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
1 December 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 announcement is located under the section heading "Resources of Interest."
]
According to the Disability Program Navigator (D.P.N.) position description, a Navigator will “Develop partnerships to achieve integrated services, systemic change, and expand the capacity to serve customers with disabilities.” A Navigator will also “Serve as a resource to the workforce development community to ensure the availability of comprehensive knowledge of Federal, State, local and private programs that impact the ability of persons with disabilities to enter and remain in the workforce.”
Navigators, are you working with your D.O.L. systems partners? Do you know what role they play within your state, community and/or One-Stop Career Center? Are you looking to enhance the partnerships and resources to provide more employment opportunities for job seekers with disabilities. The 2006 Disability Program Navigator Leadership audio conference series covered a range of D.O.L. systems partners that Disability Program Navigators can connect with to facilitate access to programs and services for persons with disabilities in the One-Stop system. Access the links listed below to learn more about the D.O.L. partner and how you as a Navigator can coordinate and collaborate to increase employment options for individuals with disabilities in your area.
DATES: Rules are effective December 18, 2006.
SUMMARY: S.S.A. is publishing these final rules to amend its regulations to carry out section 221(m) of the Social Security Act (the Act). Section 221(m) affects S.S.A. rules for when it will conduct a continuing disability review if an individual works and receive benefits under title II of the Act based on disability. (S.S.A. interprets this section to include an individual if they receive both title II disability benefits and title XVI (Supplemental Security Income (S.S.I.)) payments based on disability.) It also affects S.S.A.’s rules on how it evaluates work activity when it decides if an individual has engaged in substantial gainful activity for purposes of determining whether a disability has ended. In addition, section 221(m) of the Act affects certain other standards S.S.A. uses when it determines whether a disability continues or ends.
S.S.A. is also amending its regulations concerning how it determines whether a disability continues or ends. These revisions will codify its existing operating instructions for how it considers certain work at the last two steps of its continuing disability review process. S.S.A. is also revising its disability regulations to incorporate some rules which are contained in another part of its regulations and which apply if an individual is using a ticket under the Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency program (the Ticket to Work program). In addition, S.S.A. is amending its regulations to eliminate the secondary substantial gainful activity amount that it currently uses to evaluate work an individual did as an employee before January 2001.
Access the U.R.L. to read the full announcement including the purpose of the final rules.
As part of ongoing technical assistance activities, the U.S. Department of Labor (D.O.L.) and the Social Security Administration (S.S.A.), in cooperation with the Law, Health Policy, and Disability Center (L.H.P.D.C.) of the University of Iowa’s College of Law, hosted a series of leadership audio conferences in 2006 that focused on learning more about and building partnerships with other Department of Labor programs.
According to the D.P.N. position description, a Navigator will “Develop partnerships to achieve integrated services, systemic change, and expand the capacity to serve customers with disabilities.” A Navigator will also “Serve as a resource to the workforce development community to ensure the availability of comprehensive knowledge of Federal, State, local and private programs that impact the ability of persons with disabilities to enter and remain in the workforce.” The seven month calendar of events covered a range of D.O.L. systems partners that Disability Program Navigators can connect with to facilitate access to programs and services for persons with disabilities in the One-Stop system.
The series began in the month of May with Collaboration and Coordination with Programs that Serve the Homeless and ended in the month of November with Coordinating and Collaborating with the Senior Community Service Employment Program. The 2006 leadership series also featured other D.O.L. programs including Job Corps (June), Apprenticeship (July), Faith Based and Community Initiatives (August), the Business Relations Group (September) and Veterans Employment and Training Service (VETS) Employment Services for Veterans with Disabilities (October).
The 2006 D.P.N. leadership series included guest speakers from the respective D.O.L. programs, along with one or two Navigators that have experienced some success coordinating and collaborating with the D.O.L. partner and connecting them to the One-Stop system. Each audio conference in this series includes an overview of the program and identifies how Disability Program Navigators can connect with state and local resources.
Access the U.R.L. to view the Power Point presentations, along with supporting materials from each audio conference in this series by accessing the links found on the right hand side under “Schedule.”
The goal of any transportation system is to provide the mobility options that meet the travel needs of all community members. Within every community there are residents whose physical limitations may prevent full access to all transportation services. In many cases, these individuals are transit dependent. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 mandates that persons with disabilities cannot be denied full access to public facilities, employment or transportation. The law requires fixed-route services to be accessible, and complementary door-to-door service to be available for individuals whose disabilities preclude the use of fixed-route service.
