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
4 August 2006
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 Farah
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 announcements are located under the section heading "Publications of the Week."
]
Looking for up-to-date information on various S.S.I. / S.S.D.I. work incentives to provide to One-Stop customers who have specific questions on how their benefits will be impacted by employment? The Benefits Assistance Resource Center (BARC) of Virginia Commonwealth University is one of 3 regional training and technical assistance centers funded by the Social Security Administration (S.S.A.) under the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act. V.C.U. BARC provides training and technical support to Benefits Planning, Assistance and Outreach (B.P.A.O.) projects and Protection and Advocacy for Beneficiaries of Social Security (P.A.B.S.S.) projects on the operations of the Social Security disability benefit programs (S.S.I. and S.S.D.I.) and all associated work incentives. The following represents a list of recently updated briefing papers of subjects of interest found on their website (http://www.vcu-barc.org/news.html).
| DATES: | C.M.S. Tele-conference – August 15, 2006 Due Date of Application – September 15, 2006 |
SUMMARY: Section 6081 of the Deficit Reduction Act (D.R.A.) authorizes new grant funds to States for the adoption of innovative methods to improve effectiveness and efficiency in providing medical assistance under Medicaid. Through the use of the Transformation Grants, States can work with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (C.M.S.) to create programs that are more aligned with today's Medicaid populations and the health care environment. C.M.S. strongly encourages States to consider these grant opportunities to develop proposals that enhance the Medicaid program.
Access the U.R.L. to download the Medicaid Transformation Grants application instructions (Enclosure B) in the “Downloads” section. Also included in the Downloads section is a copy of the law.
[The E.T.A. News Release is included below in its entirety.]
On July 31st, U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao announced approximately $260 Million in awards to 18 organizations that will provide on-the-job experience and training to low-income workers age 55 and older. The grants, funded through the Senior Community Service Employment Program (S.C.S.E.P.), will help subsidize part-time employment and training in community service positions so that older workers can move to unsubsidized, private sector jobs.
"This investment in seniors will provide needed income assistance, community services and make possible a better quality of life for older, low-income workers and their families." said Secretary Chao. "These funds are being awarded to organizations with a history of solid service as well as six new service providers who stood out in the grant competition."
The 18 grantees were selected through a competitive process based on the technical merit of each application. As required by law, Asian and Pacific Islander as well as Indian and Native American organizations were among the grantees selected. The variety of award-winning organizations will serve senior citizens in locales around the country.
"Because of S.C.S.E.P., America's low-income senior citizens can leverage the service they provide their communities to upgrade their skills and pursue new opportunities," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training Emily Stover DeRocco. "Seniors participating in these projects will have access to a wide array of services to help qualify them for positions in today's global economy."
Today's announcement includes funding for a smooth transition from current to new service providers, which will start shortly and conclude by October 1, 2006. Services to seniors will continue throughout the transition.
S.C.S.E.P. is the only federal workforce program targeted to low-income older workers. The program is administered by the U.S. Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration through grant agreements with state and eligible organizations. For more information on the department's employment and training programs, please visit www.doleta.gov.
