(Presentation Slides Zip File) Disability Program Navigator Training on Electronic-Tools (E-Tools)

This presentation is designed to provide customized training to Disability Program Navigators on the various Electronic Tools supported by the Employment and Training Administration’s Office of Workforce Investment. Attendees will benefit from an overview of products and tools using the O*NET System and CareerOneStop.org. Specifically, information about the following products will be 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) State Job Banks and Labor Market Information.

New Publication on Career Pathway Models and Programs

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for a Competitive Workforce (ICW) and the National Career Pathways Network (NCPN) have released a joint publication, Thriving in Challenging Times: Connecting Education to Economic Development Through Career Pathways. This resource highlights successful career pathway models that create relevant, challenging learning environments for students and are designed to increase American employers' access to highly-skilled, qualified workers. Thriving in Challenging Times profiles 17 local and two statewide career pathways programs in multiple industry sectors, documenting the challenges, strategies, results, and business engagement each partnership has experienced.

Workforce³ One September 2009 Newsletter

NYSDOL Awards Grants to Connect Emerging and Transitional Workers to In-Demand Careers

The New York State Department of Labor has announced the award of more than $2 million in stimulus funding for a new Emerging and Transitional Worker Grant program. The grants, awarded in the Finger Lakes and Central New York regions, are part of a larger, $15 million statewide stimulus investment to give those with little or no connection to the workforce the skills necessary to successfully obtain employment and advance in their careers.

Reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998: Listening Session for Disability Stakeholders

Please join Seth Harris, Deputy Secretary for the U.S. Department of Labor; Jane Oates, Assistant Secretary for the Employment and Training Administration (ETA); and Kathy Martinez, Assistant Secretary for the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) for a "listening session" focused on the reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998, and its impact on programs and services for people with disabilities. If you are deaf, hard-of-hearing, or have speech disabilities captioning may facilitate your participation in this Webinar. Captioning services will be offered to individuals attending the listening session in person as well as attendees participating remotely via the webinar. In addition to the live and webinar captioning services offered, registration for captioning service through the Federal Relay Conference Captioning is also available. Please note the Federal Relay Service requires at least 48 hours notice (2 working days) to guarantee coverage. For more information, visit http://www.workforce3one.org/page/webinarcaptioning

From Competencies to Curriculum: Building Career Paths for Frontline Workers in Behavioral Health

This report shows how Temple University Hospital, Episcopal Campus and Public Health Management Corporation, along with their behavioral health employees, have benefited from implementing a new work-based learning curriculum which articulates with a collegiate certificate and Associate?s Degree through Philadelphia University. This initiative is under the auspices of the national Jobs to Careers initiative. The work-based curriculum and individual lesson plans were successfully implemented with diverse populations of youth and adults in mental health, drug and alcohol, and developmental disability inpatient and residential settings. The applicability of the curriculum and accompanying lessons for other behavioral health employers is very promising.

Career-Focused Services for Students with Disabilities at Community Colleges

This case study report by the The National Collaborative on Workforce & Disability for Youth and Workforce Strategy Center examines the efforts of community colleges to function as intermediaries in meeting the local workforce development needs of employers and promoting career opportunities and job attainment for students, including those with disabilities.

Willing and Able: A Job Hunting Guide for Idahoans with Disabilities

The State of Idaho's Disability Program Navigators have developed an online guide to assist workers with disabilities and help employers seeking new talent put these individuals’ underutilized skills to work. The guide can also serve as a reference for staff who work with job seekers with disabilities. This guide can also be downloaded from the Idaho Department of Labor’s web site at http://www.labor.idaho.gov. Choose “Publications” and then click on “Employment Services.”

Disclosure of Disability Information at a One-Stop Career Center: Tips and Guidelines

The purpose of this publication is to provide guidance to people with disabilities regarding disclosing disability-related information in their use of One-Stops and to highlight the various legal and practical issues to be considered in that decision.

