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
23 May 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 ]
Good morning everyone. This week’s highlight will focus on the Ticket to Work Program. But before we get to that, also check out the great resources under “Resources of Interest” on employment, accessibility, and youth with disabilities! Under “Publications of Interest,” check out a new GAO report on how One–Stops and Community Colleges are collaborating and the guide on making documents accessible to people who are Blind or visually impaired.
The Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act was enacted in 1999 to expand the employment opportunities for Social Security beneficiaries (Supplemental Security Income (SSI)) or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)) by providing incentives and options for them to enter or re-enter the world of work. The Ticket Program is intended to provide SSI and SSDI beneficiaries with greater choices in obtaining employment, vocational rehabilitation, or other support services from public and private providers approved to function as Employment Networks (ENs). This voluntary program will enable beneficiaries to obtain, regain, or maintain employment and to reduce their dependency on cash assistance. The new regulations revise the reimbursement process and provide greater financial incentives and flexibility to make the Ticket Program more attractive for providers, making it more viable for One-Stop Career Centers and LWIBs to become ENs.
Iowa and Jacksonville represent two One-Stop Career Center models for becoming ENs. States will have an opportunity to hear first-hand from Iowa and Florida: how their One-Stop Career Centers/LWIBs became ENs; the challenges; milestones of progress; and potential return on investment. Participants will have the opportunity to personally interact with their colleagues who are implementing this strategy at the state and local levels; develop an individualized action plan to take back; and receive a "walk-through" of the EN application process.
One-Stop Career Centers and LWIBS should consider becoming ENs because this program is a potential funding source for any entity that provides return-to work services to Social Security beneficiaries with disabilities. It is likely that you are already providing such services to your customers with disabilities. This makes good business sense and will enable you to leverage funding to maximize services to your customers and better respond to the needs of your business customers. ETA has been working with SSA to promote the Ticket Program to One-Stop Career Centers and LWIBs. The Disability Program Navigators (DPNs) are playing a leadership role in this process. There area myriad of tools and resources to assist you as you explore and implement Ticket to Work in your area.
REGISTRATION: To register for this pre-conference learning lab, please R.S.V.P. by sending an e-mail to Laura at E–mail LFarah8@aol.com. Include your name, program affiliation, e-mail address and phone.
Learning Lab Flyer: If you would like to share more information about this learning lab with your colleagues (One-Stop Partners/LWIBs), send an e-mail to E–mail LFarah8@aol.com to request a one-page flyer….Help spread the word!
Dates: The competition will close June 13, 2008.
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), Employment and Training
Administration (ETA) announces the availability of approximately
$20 million to fund grants to State Workforce Agencies (SWAs)
for demonstration projects targeting Workforce Investment Act
(WIA) dislocated workers. This solicitation provides SWAs with
the option to choose from four categories under which applicants
can submit a single grant application. Please note that two
options exist under category one and two options exist under
category three. If the applicant chooses to apply under categories
one or three, the applicant must indicate which option the
proposal addresses. Applicants may only submit a grant application
under one category and only one application per SWA will be
accepted. Applicants must indicate in the abstract of their
proposal the category under which they are applying.
Category
1 – Entrepreneurship Opportunities for Dislocated Workers
(two options).
Category 2 – Getting Ahead of the Curve:
Raising Educational/Skill Levels of Workers in Declining Industries.
Category 3 – Innovative Adult Learning Models for Dislocated
Workers (two options).
Category 4 – Preventing Dislocations
of TANF Recipients Moving Into Entry Level Jobs Subject to
Economic Churn.
Eligible Applicants: Eligible applicants for the grants under all categories shall be State Workforce Agencies (SWA) including the five territories of Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa. Each SWA would be required to identify the local workforce investment boards and One-Stop Career Center as established under Section 121 of WIA, [29 U.S.C. 2841] that would be participating in the proposed project. Applicants must submit a letter of commitment from each of the partners participating in the proposed project.
Applicants must address the specific requirements of their chosen category as outlined in the solicitation for grant applications that appears in today's Federal Register and also can be found online at www.grants.gov.
DATES: Deadline to receive applications = June 11, 2008.
