The Disability Program Navigator (DPN) Initiative

Expanding Options: Promoting National Service Within the Workforce System

November 3, 2009 Randee Chafkin, Division of Adult Services, Employment and

Training Administration (ETA)U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)

Webinar Objectives

• Overview of the workforce investment system.

• Overview of the Disability Program Navigator (DPN) Initiative.

• Opportunities for linkages between the DPNs and CNCS’ national service programs.

Polling Question # 1

• Before we begin, I’d like to ask the audience two questions:

• Do you know what the Disability Program Navigator (DPN) does?

-- Yes

-- No

Polling Question # 2

• Do you work with your local Disability Program Navigators (DPNs)?

-- Yes

-- No

Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998

• WIA was designed to: --unify a fragmented employment and training system; --create a single universal system…a One-Stop system that serves all

jobseekers, including persons with disabilities, and employers.

WIA (Cont.)

• Provides funds to states to establish a statewide One-Stop Career Center system.

• Outlines the framework for the delivery of workforce investment activities throughout the One-Stop system.

One-Stop Delivery System• Created one physical location for employment

and training services.• Linked workforce, education, and economic

development.• Established business-led local Workforce

Investment Boards to conduct strategic planning, set policies, coordinate programs.

• Local flexibility in designing the system.• Coordination with mandated and non-

mandated partners.

One-Stop Mandatory Partners

DOL Programs: programs authorized under WIA, Employment Services, Adult Education, Trade Adjustment Assistance, Veteran's Employment and Training, UI, Job Corps, Senior Community Service Employment Program, Migrant and Seasonal Farm Workers Program, Indian and Native American Employment and Training Program.

One-Stop Mandatory Partners (Cont.)

• Dept. of Education: Adult Education and Literacy; Vocational Education (Perkins Act).

• DHHS: TANF• DHUD: HUD-administered

employment and training programs

Polling Question # 3

• Do you work with your local One-Stop Career Center?

-- Yes

-- No

ONE-STOP CAREER CENTER SYSTEM

• There are 3,034 One-Stop Career Centers-1,850 are comprehensive and 1,184 are affiliate centers.

• There are 600 Workforce Investment Areas throughout the country.

• DPNs are located in One-Stop Career Centers.

One-Stop Career Centers• Cornerstone of WIA.

• Centers where customers can access a broad range of employment-related services in a central location, including: --core;

--intensive; and

--training

Core Services: Eligible to All Basic employment assistance, such as:

determination of eligibility for services; orientation; outreach; intake; initial skills assessment; job searches; resume writing; interview practice; labor market information; providing information on eligible training providers, supportive services, One-Stop services; follow-up services; initial career counseling; assistance filing UI claims.

Intensive Services: Eligibility• Individuals who have received at least one

core service and are still unemployed or underemployed (and deemed eligible by the One-Stop).

• Adults and dislocated workers.• When funding is limited, priority for intensive

services is given to job-seekers who are low-income and recipients of public assistance.

Intensive Services More comprehensive services, including:

specialized assessment of skill levels, diagnostic testing; work-related evaluations; pre-vocational services; career counseling;

job searches in other geographic areas/ relocation assistance; basic skills training

(e.g., GED, language and computer classes); work experience; internships.

Training Services: Eligibility• Available to job seekers who have received

at least one intensive service and are still unemployed or underemployed.

• Training is usually provided through Individual Training Accounts via eligible training providers (e.g., community colleges).

• If funds are limited, priority is given to low-income job seekers and recipients of public assistance.

Training Services• Job readiness training• Vocational classes• On-the-job training• Entrepreneurial training• Skill upgrading and retraining• Customized training with local employers

who hire those who successfully finish

WIA Youth Services In addition to the WIA Adult Services, youth

services are provided for youth between 14-21 years of age, low-income, and meet at least one of six barriers to employment: basic skills deficient; high school dropout; homeless, run-away or foster child; pregnant

or a parent; an offender (in juvenile justice system), or a youth who requires additional assistance to complete an educational program or to secure employment.

Supportive Services: Eligibility

• Individuals participating in core, intensive, or training services.

• Unable to obtain supportive services through other programs; and

• Only provided when necessary to enable individuals to participate in WIA activities.

