Study Report on Accessible Transportation Projects
The Center for Workforce and Disabilities, American Public Human Services Association, recently issued a Report, entitled "Getting to Work: A Case Study Report on Accessible Transportation Projects." A lack of reliable, accessible, and affordable transportation is consistently cited as a barrier to employment by people with disabilities. The four Medicaid Infrastructure Grant (MIG) transportation projects (Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and New Jersey) profiled in this Report illustrate a set of promising practices that address transportation needs. Although the MIG grants are not intended to provide or fund direct transportation services, state MIGs are well-positioned to use their resources to create linkages with other agencies and entities engaged in accessible transportation planning and service delivery. The four projects described in this Report suggest a set of strategies and activities that can help advance accessible transportation in states and in communities.
Posted On :
08/26/10 07:42PM
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20
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Vocational Rehabilitation and Corrections, 2010 Monograph
The 35th Institute of Rehabilitation Issues (IRI) issued a Monograph in 2010, entitled "Vocational Rehabilitation and Corrections: Achieving Successful Employment Outcomes for Persons with Disabilities and Criminal History." This Monograph is intended to raise awareness of the service issues and potential for sucsess, motivate collaborative program development,and provide successful models and strategies that states can use to develop partnerships and programs for ex-offenders with disabilities. and programs. This Report focuses on employment as being critical for the successful re-entry of ex-offenders with disabilities into their communities.
Posted On :
08/26/10 07:30PM
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30
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DOJ's Revised ADA Regulations Title II-Fact Sheet
The Department of Justice issued final regulations covering Titles II and III of the ADA to incorporate the changes made by the passage of the ADA Amendments Act (ADDAA) in 2008. Title II prohibits discrimination on the basis of disbaility in state and local government services. Title III prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability by public accommodations and in commercial facilities. The Department has prepared fact sheets identifying the major changes in the rules. Title II: Final Rule amending 28 CFR Part 35: Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in State and Local Government Services -- (HTML) Text of Revised Final Title II Regulation. Title III: Final Rule amending 28 CFR Part 36: Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability by Public Accommodations and in Commercial Facilities -- (HTML) Fact Sheets: Highlights of the Final Rule to Amend the Department of Justice’s Regulation Implementing Title II of the ADA Highlights of the Final Rule to Amend the Department of Justice’s Regulation Implementing Title III of the ADA http://www.ada.gov/regs2010/.
Posted On :
08/05/10 09:42PM
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68
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20
Tining into Local Labor Markets: Findings from the Sectoral Employment Impact Study
Public/Private Ventures has released, "Tuning in to Local Labor Markets: Findings from the Sectoral Employment Impact Study." Over the past couple of decades, sectoral employment has emerged as an innovative approach to workforce development for under-skilled and disadvantaged workers. This approach provides industry-specific training and connects jobseekers with employers in designated industry sectors. This Study evaluated whether sectoral programs could increase the earnings of disadvantaged workers. It focused on mature sectoral programs offered by three organizations: Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership,Jewish Vocational Service–Boston, and Per Scholas in NYC. The sectoral programs studied covered fields such as health care, manufacturing,and computer technology. The study found that participants in sector-focused programs: ? Earned significantly more; ? Were significantly more likely to work and worked more consistently; ? Were significantly more likely to work in jobs with higher wage; ? Were significantly more likely to work in jobs that offered benefits; ? For each subgroup analyzed(men,women, African Americans, Latinos, immigrants, people who were formerly incarcerated, welfare recipients,and young adults), had significant earnings gains. The study also identified common programmatic elements shared by the sectoral programs. These include elements such as: a strong link to local employers, resulting in an understanding of the target occupation and connections to jobs; job readiness, basic skills, and hands on technical skills training offered through the lens of a specific occupation/sector; recruitment, screening, and intake processes that result in a good match between the applicant, the program, and the target occupation; and individualized services to support training completion and success on the job.