| Grantee Name (new grantees in italics) |
New Grantee? | P.Y. 2006 Positions |
P.Y. 2006 Award |
P.Y. 2006 First Quarter |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A.A.R.P. Foundation Programs (A.A.R.P.) | 9,736 | $53,100,000 | $18,514,612 | |
| Asociacion Nacional Pro Personas Mayores (A.N.P.P.M.) The National Association for Hispanic Elderly |
1,133 | $6,200,000 | $1,938,282 | |
| Easter Seals, Inc. (E.S.) | 2,238 | $12,300,000 | $4,052,328 | |
| Experience Works, Inc. (E.W.) | 11,659 | $64,800,000 | $21,623,860 | |
| Goodwill Industries International, Inc. (G.I.I.) | New Grantee | 1,460 | $8,100,000 | Not Applicable |
| Mature Services, Inc. (M.S.) | 696 | $3,800,000 | $1,390,073 | |
| National Able Network, Inc. (N.A.N.) | 777 | $4,300,000 | $1,370,010 | |
| National Caucus and Center on Black Aged, Inc. (N.C.B.A.) | 1,821 | $10,000,000 | $3,838,385 | |
| National Council on the Aging, Inc. (N.C.O.A.) | 3,476 | $19,200,000 | $5,504,537 | |
| National Urban League, Inc. (N.U.L.) | New Grantee | 1,224 | $6,700,000 | Not Applicable |
| Quality Career Services, Inc. (Q.C.S.) | New Grantee | 205 | $1,100,000 | Not Applicable |
| Senior Service America, Inc. (S.S.A.I.) | 6,993 | $38,600,000 | $12,847,287 | |
| SER - Jobs for Progress National, Inc. (SER) | 3,515 | $19,400,000 | $6,595,810 | |
| Vermont Associates for Training & Development, Inc. (V.T.A.S.) | New Grantee | 258 | $1,400,000 | Not Applicable |
| The WorkPlace, Inc. (T.W.P.) | New Grantee | 273 | $1,500,000 | Not Applicable |
| Asian Pacific and Indian Set-Asides: | ||||
| National Asian Pacific Center on Aging (NAPCA) | 837 | $4,600,000 | $1,506,795 | |
| Institute for Indian Development, Inc. (I.I.D.) | New Grantee | 203 | $1,100,000 | Not Applicable |
| National Indian Council on Aging, Inc. (NICOA) | 629 | $3,500,000 | $1,519,198 | |
| Totals | 47,133 | $259,700,000 | $80,701,177 | |
NOTE 1: In order to respond to congressional concerns regarding enough transition time for incumbent and new grantees, the Department of Labor agreed to extend both the period of response for interested applicants and the transition period. All incumbent grantees received funds to provide services for the first quarter of P.Y. 2006 (July 1, 2006 to September 30, 2006).
NOTE 2: The Forest Service received $5,134,164 for the first quarter of P.Y. 2006 as an incumbent grantee. The Forest Service did not apply for funds under the current competition.
DATE: Effective August 26, 2006
SUMMARY: On January 11, 2005, the Office of Personnel Management (O.P.M.) issued a proposed regulation at 70 F.R. 1833 to implement changes in the three existing Schedule A excepted service appointing authorities for persons with mental retardation, severe physical disabilities, and psychiatric disabilities, which agencies use to hire people with disabilities. The proposed regulation allowed agencies to determine, on a case-by-case basis, whether individuals with these disabilities can receive an appointment based solely on medical documentation submitted by the applicant. The proposal also sought to consolidate the three separate Schedule A appointing authorities into one authority.
O.P.M. is issuing a final regulation regarding the excepted service appointments of persons with mental retardation, severe physical disabilities, and psychiatric disabilities. The regulation improves the Federal Government's ability to hire persons with these disabilities. It is designed to remove barriers and increase employment opportunities for persons with disabilities.
Access the U.R.L. to read the full announcement.
Individual Development Accounts (I.D.As) are a policy approach intended to help low-income and low-wealth families build assets and enter the financial mainstream. I.D.A. programs encourage savings among low-income families and individuals by providing financial education and offering matched contributions to their own deposits. Most frequently, I.D.A. programs provide matched savings for a set of specified purposes: purchasing a first home; paying for post-secondary education or job training, or starting a small business. Over 40 states have initiated some type of I.D.A. policy and 22 state-supported I.D.A. programs have been established. In several additional states, I.D.A. programs are in the planning stages.
This policy brief explores the potential for coordination of Individual Development Accounts and the Workforce Investment Act (W.I.A.) in order to increase access to post-secondary education, job training, and related services for low income individuals. The brief provides an overview of I.D.As and W.I.A., explores areas for potential collaboration, and offers recommendations for federal and state policy.
Workforce Innovations 2006 "Regional Strategies ... Global Results: Talent Driving Prosperity," which took place last month in Anaheim, CA, explored the important role of workforce professionals in meeting the national challenge of global competition. Materials from many sessions, including descriptions and handouts are now available for download on the Workforce Innovations web site. Also, new this year, you can experience an overview of Plenaries, Town Halls and selected sessions from all three conference days in the Workforce Innovations 2006 e-Journal! Experience an overview of Plenaries, Town Halls and selective sessions from all three conference days in the Workforce Innovations 2006 e-Journal!
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (V.A.) recently unveiled VetsSuccess.gov, an online employment resource that enables users to explore and apply the benefits offered by the Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (V.R. & E.) service. The V.R.& E. service is a valuable initiative that provides a range of supports to veterans with service-connected disabilities.
