Iowa Workforce Development

Background

The Iowa Department of Workforce Development, in partnership with eleven state agencies and organizations, is working to develop, expand and enhance its One-Stop Workforce Development Center system so it can better meet the needs of persons with disabilities.

The Department intends that One-Stop centers will become the employment and training service provider of choice for persons with disabilities. It will do this by convening State Resource Teams-made up of staff from the partner organizations with expertise in barriers for persons with disabilities-to assist each of the state's 16 Regional Workforce Investment Boards (RWIB). The Resource Teams will help the RWIBs identify barriers to employment for persons with disabilities, come up with solutions to those barriers, and implement the solution that fits best. The Resource Teams also will work with the RWIBs on making benefits planning available through the One-Stop centers.

Through this project, Iowa's One-Stop delivery system will improve its ability to:

• Assist individuals with disabilities in obtaining and retaining competitive, unsubsidized employment;
• Assist businesses in locating and connecting with potential workers, including persons with disabilities;
• Include SSDI and SSI beneficiaries in the system; and
• Implement Ticket to Work initiatives successfully.

Goals and Methods

The goal of this project is to improve the effectiveness of the One-Stop Center system on a statewide basis by identifying and eliminating barriers to services for people with disabilities at the grassroots level. We will do this by:

Improving Program Accessibility for Individuals with Disabilities

Rework One-Stop Materials so they are Service-Oriented Instead of Program-Oriented. One-Stop center service providers developed new brochures that describe the specific services available in each workforce region. The brochures also direct clients to the appropriate agency for each service described.

Use Focus Groups to Improve Service and Outreach. The state partners analyzed information generated from local focus groups to target outreach services to specific communities in each workforce region. Three of the RWIBs pooled resources to produce a video on available services that also helps with outreach efforts. Other workforce regions are using this video as well.

Develop a Risk Model of Employment. The partners will develop a model that identifies the factors businesses consider when deciding how and why to hire people, and the level of supervision they are given. One-Stops will use this information to improve their consulting services to businesses regarding hiring people with disabilities.

Identify TANF Recipients with Disabilities. The partners will create a system for identifying people with disabilities who are receiving funds under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. With timely identification, TANF recipients with disabilities can be referred to the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services (VR) more quickly.

Develop Benefits Planning Services. The VR has trained a number of individuals to act as benefits planning counselors for VR clients throughout the state. There is a similar benefits planning project for individuals outside of the VR system, but it has not yet been implemented statewide. In addition, a Statewide Partnership Initiative (SPI) project has piloted two successful projects that placed trained benefits planners in regional One-Stop centers. These staff became "disability experts" in the two workforce regions, and helped with a seamless delivery of services to customers with disabilities.

Removing Physical Barriers to One-Stop Access

Conduct Accessibility Review and Remove Barriers. Each participating region conducted an accessibility review (some with the help of the State Resource Team) and developed a transition plan to remove barriers. Physical barriers within the One-Stop Centers have been removed.

Review Local Needs for Adaptive Technology. A team comprised of experts in adaptive technology (with representatives from the Iowa Department of the Blind, Deaf Services of Iowa, the Iowa Commission on Persons with Disabilities, the Iowa Program for Assistive Technology and the Drake Rehabilitation Institute) will develop a process for analyzing assistive technology needs in the workforce regions, and will make recommendations on equipment purchase and staff training.

Developing Effective Staff Resources.

Ensure that front-line staff can communicate effectively with jobseekers with disabilities. Front-line staff has been given initial training in communicating effectively with people with disabilities. The project is also developing a web-based tool that will take staff through the steps for assisting customers with disabilities.

Develop Tailored Regional Training. Each workforce region is developing its own training plan, based on feedback from staff surveys and focus groups.

Encourage Cooperation. Individuals providing services throughout the system are working together more effectively since the beginning of the project, leading to more seamless service delivery for customers.