Background: These grants are intended for specific school districts that have been identified as "persistently dangerous" by the State Educational Agencies under section 9532 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The goal of the grants is to support mentoring, educational, employment, and other such prevention programs which seek to reduce violence in the schools.
Both schools and faith and community-based organizations in partnership with the given school districts will be eligible to apply for the grant competition. One of the primary objectives of the program is to enhance learning opportunities for 9th graders, and provide internship experiences for juniors and seniors. Applications should explain a plan for mentoring programs, and an explanation of how programs will be able to reduce violence in the district.
Eligibility: Applications will be accepted from schools and Faith Based and Community Organizations (FBCOs) located in or partnered with the six eligible school districts. Access the URL and the full grant announcement to see a list of the eligible schools.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) is pleased to announce
exciting improvements to the Ticket to Work Program. These
changes were published in the Federal Register on May 20, 2008
and will go in to effect on July 21, 2008. Check out the new
regulations at
[ http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdf/E8-10879.pdf ]
[ Get free Adobe Reader ]
The revised regulations incorporate SSA's vision of the future direction of the Ticket to Work Program. SSA issued proposed changes to the Ticket Program in 2005 and 2007 based on lessons learned and issues arising from SSA's experience in implementing the prior rules. Changes to the Ticket to Work Program demonstrate that SSA is listening, learning and responding to both lessons learned and critically important feedback from a variety of stakeholders, including beneficiaries, employers, disability organizations, advocates and service providers.
SSA would like to thank all of its stakeholders for their valuable insights, which helped inform these important changes. In support of the rapid and seamless implementation of these changes, SSA will be offering training to those who have a role, or are interested in having a role in implementing the program. This training will cover these and other changes in greater depth.
The second teleconference will be Thursday, May 29, 2:30 to 4:00 pm Eastern Standard Time: This teleconference will provide a quick overview of the new Ticket regulations, go into greater detail on some of the more complex policy areas.
The agenda for the teleconference, a side-by-side table comparing selected provisions in the New Ticket rules with the old and other resources will be posted to www.ssa.gov/work.
Programs, resources and online tools from U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration (DOL/ETA) on training and career advancement. DOL/ETA programs, resources and online tools help workers in all stages of the job and career development. Explore what is available by choosing a topic below.
The Trace Research & Development Center (http://trace.wisc.edu/) is a part of the College of Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Founded in 1971, Trace has been a pioneer in the field of technology and disability.
[The following is excerpted from the Introduction.]
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities. Title I of the ADA covers employment by private employers with 15 or more employees and state and local government employers of the same size. Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act provides the same protections for federal employees and applicants for federal employment. Most states also have their own laws prohibiting employment discrimination on the basis of disability. Some of these state laws may apply to smaller employers and provide protections in addition to those available under the ADA.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforces the employment provisions of the ADA. This document is part of a question-and-answer series addressing particular disabilities in the workplace. It explains how the ADA might apply to job applicants and employees with hearing impairments, including:
Access the URL to read the full fact sheet.
A series of factsheets for youth with disabilities addressing subjects including workplace accommodations and when to share information about your disability with an employer.
Access this section of the Social Security Administration’s Work Site to link to the following resources on the new Ticket to Work regulations.
ATA’s interactive information service The Hub provides quick access to information on assistive technology tools and services to consumers, families, and service providers worldwide.
This FREE service allows you to locate and receive information on assistive technology products and services offered by the Alliance for Technology Access Members.
The ATA (http://www.ataccess.org/) is a national network of community-based resource centers, product developers, vendors, service providers, and individuals. ATA provides information and support services to children and adults with disabilities, and work to increase their use of technology.
In the future, businesses will demand workers with higher-level skills and more education. Community colleges are key providers of career and technical training as well as traditional academic education. These colleges can also play important roles in the one-stop system created by the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), through which a variety of federally funded employment and training programs provide services. Given the importance of community colleges to workforce development, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) was asked to examine
To address these objectives, GAO visited 20 community colleges, surveyed one-stop centers and their associated workforce investment boards, and talked to Labor and Education officials.