VetsSuccess.gov offers users an orientation to V.R.& E. programs, expert vocational advice, rich labor market resources and career development tools. The Web site also expands career networking relationships through a working partnership module that integrates the support of employers, V.A. staff, educators, and faith and community-based resources for veterans seeking comprehensive online career solutions.
[The S.H.R.M. website is password protected, so the article is included below in its entirety.]
Individuals with significant disabilities have dropped to less than 1 percent of the permanent federal workforce, continuing a long-term decline, according to data released recently by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (E.E.O.C.) during a public meeting on the topic. Commission Chair Cari M. Dominguez called for aggressive steps to stem the decline: "By highlighting the issue, we hope to accelerate efforts toward finding solutions that will open the doors to federal employment for more people with disabilities."
Dominguez tasked Commissioner Christine M. Griffin, a legal expert and longtime advocate for disability issues, with developing a strategy to create greater opportunity in federal agencies for individuals with targeted disabilities. “I assumed, like a lot of people have, that the federal government was probably doing a pretty good job, as compared to the private sector,” said Griffin as she opened the June 28, 2006, meeting on employment of individuals “I learned that wasn’t true.” People with targeted disabilities including deafness, blindness, missing extremities, partial or complete paralysis, seizure disorders, distortion of limbs or spine, mental illness and severe intellectual impairments, made up .96 percent of the federal work force last year, according to E.E.O.C. data for F.Y. 2005. The percentage of permanent federal workers with targeted disabilities has been consistently below 1.3 percent.
Under Executive Order 13164, agencies are required to establish effective written procedures for processing reasonable accommodation requests, which are submitted to the E.E.O.C. for review. Additionally, under the E.E.O.C's Management Directive 715, agencies annually report their efforts to implement a Model E.E.O. Program; to identify and eliminate barriers to equal opportunity in the workplace; and to implement special program plans for the recruitment, hiring and advancement of individuals with targeted disabilities. “Non-discrimination is not enough,” said Carlton Hadden, director of the E.E.O.C. Office of Federal Operations, in a statement presented at the meeting. “The Rehabilitation Act requires that federal agencies take proactive steps to ensure equal employment opportunity for individuals with disabilities.”
“Since 1979, the E.E.O.C. has paid particular attention to the progress of individuals with targeted disabilities because these individuals tend to have more severe disabilities that are immediately apparent to potential employers and which the employers are likely to believe will require accommodation,” Hadden said. “Accordingly, individuals with targeted disabilities serve as the harbingers for the success or failure of the federal government’s efforts with respect to all individuals with disabilities.” “The most significant barrier is not accommodations or access -- it is an attitudinal barrier,” said Joyce Bender of Bender Consulting Services Inc., who described herself as a woman with epilepsy and a hearing loss. “Hiring managers today are seeing Americans with disabilities through glasses tainted with misconceptions. We cannot change this problem in America, in the private sector, if the federal government does not first become the example.”
Hadden agrees, saying that agencies should “see people with disabilities for who they really are: individuals with strengths and weaknesses -- just like all of us -- who represent an untapped pool of talent, who wish to be employed and to make a contribution, and who are capable of successfully competing in the labor market.” The picture is not entirely bleak, however. For example, the Social Security Administration (S.S.A.) attributes the effectiveness of its program in part to the expertise of its H.R. staff. “S.S.A. has a comprehensive recruitment plan administered by a national recruitment coordinator,” said Mark A. Anderson, S.S.A. associate commissioner for civil rights and equal opportunity. "We filled the position with a career human resources professional ... lending consistency and professionalism to the recruitment process." Anderson said there are several key elements to employing and retaining individuals with disabilities including:
During the meeting, E.E.O.C. Commissioner Griffin announced a new initiative, Leadership for the Employment of Americans with Disabilities (LEAD). "To improve the overall employment rate for people with targeted disabilities, we have to begin with the federal government. Congress directed the federal government to set the example for all other employers. Our example needs improvement. I fully expect the LEAD initiative to significantly contribute to this improvement," Griffin said. E.E.O.C. is also hoping to advance employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities through the President's New Freedom Initiative (http://www.hhs.gov/newfreedom/) and the agency's Freedom to Compete Initiative (http://www.eeoc.gov/initiatives/compete/index.html) – a national outreach, education and coalition-building campaign launched in 2002 to provide free and unfettered access to employment opportunities for all individuals.
Rebecca R. Hastings, S.P.H.R., is on-line writer / editor for S.H.R.M..