Supportive Services*

• Transportation• Child Care• Dependent Care• Housing• Needs-related payments

*Local areas must develop a policy to ensure resource coordination.

One-Stop Career Centers: Employer Services and Resources

• Recruitment: Job Posting; Resume Searches; Candidate Screening; Assessment and Testing; Job Fairs; Specialized Recruiting.• Training: Job Readiness Skills; On-the-Job Training; Training for Current Employees; Skills Upgrading; Apprenticeship; Specialized Technical Skills Training.

One-Stop Career Centers: Employer Services and Resources (Cont.)

• Retention: Referral to transportation, child care, housing, emergency health care services.

• Information Services: Labor Market Information, Wage and Employment Trends, Occupational Forecasts, Demographic Data, Economic Data, Local Labor Market Analyses.

How to Locate One-Stops• To find your nearest One-Stop Career Center:

www.servicelocator.org (by zip code), or call 1-877-US2-JOBS.

• America’s Service Locator also provides information on a variety of state and local community-based services and programs including community colleges, local employers, housing, social security offices, vocational rehabilitation agencies, etc.

Disability Program Navigator Initiative• DOL/ETA administers the DPN Initiative. It partners with

many Federal, state, local agencies, and private organizations to leverage funding for the public workforce system’s customers with disabilities.

• The DPN Initiative is jointly sponsored by the ETA and Social Security Administration. Since 2003, the DPN Initiative has been funded for approximately $132 million from ETA and $12 million from SSA.

• A new position, the DPN, was established in One-Stop Career Centers throughout the country to better inform people with disabilities about the work support programs available at DOL’s One-Stop Career Centers.

DPN Initiative (Cont.)• There are currently about 450 DPNs in forty-two

states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. (States that do not have a DPN program: KY, MS, NE, ND, OK, RI, WY, PA).

• The goals of the DPN initiative are to:

-- Develop new/sustain ongoing partnerships to achieve seamless, accessible, integrated, comprehensive services; -- Blend/braid resources to leverage funding to individual customers with disabilities/ multiple challenges to employment;

DPN Initiative (Cont.)

-- create systemic change; and

-- expand the workforce investment

system’s capacity to serve

customers with disabilities &

employers.

DPN Roles (Cont.) -- Facilitates the transition of in- or out-

school youth with disabilities to

obtain employment and economic

self-sufficiency;

-- Conducts outreach to agencies/

organizations that serve people with

disabilities;

DPN Roles (Cont.) -- Serve as resources on work incentive programs; -- Promotes meaningful and effective employment opportunities of people with disabilities; and -- Assist the One-Stops to serve customers with multiple employment challenges and disabilities, including ex-offenders, people who are homeless, recipients of TANF, older workers, at- risk youth, and disabled veterans.

29

DPN’s Evolving Roles • Navigators deploy and

coordinate integrated resource team (IRT) approaches across workforce and disability systems to address multiple employment needs of customers.

• Navigators establish a seamless One-Stop Career Center through an individualized team service design to assure a full spectrum of program options for job seekers with disabilities.

Partnerships• Developing linkages with other programs,

agencies, and organizations is critical to leveraging resources to maximize services to people with disabilities.

• Develop and maintain these partnerships on the federal, state, and local levels.

• The following provides example of such partnerships.

Collaboration with SSA• ETA and SSA are collaborating to develop a

unified agenda which includes a variety of strategies to proactively advance the employment of people with disabilities who are receiving SSI and/or SSDI benefits.

• Navigators are promoting the active participation of the workforce system in the SSA’s Ticket to Work Program, including becoming Employment Network (ENs). In the last year, over 37% of the new ENs were One-Stops or LWIBs.

• Develop activities to locally coordinate with DPNs and AWICs, CWICs, and Ticket Coordinators.

Collaboration (Cont.) In addition to collaboration with SSA, the DPN Initiative also collaborates with: -- DOT: United We Ride. -- IRS: Real Economic Impact Tour- DPNs are facilitating involvement of One- Stops in promoting financial literacy, increased use of the EITC, and providing free tax preparation (VITA sites) to people with disabilities. -- DHS: Emergency Preparedness and Response.