Posted On :
08/05/10 09:07PM
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25
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GAO Forum, "Actions that Could Increase Work Participation for Adults with Disabilities," July 2010
GAO convened a Forum on March 16, 2010, to explore policy options and actions that could be implemented to help adults with disabilities participate in the workforce. Several challenges were identified, including the need for: 1) a more coordinated system of services and benefits; 2) additional information on benefits and work incentives; 3) additional employer incentives to hire persons with disabilities; 4) targeted information to employers to make the business case to hire persons with disabilities; and 5) a coordinated Federal policy to promote the employment of persons with disabilities. The Report and Highlights can be downloaded at: http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-812SP Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d10812sphigh.pdf
Posted On :
07/30/10 10:16AM
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118
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36
Low-Skilled Workers' Access to Quality Green Jobs
The Urban Institute issued an Information Brief, "Low-Skilled Workers' Access to Quality Green Jobs," Karin Martinson, Alexander Stanczyk, and Lauren Eyster, in May 2010. This Brief discusses strategies for improving access to green jobs among persons with low-skill levels, with a focus on jobs that can help improve workers' economic self-sufficiency and enable them to better support their families. Several strategies show promise in making training possible for low-skilled individuals, whether in green jobs or not: curricuar reform at community collegs and other training providers; strong partnerships between employers and training providers; career paths; financial assistance to assit low-wage workers afford school and meet their expenses; and recruitment efforts and supprot services for non-traditional workers.
Posted On :
07/21/10 01:19PM
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78
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Training and Employment Notice to Announce the Release of the Report, "Use of One-Stops by SSDI Beneficiaries in Four States Implementing Disability Program Navigator Initiatives
The US DOL/ETA has just issued TEN 1-10, Release and availability of an ETA quantitative evaluation report, "Use of One-Stops by Social Security Disability Beneficiaries in Four States Implementing Disability Program Navigator (DPN) Initiatives." ETA contracted out with Mathematica Policy Research (MPR), Inc. to condcut a quantitative evaluation of the DPN initiative through the use of the One-Stop Career Cenetr system by Supplemental Security Income(SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) beneficiaries. The stduy was condcuted in Colorado, Iowa, Maryland, and Oregon, which were early implementers of the DPN Initiative and were willing to share their Workforce Investment Act adult and dislocated worker and Wagner-Peyser data base information for program years 2002-2007. The data runs were matched with the SSI and SSDI Ticket to Work records system. This Reoport docuemnted that a very aklrge number of SSA disability beneficiaries are using the services of the public workforce system and achieving positive employment outcomes. The report is located here: http://disability.workforce3one.org/view/2001018107873517795/info
Posted On :
07/07/10 02:39PM
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323
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104
Evaluation Report on the Number of Social Security Disability Beneficiaries Being Served by the One-Stops in Four DPN States
The Report was prepared by Mathematica Policy Research (MPR), Inc. under contract with the Employment and Training Administration. The purpose of this report was to conduct a quantitative evaluation of the Disability Program Navigator (DPN) initiative through the use of the One-Stop Career Center system by Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) beneficiaries. The study was conducted with Colorado, Iowa, Maryland, and Oregon, which were early implementers of the DPN initiative and were willing to share their Workforce Investment Act (WIA) adult and dislocated worker and Wagner-Peyser (W-P) data base information for the period Program Year 2002 – Program Year 2007. The data runs were matched with SSI and SSDI Ticket to Work (TTW) record system. The target population for the study was adults age 21 and over. In addition to determining if the impact of the DPN would effect WIA and W-P service and outcome levels for SSI and SSDI beneficiaries, it was also intended to gain understanding of the: • Extent to which One-Stop Career Centers are serving persons who are SSA disability beneficiaries; • Characteristics of SSI/SSDI beneficiaries receiving these services; • Nature of the services received; and • How services and outcomes for beneficiaries compared with SSI/SSDI beneficiaries nationally. Key findings include: • One-Stop Career Centers are serving a very large share of persons receiving SSA disability benefits and the public workforce system is providing important support for SSA disability beneficiaries who want to work; • SSA beneficiaries who used One-Stop services achieved positive employment outcomes.
Posted On :
06/30/10 02:11AM
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1243
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581
Back to School: A Guide to Continuing Your Education After Prison
This Guide was published by the Prisoner Reentry Institute, John Jay College, Spring 2008. It walks an offender through the process of setting educational goals and getting organized; enrolling in programs that best suits her/his needs; and receiving assistance to pay for college. This guide is intended to be helpful to offeners while in prison and in the community.
Posted On :
06/30/10 01:53AM
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130
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66
Promising Practices… Achieving a more welcoming, integrated and accessible One-Stop Career Center system
As one of the key principles of WIA, universal access offered the promise of a welcoming, integrated, and user-friendly system. Job seekers would be able to independently tap into all available employment services, resulting in fewer requests for specialized assistance and more efficient use of staff resources. Under WIA and the Americans with Disabilities Act, reasonable accommodations would be provided upon request; however, One-Stop Career Centers would streamline services so that a wide-ranging population of job seekers, including job seekers with disabilities, would have direct access to their resources, programs and activities. With the addition of Disability Program Navigators (DPNs) in One-Stop Career Centers across the nation, universal access moved into the spotlight. Read the full Brief to learn how DPNs throughout the country are helping to expand universal access in One-Stop Career Centers for a more diverse population of job seekers.
