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.

Green Jobs Employment Opportunities-Resources

The Employment and Training Administration (DOL/ETA) has a Green Jobs Initiative (http://www.doleta.gov/brg/GreenJobs/) to foster a greener economy and a green-educated workforce. ETA is positioned to provide labor market intelligence and work with core-constituencies of labor, industry, and education to identify relevant Green Jobs skills and develop competency models leading to meaningful career ladders. This spotlight focuses on the green economy and shares some information and resources for workforce professionals to help get connected. The attached document includes general resources on green jobs, including green jobs for veterans and persons with challenges to employment.

Equal Access: Universal Design of Instruction

DO-IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology) serves to increase the participation of individuals with disabilities in challenging academic programs and careers, including STEM education and careers. It is funded by the National Science Foundation to promote persons with disabilties becoming trained for STEM career opportunitues. The home Web page is: http://www.washington.edu/doit/ Its Web site has many videos, information on universal design, acessible distance learning, and learning strategies.

Partnerships with Job Corps

Job Corps is a free education and training program that helps young people learn a career, earn a high school diploma or GED, and find and keep a good job. For eligible youth at least 16 years of age, Job Corps provides the all-around skills needed to succeed in a career and in life. The Job Corps is a very important partner for the workforce system to promote employment opportunities of youth with disabilities. In this spotlight, we share information about the Job Corps program along with links to resources you can access for more information. The spotlight begins with a brief overview of the Job Corps Program. The Job Corps (http://jobcorps.doleta.gov/), a program of the U.S. Department of Labor, was established in 1964 under the Economic Opportunity Act, but it is currently authorized under the Workforce Investment Act. Job Corps receives an annual appropriation of about $1.5 billion with approximately 62,000 youth trained annually through this program. The Job Corps provides eligible youth with academic, career technical and social skills needed to become employable and independent and to help place them in employment, the military or continuing education. There are currently 123 Centers in 50 states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

National Network of Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Centers

The ADA National Network is a network of 10 regional ADA Centers thta provide expertise for up-to-date information, referrals, resources, and training on the Americans with Disabilites Act (ADA) to business, government entities, and persons with disabilities. http://www.adata.org/network.org

Green Collar Jobs for People wiht Barriers to Employment

This Report was funded by the City of Berkeley's Office of Energy and Sustainable Development. This Report by Raquel Pinderhughes, PhD,includes a model for an effective green collar jobs training and placement program. The target popoulation was 18-35 year old men and women with barriers to employment, including persons who do not have a high school diploma, have been out of the labor market for a long time, were formally incarcerated, and/or have limited market skills and experience.

Disability Program Navigator Training on Electronic-Tools (E-Tools)

This Webinar is designed to provide training to One-Stop Career Center staff on the various electronic tools supported by ETA's Office of Workforce Investment. Attendees will benefit from an overview of products and tools using the O*Net System and CareerOneStop.org. Information about the following products were highlighted; 1) Career Exploration Assessments; 2) Navigating the O*Net Database; 3)Military Crosswalk; 4) Skills Search; 5) Re-Employment Portal; 6) Employer Locator; and 7) Job Banks and Labor Market Information.

Earn Learn

Earning and Learning: Options under the Workforce Investment Act,: Ronnie Kauder and Neil Ridley, CLASP, September 18, 2009

Employer Resources - DPN FAQ's - U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration National Technical Assistance Project

How do I begin to build relationships with community service providers and sustain these relationships?How do I represent and educate employers on the ADA, reasonable accommodations, and hiring/retaining individuals with disabilities?

Disability Employment 101 - U.S. Department of Education

This guide is a comprehensive analysis of hiring employees with disabilities that includes information about how to: Find qualified workers with disabilities, Put disability and employment research into practice, and How to model what other businesses have done to successfully integrate individuals with disabilities into the workforce. It also includes checklists and various other resources to aid employers as they prepare to employ people with disabilities.