Access for All: Universal Strategies for One-Stop Career Centers

The One-Stop system is required to be "universally accessible" meaning that any member of the general public (including those with disabilities) can access the system and use the basic or "core" One-Stop services. As part of this requirement, One-Stops are required to make efforts to provide access to members of various racial and ethnic groups, individuals with disabilities, and individuals in different age groups. The use of universal design strategies can be a major component in such efforts. The Principles and Guidelines for Universal Design were conceived and developed by The Center for Universal Design at North Carolina State University.

Tax Benefits for Veterans, Including Disabled Veterans: Internal Revenue Services and Department of Labor’s Veterans and Employment and Training Service, and Employment and Training Administration Partnerships

The IRS Stakeholder Partnerships, Education and Communication (SPEC) Organization has a long-term partnership with the Department of Labor's (DOL) Employment and Training Administration (ETA) to promote the use of the Earned Income Tax Credit, financial literacy, and asset development of people with disabilities. ETA's Disability Program Navigators (DPNs), located in the One-Stop Career Centers, have facilitated this initiative at the local levels by encouraging the One-Stop Career Centers to become Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites. The role of the DPNs and One-Stop Career Centers will be highlighted. The IRS’ SPEC organization realized disabled veterans were not taking advantage of tax benefits as credits, free tax preparation, and asset building services. Therefore, the DPN National Office connected IRS with VETS. Consequently, IRS partnered with several organizations that work with veterans to help get the word out about these services. Two of the partners, VetsFirst and DOL’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS), will discuss the various services provided by these organizations. The IRS SPEC Organization will discuss these partnerships and how they have helped numerous Veterans with tax-related matters. The presenters will also discuss the success of the disabled Veterans hiring Initiative. Finally, the presenters will also discuss Ask VetsFirst, an exciting new Web-based service, which provides large numbers of Veterans with an opportunity to get assistance with benefits-related inquiries quickly and efficiently. VETS will discuss its job training, counseling, and placement services (including job readiness and literacy and skills training), and grants to expedite the reintegration of homeless Veterans into the labor force.

Integrated Resource Team (IRT) Model: Strategy to Serve Job Seekers with Multiple Barriers to Employment

The Disability Program Navigator (DPN) Initiative was initially funded in 2003 to expand the capacity of the One-Stop Career Center system to serve customers with disabilities by providing accessible, seamless, and integrated services. There are now over 450 Navigators in 45 states, DC, and Puerto Rico. In addition to creating systemic change, the Navigators act as facilitators to bring together multiple partners in the One-Stop Career Centers to develop an integrated resource team approach with the purpose of blending and braiding resources around an individual customer's employment needs. This Webinar will highlight how the Oregon DPN project is using the IRT model to develop individual employment plans for job seekers with disabilities, as well as to coordinate resources across the workforce and disability systems to address multiple employment needs. Replication strategies will also be discussed.

Promoting Entrepreneurship, Through The One Stop Career Center System for Persons with Disabilities, Including Disabled Veterans

This Webinar will highlight promising practices and lessons learned to facilitate the State and Local Worforce Investment Boards and One Stop Career Centers connecting with the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) Ticket to Work Program. This program provides work incentives for beneficiaries with disabilities who want to work. Examples of service coordination among workforce partners utilizing the Ticket to Work incentives will be shared during this Webinar.

Connecting One Stop Career Centers with the Social Security Administration's Ticket to Work Program: Becoming an Employment Network (EN) - A Way to Serve Customers with Disabilities and Generate Revenue for the One-Stop Career Center System

This Webinar will highlight promising practices and lessons learned to facilitate the State and Local/Workforce Investment Boards (SWIBs/LWIBs) and One-Stop Career Centers connecting with the Social Security Administration's (SSA) Ticket to Work Program. This program provides work incentives for beneficiaries with disabilities who want to work. Examples of service coordination among workforce partners utilizing the Ticket to Work incentives will be shared during this Webinar.

