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
15 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 ]
AND
[The full announcements (Writing Skills, Ergonomics) are located under the section heading "Resources of Interest."]
Navigators, this week’s Resources of Interest section includes some great information that you can share about technology and the workplace. First, today in almost every job employees are required at some to level to communicate through writing, perhaps through email, letters, or memos or more? According to the National Commission on Writing, whose recent study Writing: A Ticket to Work…Or a Ticket Out: A Survey of Business Leaders reported that “two-thirds of salaried employees in large American companies have some writing responsibility” (National Commission on Writing, 2008).
There are some software programs that can help improve the quality of your own writing skills or help support the improvement of staff writing skills. According to the National Institute for Literacy (2008) Facts and Statistics of Workforce Education, proficient writing ability tops the list of important work skills, and writing deficit is the number one reason why employers in manufacturing and production withhold job offers.
A recent Job Accommodation Network E-News, highlighted a new software program, Whitesmoke, which represents a text enrichment writing product that helps improve writing skills, with over 600 sample writing templates and over 400,000 ways to correct errors through spell check, grammar check, automatic proofreading, dictionary, and thesaurus options. People with learning disabilities such as dyslexia, dysgraphia, and expressive language disorders may find this product particularly useful. Going beyond the traditional word-processing edit tools, Whitesmoke can edit the user’s written work, making suggestions such as relevant adjectives and adverbs that enhance and improve the written text. Entire sentences can be analyzed for improvement and transformation.
For $79.95, this software is an inexpensive way to provide an effective job accommodation. Whitesmoke works with all contemporary applications, operating systems, browsers, and communication tools. Preview the product here: http://www.whitesmoke.com. For additional job accommodation ideas for people with various types of learning disabilities, visit: http://www.jan.wvu.edu/media/lear.htm [ Get free Word Viewer ] [ Get Microsoft Office C.D., free trial, S / H applies ]. And, for more accommodation ideas specifically about writing, try SOAR: JAN’s Searchable Online Accommodation Resource: http://www.jan.wvu.edu/soar/LD/writetext.html.
Ergonomics is the field of study that seeks to fit the job to the person, rather than the person to the job. This is achieved through the evaluation and design of workplaces, environments, job tasks, equipment, and processes in relationship to human capabilities and interactions in the workplace. Anytime there is a change in the workplace (new employee, new chair, new desk), new ergonomic solutions are required. It is important that all furniture (chairs, desks) and other accessories are adjustable in order to meet individual worker's needs, for no two people are alike.
Ergonomics covers the entire work area, including issues regarding the chair, workstation, and lighting. Effective use of ergonomic practices will assist in maintaining high levels of productivity, avoiding painful and costly employee injuries, and increasing worker satisfaction. By designing the job around the person, employees will have a decreased risk of injury and an improved perception of their "employee-centered" role at work.
The guide, Workplace Ergonomics Reference Guide, a publication of the Computer/Electronic Accommodations Program, provides illustrations of proper workstation ergonomics and a checklist for implementation of these strategies as well as tips for prevention of repetitive stress injuries. Ensuring proper ergonomics in the workplace is a smart business decision because it increases employee productivity and satisfaction.
The Computer/Electronic Accommodations Program (CAP) works to ensure that people with disabilities have equal access to the information environment and opportunities in the Department of Defense and throughout the Federal government. While CAP’s focus is to provide assistive technology to accommodate people with disability conditions, such as carpal tunnel syndrome (or other repetitive stress injuries), we prefer to take a proactive approach to these issues by educating our customers on prevention of the repetitive stress injuries that can result from workstations that lack proper ergonomic configuration. This strategy can diminish the severity of ergonomic-related injuries or eliminate the need for accommodation altogether.
After reviewing The Workplace Ergonomics Reference Guide, please consult the list of related organizations for additional information on workplace ergonomics. If you would like to speak to someone regarding an ergonomic needs assessment, please contact CAPTEC at 703-693-5160 (Voice), 703-693-6189 (TTY), or E–mail CAPTEC@tma.osd.mil.
