Montana Job Training Partnership, Inc.

Background

The Montana Job Training Partnership (MJTP) is a private non-profit agency that serves both of the state’s workforce investment areas: the 10 counties in the Concentrated Employment Program Workforce Investment Area, and the Balance of State Workforce Investment Area made up of the remaining 46 counties in the state.

The MJTP Board of Directors consists of council members from the two workforce investment area boards. The MJTP philosophy focuses on the diverse abilities of individuals, not their disabilities. This philosophy is translated into action through a comprehensive service strategy that includes:

• A Benefits Analysis certification program;
• Professional development and technical assistance for One-stop staff on the panoply of employment and training programs available to individuals with disabilities;
• A marketing plan that promotes workforce investment programs to other state and local entities;
• An Assessment Task Force; and
• A statewide conference devoted to disability issues.

Goals and Methods

Provide Technical Assistance and Training.

The MJTP will train workforce investment system personnel through:

• A State-wide conference at which technical experts from around the nation will share their expertise on disability-related issues such as health care, transportation, technology, housing, employment and training, school-to-work and work incentives;
• Regional training sessions that include staff from Independent Living Centers, Native American Rehabilitation programs, Mental Health agencies, Mental Retardation/Developmental Disability agencies and community rehabilitation programs;
• Training and technical assistance conducted by the regional Disability and Business Technical Assistance Center; and
• The Benefits Analysis Certification Program (see Innovation, below).

Increase the Use and Quality of Assistive Technology.

To ensure that individuals with disabilities have access to assistive technology that enables them to perform well on the job, the MJTP will:

• Conduct assistive technology assessments. The Rural Institute, which operates the statewide Assistive Technology Projects, will conduct these assessments;
• Ensure that One-Stop center staff have access to the Rural Institute’s Occupational Therapist, who conducts field work and has a library of assistive devices that are made available to individuals with disabilities on a trial basis; and
• Purchase assistive technology, including Superprint TTY, Smartcat Touchpad, Jaws for Windows, Magic for Windows, closed-captioned television and adjustable work tables.

Build Capacity

The MJTP will increase capacity through a series of workshops for employers on issues such as:

• Federal Work Opportunity Tax Credit;
• Small Business Tax Credit for Disabled Access; and
• The Architectural/Transportation Tax Deduction.

The workshops will emphasize the tax benefits available to employers under these and other federal programs.

Partners

University of Montana’s Rural Institute on Disabilities. The Rural Institute is dedicated to helping people with developmental disabilities obtain greater independence and productivity, and enter fully into the life of the community. The Institute runs projects related to early intervention, employment, inclusion, transition, health care, rural rehabilitation, assistive technology, aging and independent living. The Institute also conducts research on disability issues, and provides training for community members, families, individuals with disabilities, employers and professionals.

Local One-stop centers. Local One-stop centers provide job development, job carving, job coaching, supported employment and personal assistance services to job-seekers and employers. The centers have executed Memoranda of Understanding with a wide variety of partners, including:

• Montana Department of Labor and Industry;
• Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction;
• Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education;
• Montana Green Thumb;
• Job Corps; and,
• District IX Human Resource Development Council.

A liaison has been made available to local workforce areas to create and expand linkages between WIA service providers and disability organizations.

Innovation

The MJTP is pioneering two significant innovations in its services to people with disabilities. The first is the Benefits Analysis Certification Program for One-stop staff. The second is an Assessment Task Force, which will identify disability assessment requirements and assistive technology funding sources.

Benefits Analysis Certification Program

The Benefits Analysis Certification Program trains One-stop and workforce investment system staff to identify all federal benefits for which an individual with a disability might qualify. The program gives staff an understanding of various Social Security work incentives, such as Ticket to Work, Plans for Achieving Self-Support (PASS) and Impairment Related Work Expenses (IRWE). The program also describes how these incentives work with other initiatives, including vocational rehabilitation, Wagner Peyser and TANF. The training includes an overview of the types of significant disabilities counselors may encounter, and strategies for helping people with disabilities find and retain employment.

Each participant receives project manuals that are used in hands-on exercises during the training, and then serve as reference guides in the field. Participants are tested at different points during the training, and must receive a passing grade on all assignments. To obtain certification as a qualified disabilities benefits counselor, participants must also attend one refresher course.

In the first year, 120 people participated in the program, including consumers, staff members from the Job Service, VR developmental disability and mental health staff, WIA partner staff, members of labor organizations and One-stop benefits counselors.

Assessment Task Force

The Assessment Task Force will focus on three areas:

• Testing assessment and diagnostic tools in the One-Stop centers, and developing guidelines for their use;
• Developing guidelines for providing services to individuals with learning or other disabilities; and
• Assessing training needs for front-line staff in the workforce investment system on identifying client disabilities that may not be obvious.

In addition, the task force is looking at how grant money might be used to provide assistive technology funds in each of the One-Stop centers.

Members of the task force include:

• Representatives from the Rural Institute and the One-Stop Center;
• Members with disabilities, including learning disabilities, physical disabilities and mental disabilities;
• Representatives from various agencies, such as the Mental Health Agency, the Homeless program, Developmental Disabilities, and Vocational Rehabilitation; and
• The parent of a child with multiple disabilities.