America’s Job Exchange: Disability Exchange

America’s Job Exchange’s (AJE) 'Disability Exchange' website includes the latest job opportunities from AccessibleEmployment.org and other services that provide employers, employees, and concerned citizens with the resources they need to be educated about employing people with disabilities.

State Employment Specialists in Vocational Education Rehabilitation Services Administration U.S. Department of Education

This website provides employers and One-Stop Career Center partners with a list of state Vocational Rehabilitation agency employment specialist’s contacts who can provide qualified, job-ready candidates with disabilities.

Workforce Recruitment Program

The Workforce Recruitment Program (WRP) for college students with disabilities is an on-line databank that matches employers with qualified postsecondary students and graduates with disabilities. The candidates are from all academic majors, and range from college freshmen to students in graduate and law school.

Disability and Business Technical Assistance Center (DBTAC)/Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) 2 Part Webinar Series

The Disability and Business Technical Assistance Center (DBTAC) National Network of 10 regional ADA Centers provides the most complete and experienced services for up-to-date information, referrals, resources, and training on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to businesses, employers, government entities, and individuals with disabilities. Technical assistance specialists provide information and answer questions on employment, architectural access, effective communication and other issues. This two-part series provides: An overview of the services, resources and supports available to DPNs, One-Stop Career Center staff, partners and employers through the ten regional DBTAC ADA Centers. Updates on the New ADA Amendments the President signed into law on September 25, 2008. An ADA Primer for Workforce Professionals: Title I of the ADA -Employment; Title II of the ADA "Public Entities; Who is Covered by the ADA; Essential Job Functions and Qualifications; Reasonable Accommodations; Disclosure; and Disability Etiquette.

Job Accommodation Network (JAN) 2 Part Webinar Series

The Job Accommodation Network (JAN) is a free consulting service designed to increase the employability of people with disabilities by: Providing individualized worksite accommodations solutions, Providing technical assistance regarding the ADA and other disability related legislation, and Educating callers about self-employment options. This two-part series provides both an overview and an in-depth exploration of the Job Accommodation Network. Part I covers basic information on the services and resources that JAN provides. Part II shares situations and solutions using real life examples of training and employment related accommodations provided to students, job seekers, and employees with disabilities

Reaching Out to Customers with Disabilities – an online ADA course for businesses U.S. Department of Justice

This course explains how the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to businesses into ten short lessons: Lesson One: Policies, practices and procedures Lesson Two: Communicating with customers who have disabilities Lesson Three: New Buildings, additions, and remodeling Lesson Four: Removing barriers in buildings that are not being remodeled Lesson Five: Providing access when removing barriers is not readily achievable Lesson Six: Maintaining accessibility Lesson Seven: Transporting customers Lesson Eight: ADA compliance costs and tax incentives Lesson Nine: Enforcement of the ADA Lesson Ten: Information Sources

Employment of Individuals with Disabilities U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for a Competitive Workplace

Implemented in collaboration with Virginia Commonwealth University, this five-year project focused on promoting the employment of individuals with disabilities The Institute for a Competitive Workplace: promoted materials, participated in national conferences and roundtables, convened experts, and disseminated information to chambers and their business members so they could better understand the facts and the resources available to support their employment of individuals with disabilities. The direct links to these publications/products are available on this website.

Employers and the ADA: Myths and Facts September 2005 U.S. Department of Labor Office of Disability Employment Policy

Being inclusive of people with disabilities—in recruitment, retention, promotion, and in providing an accessible environment—gives businesses a competitive edge. This document includes some of the common myths about how the Americans with Disabilities Act affects employers and research and facts that negate them.

Effective Interaction: Communicating With and About People with Disabilities in the Workplace U.S. Department of Labor Office of Disability Employment Policy

This document includes examples of appropriate and inappropriate phrases to describe persons with disabilities, as well as tips for interacting with people with disabilities.