[It is also posted on grants.gov, just do a search for “Demonstration to Maintain Independence and Employment” under Find Grant Opportunities.]
DATES: Closing date for receipt of proposals is March 15, 2008
SUMMARY: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is soliciting proposals from states to participate in the Demonstration to Maintain Independence and Employment. This demonstration, created by section 204 of the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999 (P.L. 106-170), allows states to provide benefits, equivalent to those provided by Medicaid, to the categorically needy, to workers who have physical or mental impairments that, without medical assistance, will likely result in disability.
The demonstration was created to further the overall goals of the legislation by demonstrating the value of providing health care benefits and other services to support individuals with disabilities in employment and independence. Outcomes that the demonstration seeks to measure include: reliance on cash benefits, employment status, changes in health status, cost of health care, and quality of life.
This demonstration grant provides an opportunity to investigate the question: can a program of medical assistance and other supports forestall or prevent the loss of employment and independence due to a potentially disabling and medically determinable physical or mental impairment? CMS, within the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), will approve a number of demonstration projects that meet the requirements specified in the grant solicitation.
The overall purpose of the demonstration, to provide Medicaid equivalent services to working people with a condition that is likely to lead to a disability, must also remain intact.
ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS: All states are eligible to participate in the Demonstration to Maintain Independence and Employment. For purposes of this program, "state" is defined as any entity qualified to submit a Medicaid state plan under title XIX of the Act.
Demonstration proposals must be submitted by the Single State Medicaid Agency and funds will be distributed only to the Single State Medicaid Agency. States are limited to one overall Demonstration to Maintain Independence and Employment proposal. A state may choose to work with other states to ensure a larger study population. In this instance, each state should describe its portion of the project and indicate the broader partnership in the narrative section of the state's application.
A state may also choose to partner with a foundation, university, Federal agency, or other entity that is willing to pay part or all of the cost for demonstration administration or services after the FMAP is applied. While these partnerships are allowable, demonstration funding will still be distributed only to the Single State Medicaid Agency. 6
FUNDING INFORMATION: Funding for the Demonstration to Maintain Independence and Employment may be distributed through 2009, and $250 million in funding has been appropriated for the program. There is no minimum or maximum grant award per state or per project; however, CMS reserves the right to negotiate the size of any demonstration project proposed by a state. Medical assistance costs, as defined in sec. 1905(a) of the Social Security Act (the Act), will be reimbursed quarterly at a rate equal to the state’s Federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP). All other necessary expenses associated with the demonstration will be paid quarterly with 100 percent Federal funds. For example, if the state can demonstrate that providing a non-medical assistance service constitutes reasonable and necessary administrative expenses, e.g., vocational counseling services, CMS can fully fund these services. There is no other match requirement associated with this demonstration.
Access the URL to download the full solicitation, which includes more detailed information plus application and submission information.
For more information regarding Medicare and its components,
please go to www.medicare.gov.
For more information on Medicaid, please go to www.cms.hhs.gov/home/medicaid.asp.
[This announcement was also disseminated to the listserv on February 11th.]
Moderator, Laura Gleneck, Law, Health Policy and Disability Center, University of Iowa College of Law
Learn how the public workforce investment system is assisting to create economic transformation in regional economies across the nation through innovative asset building strategies. Through the Real Economic Impact Tour, the National Disability Institute along with its lead partner, the Internal Revenue Services (IRS), is identifying and documenting the unique role of the public workforce investment system in building economic self-sufficiency for its customers with low incomes. This Webinar will provide you with a brief review and update of the Real Economic Impact Tour and show how its partnership with the Disability Program Navigators (DPNs) and local One-Stop Career Centers is benefiting a variety of "targeted" populations (youth, older workers, ex-offenders, TANF, ESL, Indian and Native Americas, migrant and seasonal farm workers, and persons with disabilities).