The community colleges that GAO visited developed various approaches and programs for career and technical training to meet the needs of industry sectors, individual employers, and certain types of students and workers. Through a variety of outreach, relationship building, and data collection efforts, community colleges have come to understand the specific training needs of key industries in their regions and use this information to keep programs current or develop new programs to address these needs. Community college activities include providing contract or customized training to the employees of specific employers; working with small businesses; and targeting training and education programs to specific populations, such as disadvantaged adults, high-school students transitioning to college, and One-Stop clients.
Many of the community colleges that GAO visited integrate with their One-Stops by operating the One-Stop centers, co–locating college staff at the One-Stop, and participating on workforce investment boards. Nationwide, GAO estimated that about 11 percent of One-Stops are operated solely or jointly by a community college, while 34 percent have community college staff co–located at the center. Similarly, GAO estimated that, nationwide, 49 percent of local workforce investment boards have community college presidents represented on their boards. Some of the benefits of these arrangements include cost sharing and improved communication among participating programs. Officials at the colleges and One-Stops that GAO visited reported also conducting other joint activities, such as strategic planning and data sharing.
Community college and workforce officials cited state funding and leadership as factors that help integration between community colleges and the workforce system but identified WIA performance system measures and WIA funding issues as impediments. Under WIA, states and local workforce areas must meet performance levels in their Adult, Dislocated Worker, and Youth programs that can be difficult to obtain when serving some populations, such as those on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families or youth, causing disincentives for the One-Stops to serve them. In a 2004 report, GAO recommended that Labor develop a systematic way to account for differences in the population groups served by states’ One-Stop centers and apply it to all states when establishing their performance levels. Labor has not taken action on this recommendation; however, Labor officials stated that states may use their own adjustment models and that the department has worked to ensure consistency in the process.
It is uncertain whether Labor and Education’s efforts to build linkages between community colleges and the workforce system will be successful in encouraging community colleges to focus on workforce development. Labor’s WIRED, High Growth, and Community Based grants aim, in part, to help community colleges and other workforce entities collaborate. As discussed in GAO’s recent report on these grants, Labor’s evaluations do not fully measure their effectiveness, and GAO recommends that Labor take steps to do so. Labor and Education jointly funded a $1.5 million initiative in 2006 to help build linkages between community colleges and the workforce system. The agencies did not conduct an evaluation, but plan to issue a report in 2008 about the participants’ challenges and successes.
This document contains a comprehensive discussion about how to make print and electronic information available to people with visual impairments in a variety of accessible formats. Consumers who have limited vision or are totally blind have unique access needs. These needs depend on the amount of vision each person has for reading. Some people have usable vision, allowing them to read large print. Others choose to read Braille on paper, while a third group prefers to use a computer with synthetic speech, or refreshable Braille display, to read electronic documents.
To make a text accessible, it is usually necessary to provide it in several formats. Alternate formats include large print, Braille, audio tape, and electronic file. Even within these four categories, there are choices that are most appropriate, depending on a number of factors.
The process of developing alternate format documents can initially seem somewhat daunting and difficult. You will discover that some formats are easier to produce than others, but all formats need to be considered since some of the ones that take more effort to produce are essential for those who need them. Regardless of the alternate formats you are producing, the process will be easier if you think about it early, perhaps even during the writing phase. We urge you to take alternate format production as seriously as you would the production of a document in print. After all, the look, sound, and feel of your final product represent you to blind people in the same way that a print document represents you to sighted people. Fortunately, modern computers, when properly used, make this task easier. It is our purpose to offer helpful guidance in order to make the preparation of alternate format documents as straightforward as possible.
For states that receive federal funding, the Olmstead decision confirmed the obligation to serve individuals with disabilities in more integrated settings rather than provide supports and services in institutional settings. As states move forward with strategies to support community living for individuals with disabilities and promote the principles of person-centered planning, these tools and strategies provide complimentary opportunities to accelerate the achievement of inclusive outcomes.
To produce this report, interviews were conducted with policymakers at a state and federal level; service providers at a local level; and with individuals with disabilities and their families across the country, who rely on Medicaid to support and advance their health, community participation, and personal freedom. The case studies featured were identified by reviewing reports from CMS Systems Change grants and other federally funded projects from the Social Security Administration and the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, and Treasury.