Posted On :
06/29/10 03:42PM
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170
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75
"No End In Sight: The Agony of Prolonged UNemployment"
In August 2009, the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers conducted a survey of 1,202 men and women who had been unemployed at some point in the previous 12 months. The purpose of this study was to ascertain how persons were coping with the loss of their jobs. The Heldrioch Center revisited this group in March 2010. The first section of this report shows the labor force paths they took and where they are today, along with a profile of who has become reemployed. The second section looks in detail at this group. The Report was interested in how many have been able to find employment, how long it took them, what job-hunting strategies they found successful, the sacrifices they had to make to become reemployed, and how they feel about their new jobs. The next section focuses on those who remain unemployed another half year later. The Report examines what they have been doing to get by in a prolonged condition of unemployment, and looks at the financial, social, and emotional effects on them and their families. The report concludes by presenting data on the role of government in this area.
Posted On :
06/25/10 03:41PM
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158
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51
Opening Doors Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness
The United States Interagency Council on Homelessness has released a comprehensive federal plan that will serve as a roadmap to prevent and end homelessness. The plan notes that in 2009 forty-three percent of adults without families in shelters or transitional housing had a disability. The plan calls for ending Veterans and chronic homelessness by 2015, and to ending homelessness among children, family and youth by 2020. Opening Doors includes strategies based on the fact that housing, health, education and human service programs must be coordinated to end homelessness. The plan also calls for increased access to stable and affordable housing and permanent supportive housing.
Posted On :
06/25/10 03:18PM
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90
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Asset Development 30-Second Training Series
Asset Development 30-Second Training Series http://www.dpnavigator.net/pages/AssetDev30sec.html A 30-Second Training is a quick fun Power Point slide show that is electronically sent out to One-Stop and Partner staff and can be completed in a very short amount of time hence, 30-Seconds Trainings. They provide disability and employment information usually with a resource link for those that are interested in furthering their knowledge and expertise. ? 30-Second Trainings are designed to be fast, informative and entertaining to capture the attention of busy One-Stop staff, partners and/or employers in a 30-Second PowerPoint Show. ? 30-Second Trainings can be used to either introduce topics and information for the first time, or to reinforce information that has already been presented in a formal presentation. While it can be used as a stand-alone training, it is best used to augment other training. ? 30-Second Training topics cover a wide-range of disability and employment issues in a way that is easy to process and that leads the end-user to a reputable internet resource where they can find additional information on the topic. The Asset Development series was designed to help Disability Program Navigators (DPNs) and other workforce professionals to increase awareness of the many available Asset Development strategies and resources that exist to promote and support increased self-sufficiency and financial stability among individuals with low-incomes, including individuals with disabilities.
Posted On :
06/11/10 02:56PM
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123
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48
Mathematica Information Brief, How Many SSDI Beneficiaries Leave the Rolls for Work..."
Mathematica Policy Reserach, Inc. issued an Information Brief, entitled "How Many SSDI Beneficiaries Leave the Rolls for Work," April 2010. This Brief discusses recent studies and longitudinal data to provide a new perspective on employment among beneficiaries, namely that more beneficiaries are engaged in work and employment activities than assumed. The findings from recent longitudinal data show employment outcomes among “work-oriented” beneficiaries, i.e. beneficiaries who in the National Beneficiary Survey expressed work goals or expectations. This group comprises 40 percent of all beneficiaries. Findings suggest that significant percentages are working, looking for work, worked in the previous year, or recently used employment services (around 50 percent of work-oriented beneficiaries indicated any of the above). However, there were differences among Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income beneficiaries and, overall, job retention was a challenge with health conditions playing an important role in employment status. For more information, visit http://www.disabilitypolicyresearch.org/.
Posted On :
06/11/10 02:08PM
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92
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24
Serving Youth with Disabilities in the One-Stop Career Center System
The Disability Program Navigator (DPN) Initiative has just issued another promising practices information brief as part of a series of publications. This Brief is entitled: "Maximizing the Self-Sufficiency of Youth with Disabilities in the One-Stop Career Center System." Colorado and Minnesota are highlighted in the attached Information Brief, which includes outcomes, successful strategies, case studies, and resources.