The Real Economic Impact Tour is a public-private partnership of business, federal, state, and local organizations that promotes financial self-sufficiency and economic independence for people of modest means through the expanded use of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), free tax preparation services, financial literacy education, and matched savings programs (i.e., individual development accounts). For additional background information on this Tour, refer to Training and Employment Notice, July 10, 2007, No. 5-07, Real Economic Impact Tour: TAXFacts + Campaign, "Building Healthy Economic Futures for Americans with Disabilities."
This Webinar will demonstrate how your One-Stop Career Center can become involved with the Real Economic Impact Tour and how to assist your customers to become more economically self-sufficient through a variety of asset-building strategies. Information will be provided on how to better integrate existing resources with economic and workforce development activities and leverage public and private resources to drive economic transformation in your regional economies. Participants will learn how One-Stop Career Centers are building partnerships that are contributing to their region's economic development vision through free tax preparation (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance and use of the EITC), other asset building strategies, referral, and resource information dissemination. Three One-Stop Career Centers in Milwaukee, WI, Jacksonville Fl, and Detroit, MI will be profiled to highlight their effective strategies and innovative models for promoting asset building, financial literacy, and economic self-sufficiency for working individuals with low-incomes.
Registration for this Webinar is limited and seating is on
a first-come, first-served basis. Please click the link below
to login to Workforce3 One and register today!
http://www.workforce3one.org/public/webinars/details.cfm?id=271
Note, you must be logged in to sign-up for a Webinar. You can sign up by accessing the website and scrolling to the link at the bottom of the page that reads: Don't have a login? Register now!
Alaska and Hawaii Residents only: To access the audio portion of this event, you must use the following dial-in information 973-528-0009 and code 444126. Regrettably, the 800# is not available in your location. Therefore, please be aware that you will be assessed any relevant toll charges.
If you are deaf, hard-of-hearing, or have speech disabilities
and captioning would facilitate your participation in this
Webinar, you can register for captioning service through the
Federal Relay Conference Captioning. Please note the Federal
Relay Service requires at least 48 hours notice (2 working
days) to guarantee coverage. For more information, visit
http://www.workforce3one.org/support/index.cfm?id=940
At work, do you communicate through writing, perhaps through email, letters, or memos? Probably so, according to the National Commission on Writing, whose recent study Writing: A Ticket to Work…Or a Ticket Out: A Survey of Business Leaders reported that “two-thirds of salaried employees in large American companies have some writing responsibility” (National Commission on Writing, 2008). Do you want to improve the quality of your own writing skills or help support the improvement of staff writing skills? Again, probably so, as the National Commission on Writing (2008) also reported that “you can’t move up without writing skills.”
According to the National Institute for Literacy (2008) Facts and Statistics of Workforce Education, proficient writing ability tops the list of important work skills, and writing deficit is the number one reason why employers in manufacturing and production withhold job offers.
Writing skills can be improved with a new software program, Whitesmoke. Whitesmoke is a text enrichment writing product that helps improve writing skills, with over 600 sample writing templates and over 400,000 ways to correct errors through spell check, grammar check, automatic proofreading, dictionary, and thesaurus options.
People with learning disabilities such as dyslexia, dysgraphia, and expressive language disorders may find this product particularly useful. Going beyond the traditional word-processing edit tools, Whitesmoke can edit the user’s written work, making suggestions such as relevant adjectives and adverbs that enhance and improve the written text. Entire sentences can be analyzed for improvement and transformation.
For $79.95, this software is an inexpensive way to provide an effective job accommodation. Whitesmoke works with all contemporary applications, operating systems, browsers, and communication tools. Preview the product here: http://www.whitesmoke.com
For additional job accommodation ideas for people with various types of learning disabilities, visit: http://www.jan.wvu.edu/media/lear.htm [ Get free Word Viewer ] [ Get Microsoft Office C.D., free trial, S / H applies ]. And, for more accommodation ideas specifically about writing, try SOAR: JAN’s Searchable Online Accommodation Resource: http://www.jan.wvu.edu/soar/LD/writetext.html.
