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
13 June 2008
Good morning everyone,
SUMMER VACATION: The Resource of the Week will be taking a summer vacation. We hope to rejoin you in July with more great resources and need to know information.
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 Navigators,
What a great way to leave you before summer vacation. How many of you are familiar with the word “Navapaloosa?” Well, until about four years ago, it was new to me. However, to two DPN Project Leads from the Round One DPN projects (who will NOT remain nameless)—Doug Keast, Iowa, and Glenn Olsen, Wisconsin—this word had a lot of meaning. In fact, when the two neighboring DPN projects got together way back then and decided they wanted to do a bi–state DPN get together for the Navigators, they coined the term “Navapaloosa” to define what this get together comprised: a Navigator exchange…
About two years ago, they had a tri–county get–together and the Illinois DPN project joined them. This year, they opened it up to other Round 1 and 2 projects and DPNs from both Michigan and Minnesota joined them for Navapaloosa 2008 in Prairie Du Chien, WI. I personally had the honor of participating during the tri–county event and left with my cup running over. I was blown away during the “brag and steal” presentations. Navigators are doing such wonderful things and touching such a diversity of programs and initiatives….and, ultimately, bringing about systems change and making a difference. The events are structured to be truly “Navigator” events. DPNs come together and share with and learn from each other….it is a lot of Nava–love.
Well, if you know anything about Doug and Glenn, then you know they kind of…let’s say…think and act outside of the box. They always start the event with a little ditty that kind of coincides with whatever is up and coming in the DPN Initiative and this year was no different. This year the theme was the Blues Brothers and with donned hats, coats and sunglasses, Glenn and Doug transformed themselves and became “Jake” and “Elwood” and performed a skit that broke into a song. I thought it only fitting to share both with you below. While you may not have been present to see in person (and, we are still waiting to get the video J ), I think with some imagination, you can get a visual…
Elwood: we’d like to thank all you lovely people for joining us here today at the Prairie Du Chien City Hall and seat of local government. We’d like to especially welcome the representatives from the national DPN Program Office. Now, as you sit back, I’d like to ask each of you to think of that special workforce role that makes it all come together. Signify your commitment with that caress in your thoughts – and squeeze it, please it, eat cheezits, and think of a better world that will happen when the navigators are saved….
Jake: Every body – needs some body –
Every body, needs a navigator –
I mean you, you, you
Both: I mean you, you , you…..
Jake: okay, you get the idea, but do you know what this is about? What is it about, Elwood?
Elwood: We’re on a mission from God!
Jake: that’s right – and we’re here to keep the band together!
Elwood: for the penguin –
Jake: for the little girls
Elwood: and for every guitar picker and every trumpet player who has yet to have his music heard –
Jake: so, while you’re here, never forget that you are part of the band
Elwood: ..and we’re getting a new gig
Jake: ….so can you keep on playing while we skip? (to Elwood) What have we got?
Elwood: a full pack of tickets to work, a seamless memorandum of understanding, and we both have our sunglasses on –
Jake: hit it! (chest thump – music – run out)
Thank you Glenn and Doug for showing us all how cool it truly is to be a “Nav Man!!!” Representatives from LHPDC were planning to attend this year’s event, but because of unforeseen circumstances had to change our plans. Below is a little ditty that I had put together to share on the national perspective as I love the opening format that Glenn and Doug follow for this exchange. It is “suppose” to be to the tune of the theme from the Beverly Hillbillies but doesn’t “quite” follow it. What I especially would like DPNs to note is the final bullets. These came directly from draft marketing materials about the DPN Initiative and the impact of the work of Navigators.
(kind of to the tune of the theme from the Beverly Hillbillies)
Come and listen to a little ditty about the DPN.
I’m gonna tell you a story about how it all began.
Way back in the year 2000, Department of Labor’s ETA
Published a Solicitation, in DOL language, that’s called an SGA.
And soon grants were funded under a WIG.
Well, that’s a Work Incentive Grant, ya dig.
To provide access and support to job seekers with disabilities.
To improve employment outcomes by building One–Stop system capabilities.
Well, the first thing you know ol’ DOL said, we don’t need a WIG program,
we need a Navigator instead.
Disability Program Navigator, that is.
DOL–folk said we need a systems change agent, resource and problem solvee.
A relationship builder, facilitator and an IRT.
Integrated Resource Team, that is.
So they loaded up another SGA
And for five years, and through three rounds, Navigators have come our way.
Now it’s time for me to end this Ode and to Glenn, Doug and all of the DPNs.
I’d like to thank you folks for kindly letting me drop in.
I couldn’t end this story; though, without first sharing some DPN glory.
Moderator: Melissa Goldberg, Sr. Associate, Workforce Strategy Center
Dave Sullivan is Executive Director of ArtsTech. ArtsTech’s mission is to help at–risk youth achieve academically, socially, and professionally through the development and application of their artistic, technological and entrepreneurial skills. ArtsTech accomplishes this by operating a center for youth enterprise, building collaborative partnerships, and managing programs for private and public entities. Joseph Gerena is the Director of Apprenticeships and Operations for Year Up Providence. Year Up is a one–year, intensive training program that provides urban young adults ages 18–24 with a unique combination of technical and professional skills, college credits, and educational stipend and corporate apprenticeship. Both speakers will address the challenges they have faced and lessons learned in creating work opportunities for their young customers.
