have received treatment and/or recovery support services, exceeding the three-year target of 125,000 people.
After a competitive grant review of 40 applications, 24 new 3-year Access to Recovery grants were awarded in September 2007 to: Louisiana, Hawaii, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma Cherokee Nation, California, Alaska South-Central Foundation, Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Connecticut, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Montana Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council, District of Columbia, California Rural Indian Health Board, Arizona, Rhode Island, Washington, Ohio, Iowa, Texas, Colorado, and Wisconsin. Just under $100 million is expected to be awarded each year, for three years to help the grantees increase access to clinical treatment and recovery support services for an estimated 160,000 individuals.
To view the descriptions of the current A.T.R. state and tribal
programs, access:
http://atr.samhsa.gov/stateprograms.aspx
The Federal Disability Workforce Consortium’s (FDWC) mission is to improve the current landscape of employment for people with targeted disabilities within the Federal workforce. The Consortium seeks to expand the current pool of talent within the Federal workforce through improving recruiting, hiring, retention, and advancement of employees with disabilities, especially those with targeted or more severe disabilities.
In order to make a broader impact across our various agencies and organizations, the F.D.W.C. includes many stakeholders supporting disability employment within the Federal Government. These stakeholders include senior leaders, disability program managers, selective placement coordinators, H.R. recruitment specialists, and federal employees with disabilities. The F.D.W.C. membership includes over 300 individuals representing 70 Federal Departments and Military Organizations.
The “Resources” section of the website (http://www.fdwc.info/links) includes links to federal and non-federal agencies or government sponsored programs that focus on the needs of individuals with disabilities. This section also includes links to recruitment resources, conferences and trainings, and magazines and newsletters.
In a first-of-its-kind study unveiled to Chicago-region business leaders on January 28, a team of researchers at DePaul University discussed research results that found employees with disabilities from the healthcare, retail and hospitality sectors in the region were just as dependable and productive as employees without disabilities. In addition, researchers also discussed research results that showed accommodation costs associated with workers with disabilities were often minimal and well worth the expense.
These groundbreaking study results contradict many perceptions held by employers about employing persons with disabilities, and show that this pool of workers has much to give to employers to meet current and future workforce demands.
This study was commissioned by the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce's disabilityworks initiative, and made possible through a grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. A subsequent financial contribution was made by the Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities.
According to the Executive Summary, in the United States, one of the greatest challenges experienced by individuals with disabilities is employment. Research indicates that employer attitudes contribute to this pervasive problem. Specifically, some employers have misperceptions about the abilities of individuals with disabilities and the costs associated with the provision of accommodations. Understandably, employers are concerned with the bottom line. The purpose of the Economic Impact Study was to examine the economic costs and benefits of workers with disabilities within three sectors (healthcare, retail, and hospitality). This project included two phases of research: