Stepping Outside the Box

1
Stepping Outside the Box

• Employment One Stop Centers
• Pat Steele and James Schmeling
• University of Iowa
• Law, Health Policy and Disability Center
• http//www.its.uiowa.edu/law

2
Presentation Topics

• Characteristics of a Great One-Stop
• The One-Stop Landscape
• One-Stop Resources

3
Major focus areas of the Center

• Employment of people with disabilities
• Technology and accessibility
• Research
• Education
• Technical Assistance and Outreach

4
Design and Purpose

• Employers to find qualified employees
• Faster
• Efficiently
• Manner employees expect
• Job Seekers to find employment
• Easy access to services
• Flexibility of services
• Employment that meets individuals desires and
  goals
• Wages and benefits at a level to maintain the
  family
• Job retention, advancement, and career
  development, including education and training

5
2. Accessibility

• Transportation
• Architectural
• Environment
• Employment
• Attitudinal
• Financial
• Communication

6
3. Service Coordination

• Core, Intensive and Training
• Common Intake Process
• Customer Flow
• Orientation Program for Job Seekers
• Center and its services
• Rights and Responsibilities
• Performance outcomes of services
• Qualifications of Staff Members
• Conflict Resolution

7
4. Input from Customers

• Definition of Customers
• Methods for Obtaining Input
• Collection, Analysis and Dissemination of Input
• Utilization of Input

8
5. Strategic Plan

• Based on Customer Input
• Analysis of Patterns, Trends, and Developments
• Disseminated to all Partners
• Regularly Reviewed and Revised

9
6. Public Relations

• Identification of targeted audiences
• Identification of communication needs
• Relevant information to share
• Dissemination of information to the media

10
7.Design for Serving Employers

• Local labor market information
• Strategies for marketing to employers
• Employer input
• Resource to employers
• Referrals of qualified job applicants

11
Outcomes Information

• Access to Services
• Effectiveness
• Efficiency
• Satisfaction of Services
• Patterns of Service Use and Complaints

12
9. Staff Training

• Assessment
• Confidentiality
• Services for Populations with Added Needs
• Current Employment-Related Laws and Regulations
• Health and Safety

13
10. Health and Safety

• Designated Safety Authority
• Orientation and Training of Staff
• Internal and External Inspections
• Emergency Plans in Place

14
Work Incentives Grants(WIG)

• Funded by the Dept. of Labor/ETA
• Improve One-Stop Services for People with
  Disabilities
• Twenty three projects funded across U.S.
• Law, Health Policy, Disability Center provides
  technical assistance to grantees, regional
  offices, and DOL

15
WIG reference information

• Information on the awarded grants is at
  http//wdsc.doleta.gov/sga/awards/00-107award.asp
• Background on the grants is at http//wdsc.doleta.
  gov/sga/sga/00-107sga.htm

16
Work Incentive Grants Evaluations

• Thirteen of the twenty-three completed evaluation
  to date
• Self-Reported
• Evaluated in the following areas
• Accessibility
• Service Coordination
• Outreach
• Staff Training
• Accomplishments to Date
• Future Goals

17
Accessibility Evaluation Results

• Seven of the thirteen reported significant
  outcomes related to improved physical or
  architectural access
• Two reported significant activity and outcomes
  related to electronic or communication access
• Two stated that they have developed an
  accessibility plan and have removed many
  architectural, communication and program barriers
• Three reported that they have achieved full
  accessibility in one or more areas.

18
Service Coordination

• Seven stated progress has been made on service
  coordination
• Twelve reported co-location of VR in some or all
  local One-Stops
• Two stated that significant changes on individual
  assessment policies and procedures had been
  accomplished
• Four reported progress related to service
  coordination of VR and the One-Stops.
• Five reported procedures are in place to
  coordinate with non-mandated partners.

19
Outreach Activities

• Nine of the thirteen grantees presented to their
  state WIB
• Eight stated that they have met with
  representatives of persons with disabilities on
  the state WIB
• Three of thirteen reported progress on outcomes
  related to training activities
• Three had done some outreach to the disability
  community.
• None reported any outreach activities to employers

20
Staff Training

• Eleven reported training activities with staff on
  being able to identify and assist persons with
  disabilities to access One-Stops.
• None reported training on employment-related laws
  and policies

21
Accomplishments to Date

• Twelve of the thirteen reported at least one
  accomplishment
• Benefits Planning
• Assistive Technology
• Training of Staff
• Accessibility
• Coordination with Disability Community
• Advocacy activities

22
Future Goals

• Eleven of of the thirteen identified one or more
  objectives.
• Economic development activities
• Reference manual to assist staff in serving
  people with disabilities
• Increased marketing efforts
• Universal access
• Improved coordination with non-mandated partners
• Staff training

23
Resources

• Access for All A Resource Manual for Meeting the
  Needs of One-Stop Customers with Disabilities
• http//www.childrenshospital.org/ici/onestop/onest
  opmanual.html
• Specific information for One-Stops to meet the
  needs of customers with disabilities
• Covers relationships with customers and with
  other agencies
• Covers legal requirements
• Discusses accommodations, disability, placement,
  benefits, and transportation