How do you craft work experiences for young people when those individuals have little work experience and limited levels of education? Youth training providers often struggle to create work experiences that are meaningful for their participants and keep them engaged. This Webinar will feature two practitioners who are partnering with employers to create effective internships and apprenticeships which benefit the young people and employers alike.
Registration for this Webinar is limited and seating is on a first–come, first–served basis. Please access the URL to login to Workforce3 One and register today! Please note, you must be (or become) a registered user of the Workforce3 One website.
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=966.
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.
The Social Security Administration held the second of two national teleconference calls Thursday, May 29th. The call provided an overview of the New Ticket to Work Regulations as well as answered questions that were submitted in advance. You may replay a recording of this call by dialing The recording will be available through July 31, 2008.
More information including an overview of the new ticket regulations, a side–by–side table comparing selected provisions in the New Ticket rules with the old, questions and answers about the new ticket regulations and other resources are available at: http://www.ssa.gov/work/newregs.html [ Get free Adobe Reader ] [ Get free Word Viewer ] [ Get Microsoft Office C.D., free trial, S / H applies ]
According to the Small Business Administrations’ (SBA’s) Office of Veterans Business Development, the number of veteran–owned businesses stands at more than 4–million. However, service–disabled veterans are self–employed at a rate significantly lower than the veteran population as a whole, according to a study released by the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration.
The needs and challenges experienced by veterans with disabilities often require a different and innovative mode of self–employment structure, management, marketing, and operations than those experienced by other individuals with disabilities. This Q and A on self–employment for veterans with disabilities and service–connected disabilities provides information on resources that are available to assist them in starting and operating a business.
Welcome to The Work Site’s "What’s New" page. Here you will find exciting news about proposed changes, upcoming events, and other useful information. Please check it periodically, especially for the newest information about the Ticket to Work Program.
The Prisoner Re–Entry Initiative is designed to strengthen urban communities through an employment–centered program that incorporates mentoring, job training, and other comprehensive transitional services.
This program seeks to reduce recidivism by helping former inmates find work when they return to their communities. Faith–based and community organizations (FBCOs) will play a key role in this initiative by providing soft–skills and other appropriate basic training, serving as mentors, making appropriate referrals to the One–Stop system, connecting with community colleges and other providers of occupational skills training, and providing or referring ex–offenders to needed supportive services.
The National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth (NCWD/Youth) assists state and local workforce development systems to better serve youth with disabilities. The NCWD/Youth, created in late 2001, is composed of partners with expertise in disability, education, employment, and workforce development issues. Funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), the NCWD/Youth is housed at the Institute for Educational Leadership.
Multiple federal programs provide services and support to the approximately 50 million individuals with disabilities in America. While some health and economic data on people with disabilities are currently available, these data have limited use in providing a comprehensive assessment of how these individuals are faring. Additionally, the lack of more useful data limits the federal government’s ability to determine how well federal programs are serving individuals with disabilities.
This statement is based on prior GAO reports, including the May 2008 report on modernizing federal disability programs (GAO–08–635), the 2007 Comptroller General’s forum on disability (GAO–07–934SP), and multiple reports on national indicators (e.g. GAO–05–1); and studies by other organizations, including the National Council on Disability.
Disability policy and programs in the United States have been developed on an individual basis over many years, with success being measured by individual program outcomes rather than with a unified set of national goals and indicators to assess how people with disabilities are faring. In 2005, GAO identified over 20 federal agencies and almost 200 federal programs serving individuals with disabilities that provided a wide range of assistance, such as employment–related services, medical care, and monetary support. These programs often have different missions, goals, funding streams, eligibility criteria, and policies that sometimes work at cross–purposes with other federal programs. In addition, these programs collect data to measure specific programmatic goals but not to provide a set of metrics to assess how federal programs are improving the lives of individuals with disabilities. Although other data on individuals with disabilities are collected on a national level, these data do not share consistent definitions of disability. As a result, these data cannot be easily compiled to create a comprehensive picture of the status of individuals with disabilities, which could better inform federal disability policy and help ensure that beneficiaries are given timely and appropriate supports. GAO and others have acknowledged the need for creating a common set of outcomes for disability programs and the appropriate measures for assessing progress toward shared goals.
To facilitate an effort of reaching consensus on desired outcomes for people with disabilities, coordination among the key players in the disability community is required. In May 2008, to better serve people with disabilities, GAO suggested that Congress consider authorizing a coordinating entity consisting of leadership from appropriate agencies that serve this population to develop a cost–effective strategy to integrate services and supports for individuals with disabilities. Consistent with its proposed charter, such an entity should play a critical role in developing agreed–upon, desired outcomes for disability policies and programs and in determining what metrics and data will be used to assess progress toward meeting those outcomes.
Helping America’s poor build assets is one of the most cost–effective and sustainable improvements we can make as a society. While policymakers seeking to reduce poverty have traditionally focused on income, spending, and consumption, a new vision has steadily gained prominence in recent years, focusing on savings, investment, and asset–building policies that work in conjunction with, not instead of, traditional anti–poverty policies and programs.
The Northwest Area Foundation solicited input from CFED on how it could best influence poverty reduction through public policy. From our perspective, much of the answer lies in the policies that support an individual’s ability to build and protect assets. In the sections below, we set the context with a case for assets, a description of asset disparities in the United States, and a review of the current policies that create these inequitable outcomes. CFED sees a window of opportunity for making policy change at the federal, state, and municipal levels that will reduce poverty and expand opportunity, and we conclude with an effective strategy for seizing this window of opportunity.