National Institute for Literacy. Facts and Statistics of Workforce Education. Retrieved online January 21, 2008 from
http://www.nifl.gov/nifl/facts/workforce.html
National Commission on Writing. Writing: A Ticket to Work…Or
a Ticket Out: A Survey of Business Leaders. Retrieved online
January 21, 2008 from
http://www.writingcommission.org/pr/writing_for_employ.html
This guide provides illustrations of proper workstation ergonomics and a checklist for implementation of these strategies as well as tips for prevention of repetitive stress injuries. Ensuring proper ergonomics in the workplace is a smart business decision because it increases employee productivity and satisfaction.
The Computer/Electronic Accommodations Program (CAP) works to ensure that people with disabilities have equal access to the information environment and opportunities in the Department of Defense and throughout the Federal government. While CAP’s focus is to provide assistive technology to accommodate people with disability conditions, such as carpal tunnel syndrome (or other repetitive stress injuries), we prefer to take a proactive approach to these issues by educating our customers on prevention of the repetitive stress injuries that can result from workstations that lack proper ergonomic configuration. This strategy can diminish the severity of ergonomic-related injuries or eliminate the need for accommodation altogether.
After reviewing The Workplace Ergonomics Reference Guide, please consult the list of related organizations for additional information on workplace ergonomics. If you would like to speak to someone regarding an ergonomic needs assessment, please contact CAPTEC at 703-693-5160 (Voice), 703-693-6189 (TTY), or E–mail CAPTEC@tma.osd.mil.
The resources, tools, updates and links found on the Workforce Professionals section of the DOLETA website are intended to assist the nation’s workforce professionals in serving the needs of workers and business.
In an earlier JAN E-News article, types of work options most frequently categorized under the umbrella term of telecommuting were explored. This discussion included how the telecommuting definition overlaps, and differs from, other alternative work strategies such as self-employment, independent contracting, or starting a home-based business.
This E-News article can be accessed at:
JAN E-News Volume 4, Issue 3, Third Quarter, 2006
http://www.jan.wvu.edu/enews/2006/Enews-V4-I3.htm
The confusion over these various definitions has evolved from different contexts, sometimes blurring our understanding of what is involved in these related work options. For the purpose of this article, however, the broad definition made available on the TeleworkTools.org Web site – a Telework/Telecommute Research and Demonstration Project of The WorkPlace, Inc. funded by the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), will be used:
“Telecommuting is essentially working from home full-time
or several days out of the work week. Someone who telecommutes
may be an independent contractor, an entrepreneur, or an employee
of an organization that has telecommuting work options.”
(Source: http://www.teleworktools.org)
For employers and individuals with disabilities, these options can help:
JAN consultants can discuss telecommuting issues in workplace accommodation situations. Many questions arise in the context of what employers are required to do under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). JAN can provide information on the ADA and ways to make accommodations in home-based work settings, including assistive technologies that can facilitate working remotely.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Work At Home/Telework as a Reasonable Accommodation
Web site: http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/telework.html
Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and General Service
Administration
(GSA) Interagency Telework Site
Web site: http://www.telework.gov/
JAN customers receive one-on-one assistance and resources to assist with developing and growing home-based businesses, including referrals to local, state, and national resources and additional mentoring and guidance throughout each individual process.
Self-Employment Technical Assistance, Resources, & Training – START-UP
USA
Web site: http://www.start-up-usa.biz/
DisabilityInfo.gov
Self-Employment and Small Business Resources
Web site: http://www.disabilityinfo.gov/digov-public/public/DisplayPage.do?parentFolderId=38
A special issue of the Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation (volume 27, number 2, 2007), titled "Ticket to Success? Early Findings from the Ticket to Work Evaluation," summarizes the early implementation experiences and impacts of the Ticket to Work (TTW) program. The program, together with other initiatives created by the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act, attempts to develop a new employment services marketplace to increase the level and mix of employment support services for people who receive disability benefit payments from the Social Security Administration (SSA). Rather than setting up a single training program, TTW includes payment mechanisms designed to induce employment-service providers to increase the supply of programs and the range of approaches. The special issue contains six papers that provide an early picture of both the potential for the TTW program and the challenges involved with reaching this potential.