Serving Disabled Veterans in the One-Stop Career Center System: Win-Win Partnerships Between the Disability Program Navigators (DPNs), Disabled Outreach Program (DVOPs), and Local Veterans Employment Representatives (LVERs).

According to the US Census Bureau in 2007, there were 23.6 million military veterans in the United States and of that number 56 million or 25 percent had disabilities. An increasing number of disabled veterans will be returning from combat in Afghanistan and Iraq; many will have traumatic stress disorders, traumatic brain injuries, and other mental and physical and disabilities resulting from their tours of duty. If the One-Stop Career Centers are to meet the challenges of effectively serving the increasing number of disabled veterans seeking employment services, there needs to be collaboration and coordination between the public workforce investment system and programs that serve disabled veterans. This Webinar will highlight promising practices for replication at the local levels between the DPNs, DVOPs, and LVERS to serve disabled veterans in the One-Stop Career Centers.

The Road to Self-Sufficiency: A Guide to Entrepreneurship for Youth with Disabilities

The Road to Self-Sufficiency: A Guide to Entrepreneurship for Youth with Disabilities was developed to serve as a resource for organizations working with youth on career exploration and employment options, and policymakers who support youth programs through policy and practice. The Guide shows how entrepreneurship education can be implemented in programs and offers suggestions on how to introduce self-employment as an option for all youth, including youth with disabilities.

Project C³

Project C3 (Connecting Youth to Communities and Careers) is a unique partnership between PACER Center, Pathways to Employment, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), the Minnesota Department of Education, and other state and local organizations. The goal of the project is to improve employment and postsecondary outcomes for youth with disabilities.

John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development (Rutgers University)

The John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development is located at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. The Center serves as an independent source of analysis in policy-making and uses cutting-edge research and evaluation projects to identify best practices in workforce development and employment and workplace policy. The Center concentrates on nurturing concrete innovations in workforce practices as well as addressing broad-scale economic policy changes. The Center’s ultimate purpose is to serve as a laboratory to create innovative, applied solutions to documented workplace challenges including the gap between worker skills and employer needs, and the economic disruptions resulting from a globalized economy. Noted "Knowledge Centers" are Workforce and Education Evaluations, Workforce and Economic Analysis, Workforce Diversity and Inclusion, Dislocated Workers, Disability and Work, Survey Research, and Workforce Practices and Solutions with all having an array of services available to clients for support.

Access Workforce Solutions

Workforce Solutions, the Lower Rio Grande Valley Workforce Development Board in Texas has operated the Workforce Solutions Online Learning Community to provide customized training opportunities for workers. The program utilizes an in home learning system that blends mentoring, personal development, learning theories, partner collaboration to support individuals and increase their career prospects, employment retention, wages and, ultimately, long-term self-sufficiency. Article describes a training approach that has worked well with difficult to serve populations, lessons learned and provides a link to additional information.

National Offender Workforce Development Partnership: Creating career opportunities and a trained workforce to meet the needs of the 21^st century workforce

The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports 1 in 15 adults will be imprisoned during their lifetime. Historically, up to two-thirds of these inmates returned to prison. Recognizing the impact of employment on successful reentry, a National Offender Workforce Development Partnership has created points of contact in each state to assist in development and support of local partnerships for offender workforce development. A systems approach has resulted in assessment, apprenticeship, and training programs in prison that are linked to occupations with projected job growth. Partnerships with apprenticeship, workforce investment systems, and employers have provided career opportunities for ex-offenders, as well as a qualified, trained workforce to meet the needs of the 21st century workforce. This webinar highlights an evidence-based process initiated by U.S. Probation, Eastern District of Missouri, which has significantly reduced unemployment and revocations of ex-offenders. This model, which uses apprenticeship, may be implemented at the local, state, or federal level to enhance the employment opportunities and retention for unemployed or underemployed ex-offenders. Resources for serving people with disabilities, veterans, and female ex-offenders will be discussed. Information regarding training, technical assistance, and professional certification for staff and community partners, as well as benefits and employer incentives for hiring ex-offenders will be shared with participants.