The Benefits Assistance Resource Center (BARC) of Virginia Commonwealth University is one of 3 regional training and technical assistance centers funded by the Social Security Administration (S.S.A.) under the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999. The purpose of the V.C.U. BARC is to provide training and technical support to Benefits Planning, Assistance and Outreach (B.P.A.O.) projects and Protection and Advocacy for Beneficiaries of Social Security (P.A.B.S.S.) projects on the operations of the Social Security disability benefit programs (S.S.I. and S.S.D.I.) and all associated work incentives. The following represents a list of recently updated briefing papers of subjects of interest found on their website (http://www.vcu-barc.org/news.html).
It is not uncommon for Benefits Specialists to encounter individuals who receive some form of income, but who are unclear about whether or not this income counts as “wages” for Social Security purposes. Furthermore, in some instances, it is difficult to determine if the income a person gets is from wage employment (i.e.: an employer-employee relationship exists) or if the person is actually self-employed. This is further complicated by the fact that some businesses pay workers as if they were self-employed (i.e.: independent contractors), when, based on U.S. Department of Labor wage and hour laws, they actually meet the definition of employees. This document was written to provide a general understanding of how wage employment and self-employment differ, and how S.S.A. decides which situation applies to a beneficiary with earned income.
Supplemental Security Income or S.S.I. is an economic “needs-based” program intended to supplement any income an individual may already have to meet minimum needs for food and shelter. After initial eligibility for S.S.I. is established, S.S.A. continues to assess the countable income of eligible individuals, couples, and deemors on a monthly basis. Countable income is that part of total income received after all applicable work incentives or other exclusions or deductions are applied. This paper will explain how S.S.A. treats income for the S.S.I. program. The rules apply to both the Federal Benefit as well as Federally Administered State Supplementary payments, in the States where such payments exist.
For the purposes of this paper, a “special Medicaid beneficiary” is someone who lost S.S.I. payments due to receipt of or increases in Title II benefits (S.S.D.I., C.D.B., D.W.B.), but who is allowed to retain Medicaid coverage. This paper will not cover the extended Medicaid provisions for persons who lose S.S.I. payments due to earned income, otherwise known as the 1619(b) provisions. For more information about 1619(B) refer to the V.C.U. BARC briefing paper entitled
The successful transition of students with disabilities from school to work and full community participation is a major policy initiative within several federal agencies including the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Labor. In recent years, school to work transition has also become a growing emphasis for the Social Security Administration (S.S.A.). Since many students with disabilities are receiving Social Security disability benefits such as S.S.I. or Title II Childhood Disability Benefits (C.D.B.), and so few become employed at substantial levels after completing school, it makes sense for the S.S.A. to be an active partner in these initiatives.
S.S.I. is a means-tested program intended for people with disabilities who have little income and few resources. Because of this, income and resources affect whether individuals are eligible, and how much in S.S.I. payment they are due. Income is what people receive in a month and resources are cash and items a person owns that can be converted to cash.
Section 1619(b) of the Social Security Act provides one of the most powerful work incentives currently available for S.S.I. recipients. 1619(b) offers continued Medicaid to those eligible working individuals whose earned income is too high to qualify for S.S.I. cash payments, but not high enough to offset the loss of Medicaid. This document will assist Benefit Specialists to understand the eligibility and process of utilizing Section 1619(b).
Available to S.S.D.I. beneficiaries and S.S.I. recipients, Expedited Re-Instatement (E.X.R.) is an easy way to return more easily to Social Security disability benefits when work is significantly reduced or stopped because of an individual‘s original disabling condition. E.X.R. permits up to 6-months of provisional benefits while the request is processed. This document offers insight into the eligibility and program process.
An S.S.D.I. work incentive, where subsidy and special conditions takes into consideration the need for extra assistance, a reduced production rate, frequent breaks, or fewer job duties than co-workers without disabilities in a similar job. S.S.A. uses a subsidy and/or special condition in assessing earnings that can be attributed directly to the individual and the earnings potential if those supports were not in place. S.S.A. adjusts the value of the income by deducting the cost attributed to the extra help or special condition that each person experiences when determining the S.G.A..
A PASS is an S.S.I. work incentive that allows a person with a disability to set aside income and/or resources for a specified period of time to achieve a work goal. Any person on S.S.I. (with other income / resources) or S.S.D.I. and could qualify for S.S.I. can have a PASS plan. This document will offer guidance on this ‘dream-making’ work incentive.