Sharing Information

Training Information. The State Resource Team shares information about training in the regions through Statewide ICN meetings and conferences. This helps the workforce regions involved in the project see what other regions are doing, and also spurs interest from regions not currently involved in the project.

Dissemination Systems. The project is using the Internet, interactive audio-video conferencing, collaborative training opportunities, and marketing planning to help regions share information. In particular, the project is using the Internet to disseminate summaries that describe the barriers identified in each region, and how those barriers were overcome. The summaries will help other workforce investment regions and service providers identify the relevant issues, and possible solutions to problems.

Statewide Presentation. Stensrud culled information from his work with RWID focus groups and discussed his findings at a state-level presentation.

Statewide Conference. The state partners held a conference titled "Including Iowans with Disabilities in our Workforce: ADA's 12 Anniversary," in July 2002. Workforce partner staff statewide participated in the sessions.

Partners

A number of state agencies and private groups have come together under a Memorandum of Understanding to further the goals of this project.

Iowa Workforce Development. Works to improve the income security, productivity and safety of all Iowans. Iowa Workforce Development is a partner in each region's One-Stop Center system, and is required by state law to have an access point in each of Iowa's 99 counties.

Iowa Department of Human Services. Helps and empowers individuals and families to become increasingly self-sufficient and productive.

Iowa Department of Human Rights (Division of Persons with Disabilities). Promotes the employment of persons with disabilities in the state of Iowa. It does so by providing information and referral services, as well as technical assistance, for physical and program access and employment issues in all 99 Iowa counties.

The Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities. Addresses the needs of Iowans with developmental disabilities by supporting the development of services and assistance that will help them exercise choice and control over their lives.

Iowa Centers for Independent Living (CIL). Provides training, advocacy, case management and policy analysis for persons with disabilities at seven independent centers. The services vary according to regional needs. Two of the seven centers are regional One-Stop Center partners.

Iowa Creative Employment Options (Iowa CEO). Promotes enhanced workforce services for people with disabilities through grants and partnerships in Iowa. Affiliated with the University of Iowa's Hospital School, Iowa CEO manages an existing grant with the Social Security Administration to pilot Career Counseling services in Iowa Workforce Centers.

ADA Project/Disability and Business Technical Assistance Center (DBTAC). Helps develop disability policy in Iowa as the state's arm of the Regional DBTAC in Kansas City.

Iowa Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services. Helps individuals with disabilities meet their employment, economic and social goals, and assists them in living as independently as possible.

Iowa Department for the Blind. Represents the state agency that provides information and services to Iowans who are blind.

Iowa Association of Community Providers. Serves Iowans with disabilities in both vocational and residential programs by promoting and supporting high-quality services for people with disabilities in the state. The Association is made up of a group of private non-profit agencies.

Drake University Rehabilitation Institute. Provides post-graduate education in the field of Rehabilitation in cooperation with the Rehabilitation Services Administration, and conducts research on rehabilitation. Drake University also serves as the evaluator for the Iowa Paths project and provides similar services for the WIG project.

Innovation

Working at the Local Level. This project was focused on developing local control and decision-making by using data to identify needs from the ground up and targeting service strategies to meet those needs. The role of the State Resource Team was to assist the regions in developing local strategies and services and to disseminate information among the project regions so each could benefit from the other's experience. The project will result in RWIBs that are more informed about disability issues, partner agencies that are better able to collaborate, service systems that have fewer barriers and better services, and systematic methods by which agencies can collect local data and use it in strategic planning. At the state level, resource teams will continue to assist regions while being less prescriptive.

Developing a State Resource Team. The State Resource Team brought together representatives from state agencies who were committed to working together within the Workforce Development System and making a difference. Local participants stated that this highly visible staff cooperation helped set a positive example and a clear vision for the project.

Sharing Information Openly. This project has been instrumental in helping regions openly share information on barriers to systems change within the workforce development system and determine the steps needed to make improvements and move forward. Regional partners have become more open with the state about the barriers they face and more willing to ask for state assistance.