24
Resources

• GAO Report
• WORKFORCE INVESTMENT ACT Improvements Needed
  in Performance Measures to Provide a More
  Accurate Picture of WIA's Effectiveness
• http//www.gao.gov/new.items/d02275.pdf
• Discusses performance measures including One-Stop
  performance

25
Resources

• Hard Work on Soft Skills Creating a Culture of
  Work in Workforce Development
• http//www.ppv.org/content/reports/softskills.html
  
• http//www.ppv.org/pdffiles/softskills.pdf
• Discusses soft skills in workforce development

26
Resources

• The One-Stop Career Center System, One-Stop
  Disability Team
• http//wdsc.doleta.gov/disability
  /htmldocs/sum_osdi.html
• Department of Labors vision for workforce
  development
• Provides resources to realize that vision
• Illustrates examples of successes

27
Resources

• WIG Process Evaluation Preliminary Results,
  Report 1
• http//www.its.uiowa.edu/law
• Survey of grantees, Pat Steele discussed

28
Resources

• Work Incentive Grant Analysis Information by
  Subject Matter
• http//www.its.uiowa.edu/law
• Survey of WIG, 19 respondents
• Organized by topic, presents information on
  activities in each grant location

29
Resources

• WIA and One-Stop Centers Opportunities and
  Issues for the Disability Comunity
• http//www.childrenshospital.org/ici
• A policy brief discussing the Workforce
  Investment Act and the role of One-Stop Centers
  under the act

30
Resources

• Second National WIB Survey Report
• http//www.heldrich.rutgers.edu/news2.cfm?id65
• A survey of Workforce Investment Boards that
  details activities, roles, and plans including
  One-Stop operations

31
Resources

• The Workforce Investment Act
• of 1998 A Primer for People with Disabilities
• Prepared by John J. Heldrich Center for
  Workforce Development, Rutgers, the State
  University of New Jersey
• Prepared for The Rehabilitation Research and
  Training Center on Employment Policy for Persons
  with Disabilities
• http//www.heldrich.rutgers.edu/publications/ACF10
  4.pdf
• Explains the One-Stop system, answers frequently
  asked questions, and discusses the roles people
  with disabilities can play in the system

32
Resources

• Employment Initiatives for Persons with
  Disabilities Annotated Publications
• http//www.its.uiowa.edu/law
• Prepared by the RRTC on Workforce Investment and
  Employment Policy for People with Disabilities
• Provides 24 pages of additional publications,
  annotated with the topics covered, and source to
  obtain each publication

33
Resources

• Employment Initiatives for Persons with
  Disabilities Websites of Interest
• http//www.its.uiowa.edu/law
• Prepared by the RRTC on Workforce Investment and
  Employment Policy for People with Disabilities
• Provides 37 pages of additional websites,
  annotated with the topics covered, contact
  information and links for each site

34
I.T. Works

• Project of the Law, Health Policy Disability
  Center funded by NIDRR.
• Research shows there is demand for, and shortage
  of, trained information technology (IT) workers.
• Research also shows the percentage of working
  individuals with disabilities is substantially
  lower than the percentage of working people
  without a disability.

35
I.T. Works

• Increasing the employment of individuals with
  disabilities in IT-related jobs would reduce the
  shortage for trained IT workers and increase the
  employment of individuals with disabilities.
• Project Goals
• Identify barriers to and facilitators of the
  hiring, retention, advancement, and wages of
  individuals with disabilities.
• Test strategies to improve hiring, retention,
  advancement and wages of individuals with
  disabilities.
• Provide training and disseminate research
  findings

36
I.T. Works

• Research
• We will develop a incorporating environmental
  factors, organizational factors, attitudinal
  factors, and individual characteristics to
  predict hiring rate, advancement rate, retention
  rate, and wages of individuals with disabilities.
  
• We will survey and interview
• human resource managers at IT and non-IT
  companies (defined by Information Technology
  Association of America),
• individuals with disabilities working at these
  companies,
• individuals with disabilities who graduated from
  Federally funded IT training and employment
  programs,
• directors of these IT training programs, and
• IT trainers

37
I.T. Works

• A five-year longitudinal approach will identify
  trends in these measures over time. Case studies,
  descriptive statistics, and multivariate
  regression analyses will be performed on the
  outcome measures to assess the influences of
  predictor measures, in combination and alone

38
I.T. Works

• Training and Dissemination
• Training activities will allow for the
  distribution of the research findings to the
  diverse target audiences
• employers
• IT trainers and professionals
• persons with disabilities in diverse employment
  settings
• other researchers
• relevant policymakers
• IT training certification bodies
• human resource managers
• community colleges and university continuing
  education programs

39
I.T. Works

• Centers for Independent Living and other
  disability-related organizations
• Training and dissemination strategies used to
  reach these audiences will include
• trade association and conference breakout
  sessions
• conference presentations
• publications
• webcasts
• audio conferences
• self-paced online distance learning courses
• online listservs