Examples of Inter-agency Collaboration (Cont.)

-- Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), HHS: conducting a joint teleconference call with MIG and DPN grantees; in several states MIG resources have been used to fund DPNs and joint activities around outreach to employers.

Linking with the NSIP Inclusion Project

• The DPN Initiative and the CNCS’ NSIP Inclusion Project have already developed linkages and potential collaborative activities on the national and state levels.

• For example, Jewel presented during the monthly DPN grantee teleconference last April and I am reciprocating today.

• I have met with CNCS and NSIP staff to strategize about developing and implementing coordinated activities.

Linking with the NSIP Inclusion Project (Cont.)

• Pursuant to Bob Shogren’s request, the DPN checklist was recently modified to include national services partners.

• Bob recently conducted a webinar for the DPN grantees, which created a lot of interest and excitement. Several of our DPN grantees, especially Arizona, really want to get some partnership activities going. I look forward to hearing from him later today.

DPN-CNCS Partnership

• We plan to strengthen this partnership.• The new Serve America Act, with its emphasis on

employment, and the Administration’s commitment to service provide a window of opportunity for collaborative efforts.

• The current economic situation and the increasing unemployment rate and underemployment of persons with disabilities make it even more critical for the workforce system to promote national service as a viable option for persons with disabilities seeking employment skills and experience.

ETA 2010 Priorities • The following ETA priorities relate CNCS’ strategic goals: -- Develop and share new knowledge and best practices; -- Help low-skilled and low earning workers find a path to jobs (via apprenticeship, on-the-job training, etc.) -- Reinvigorate training, retraining, and employment opportunities. -- Increase opportunities for youth with disabilities.• DOL GOAL: “Good Jobs For All”

ETA Programs• In addition to the DPN Initiative, DOL/ETA

administers several programs which are ideally suited to coordinate with several of CNCS programs, such as:

--YouthBuild, Job Corps, Senior Community Employment Services Program, employment and training programs for disabled veterans (VETS), Indian and Native American Employment and Training Programs.

• People with disabilities are over-represented in all of these populations.

DPN Promising Practices• We have identified 10 promising practices that the

DPNs have developed and implemented in the One-Stop Career Centers to promote positive employment outcomes of persons with disabilities, e.g.: youth, integrated resource teams, asset development, disabled veterans, employer outreach, assistive technology/universal design, ex-offenders, serving persons with mental illness, becoming Employment Networks/working with SSA’s Ticket Program, transportation.

• We are developing videos and accompanying information briefs to disseminate this information,

DPN Promising Practices (Cont.)

• ETA will be using a multi-modal approach to disseminate this information to the workforce system for replication, including webinars, podcast, blogs, issuing Training and Employment Notices (TENs), etc.

• We just launched a new workforce3one Web site to disseminate the promising practices and resources on disability and employment. The site is: http://disability.workforce3one.org

DPN Promising Practices (Cont.)

• The exciting news is that we plan to add three new promising practices-older workers, apprenticeship, and national service.

• So, I, along with our DPNs and the DPN TA Center (NDI) will be working with CNCS and NSIP staff to develop this material, using models and practices that you have developed and implemented.

Strategies for Collaboration• Linking the DPN State Leads to your State

coordinators.• Conducting a workforce3one webinar on national

service.• Conducting a webinar on national service for the DPN

grantees.• Featuring some of your models/promising practices on

the disability.workforce3one.org Web site-in the Spotlight, Section, as well as adding resources on your programs and linking to your Web sites.

• Working with NSIP’s new disability 5-year grant project.

Strategies for Collaboration (Cont.)

• This is only the beginning.

• I am very excited to be partnering with the CNCS and its NSIP.

• Stay tuned…

• Thank you for inviting to present today.

Contact Information• Randee Chafkin, Senior Program Specialist for

Disability Programs• Phone: 202-693-2723• E-Mail: chafkin.randee@dol.gov

• Refer to our Web site for a list of state contacts:• http://www.doleta.gov/disability

• Refer to the DPN Technical Assistance Center’s Web site at: http://dpnavigator.net/

• For promising practices/products, refer to: http://disability.workforce3one.org/