Posted On :
05/22/10 09:00AM
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279
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163
How Students with Disabilities Can Prepare for College
How Students with Disabilities Can Prepare for College Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology (DO-IT) Program https://www.washington.edu/doit/Brochures/Academics/college.html This publication addresses issues surrounding the transitions from high school to college and beyond for people with disabilities. It covers three phases: • Preparing for college while in high school. • Staying in college, which requires numerous self-management skills. • Preparing to move beyond college and into a career. Preparing for College: An Online Tutorial https://www.washington.edu/doit/Brochures/Academics/cprep.html College Survival Skills: Tips for Students with Disabilities to Increase College Success https://www.washington.edu/doit/Brochures/Academics/survival.html
Posted On :
05/21/10 01:53PM
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140
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38
Employment Transportation Options and Strategies:
Employment Transportation Options and Strategies: Opportunities for the Public Workforce System This document highlights some information on transportation initiatives and programs that can provide communities and One-Stop Career Centers with resources and suggestions to help customers address their transportation needs. The following resources from the Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA) and the Federal Transit Administration’s United We Ride (UWR) program offer transportation options and strategies for the public workforce system to help bridge the transportation gap to employment for individuals with disabilities, older adults, low-income and others with challenges to employment. There are several resources developed by CTAA targted specifically to the business community, including the recent publication, "Transportaion to Work: A Toolkit for the Business Community."
Posted On :
05/21/10 01:44PM
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184
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44
March, 2010-APTA Report on Meeting the Transportation Needs of the Older Population
In March of 2010, the APTA issued a Report on meeting the transportation needs of the older population. Rapid growth in the number of older people in the United States during the coming decades will lead to greatly increased needs for expanded and enhanced public transportation services. This Report: a) identifies the range of actions that will be needed to expand mobility options for older people, including accessible public transportation services; b) quantifies the demand for these public transportation services; and c) estimates the funding that will be needed to provide them.
Posted On :
05/15/10 05:31PM
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100
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Social Security Administration's Youth Transition Demonstration Projects-Lessons Learned
The SSA's Youth Transition Demonstration Projects: Implementation Lessons Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. February 22, 2010 http://www.mathematica-mpr.com/publications/PDFs/Disability/SSA_YTD.pdf The SSSA is conducting the Youth Transition Demonstration (YTD) as part of a broader initiative to encourage disability beneficiaries to return to work. The demonstration provides youth ages 14-25 with employment-related services and waivers of certain rules governing the SSI and SSDI programs, including childhood disability benefits. The waivers augment existing financial incentives for beneficiaries to work. Originally, SSA selected seven organizations to implement YTD projects through a Request for Applications in 2003. Subsequently, SSA contracted with Mathematica to conduct a multi-site evaluation of YTD. Six projects are participating in this evaluation. The seven original YTD projects were: Bridges to Self-Sufficiency (California); Colorado Youth WINS;Transition WORKS (Erie County, New York);Smart Start (Iowa);Project Transition (Maryland); Mississippi Youth Transition Innovation; and Youth Transition Demonstration Project of the City University of New York (Bronx County, New York) The Report includes six lessons learned that may help policymakers and administrators develop, fund, and provide interventions for youth with disabilities who are transitioning from school to adulthood.
Posted On :
05/15/10 05:04PM
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119
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2009 Summer Youth Employment Initiative Report
The American economy lost an estimated 7.9 million jobs bewteen the end of 2007 and the fall of 2009. Joblessness was high for many groups, but for young adults, unemployment was particularly high and could have lasting effects. In May 2009, the jobless rate for teenagers was 22.7 percent, more than double the national unemployment rate of 9.4 percent. Funding for youth activities through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the Recovery Act) was designed as one part of the solution and aimed to reverse the steep decline in youth employment. Through the Recovery Act, states received $1.2 billion in funding for employment and training activities targeted to the country’s disadvantaged youth. Congress and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) encouraged states and local workforce investment areas to use the funds to create employment opportunities for these youth in the summer of 2009. To gain insights into the design and implementation of these initiatives, DOL’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA) contracted with Mathematica Policy Research to conduct an evaluation of summer youth activities funded by the Recovery Act. Although summer employment is only one component of WIA youth activities and is not funded as a separate program, the opportunities offered by local areas with Recovery Act funding in the summer of 2009 are referred to as the Summer Youth Employment Initiative (SYEI) throughout this report. The implementation study, just issued February 26, 2010, draws upon state performance data and in-depth site visits to 20 selected local areas. The report describes the national context for SYEI implementation, provides an in-depth description of the experiences of selected sites, and presents lessons on implementation practices. 13% of the youth served by the SYEI had disabilities.