The Community Transportation Association (C.T.A.A.) provides resources to help transit systems, public officials, advocates and community members explore community needs, vehicle equipment, paratransit service, policies, training and compliance.
This section of the C.T.A.A. website for passengers with disabilities Resources for Meeting the Mobility Needs of People with Disabilities includes resources and guides in development that are particularly aimed at assisting the Disability Program Navigators in identifying their customers' mobility needs and working with partners, like transit, in the community.
On September 6, 2006, the National Organization on Disability (N.O.D.) announced a partnership with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, as part of its participation in National Preparedness Month. "Preparedness is important for all Americans. People with disabilities and senior citizens must be included in these efforts if we are truly going to be prepared and better able to handle catastrophic disasters," said Governor Tom Ridge, N.O.D. Chairman of the Board and the first Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
In conjunction with the Ready.gov campaign and A.A.R.P., N.O.D. assisted in the development of two new brochures highlighting the key preparedness steps senior citizens, Americans with disabilities and other special needs, and their families and caretakers should take before emergencies occur.
The "Preparing Makes Sense" brochures for people with disabilities and special needs, and for older Americans, are available in P.D.F. and text formats.
The Employment and Disability Institute (E.D.I.) conducts research and provides continuing education and technical assistance on many aspects of disability in the workplace. Since 1968, researchers and practitioners at the Cornell I.L.R. School with expertise in disability have helped companies, labor organizations, government agencies, schools, and communities throughout the United States and abroad to accommodate and integrate individuals with disabilities. The E.D.I. team consults with policy makers, disability advocates, and rehabilitation program professionals.
E.D.I. contributes to developing inclusive workplace systems and communities in a variety of ways. The E.D.I. team engages in research and produces scholarly articles, develops training materials, conducts training sessions domestically and internationally, and offers technical assistance on a wide array of disability-related matters. E.D.I. expertise embraces legal mandates and operational issues, an all-encompassing perspective that enables us to help transform public policy into practice.
Statehealthfacts.org is a project of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and is designed to provide free, up-to-date, and easy-to-use health data on all 50 states. Statehealthfacts.org provides data on more than 500 health topics and is linked to both the Kaiser Family Foundation website (www.kff.org) and KaiserNetwork.org (www.kaisernetwork.org).
The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation is a non-profit, private operating foundation focusing on the major health care issues facing the nation. The Foundation is an independent voice and source of facts and analysis for policymakers, the media, the health care community, and the general public. The Foundation is not associated with Kaiser Permanente or Kaiser Industries.
[The following is excerpted from the Introduction.]
A growing focus on youth development nationally is drawing attention to the need for programs that contribute to positive youth outcomes and help youth successfully make the transition to adulthood. Youth workforce development programs are a critical part of the youth services mix, helping to prepare youth for postsecondary education and a job market that increasingly requires and rewards skills and education. These programs are also valuable for school-age youth and those at risk of dropping out. Workforce development programs can help youth explore career options, build connections to the world of work, and gain new technical and vocational skills during school hours or during out-of-school time – creating opportunities to engage youth in constructive activities that promote learning and skill development.
Workforce development services are especially important for vulnerable and disconnected youth. Nearly 5 million youth between the ages of 16 and 24 — around 15 percent of this age group — are unemployed and out of school. For some this disconnectedness is a transitional state, but for many it portends serious barriers to success in education and the workplace. Moreover, during the next decade, the youth population between the ages of 18 and 24 is expected to grow by 22 percent. 1 Most of this growth will occur among minority youth and young immigrants, groups more likely than the general youth population to struggle with education and employment.
Although these trends fuel the need for youth workforce development services, funding for youth employment and training has been scaled back during the past few decades. In addition, funding for workforce development services is spread among multiple programs and agencies. This results in a fragmented funding environment. To address this issue, the youth provisions of the Workforce Investment Act (W.I.A.) aimed to move this patchwork system toward a more comprehensive approach for serving youth. The legislation establishes a framework for providing youth workforce development services at the local level. Yet funding for the W.I.A. Youth Program is quite limited, and while W.I.A. aims to improve the coordination of resources across youth-serving programs, it doesn’t mandate resource sharing.
To overcome these financing challenges and sustain successful youth programs, leaders must identify and access funding from an array of public and private sources. This brief discusses strategies for finding resources to support youth workforce development services and highlights examples of innovative approaches. It seeks to provide program and community leaders, as well as policymakers, with ideas for supporting critical youth workforce development services.