DISABILITY ISSUES
Vol. 21 No. 1

One-Stop Workforce  Centers Aid Young People with Disabilities

The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) is a broad overhaul of the U.S. job‑training system. It strives to streamline dozens of individual training programs giving everyone easier access to services, especially groups who face serious barriers in seeking and gaining employment, such as youth and adults with disabilities.

The centerpiece of the WIA is a system of one-stop workforce centers designed to provide job training, education, and employment services at a single neighborhood location. A key idea behind WIA is that every individual, including people with disabilities, has the right to access basic or “core” services that include:

l skill assessment services;

l information on employment and training opportunities; and

l unemployment services, such as job search and placement assistance and up-to-date information on job vacancies.

All adults age 18 and older are eligible for core services. The One-Stop delivery system is designed to serve the employment needs of jobseekers and employers alike.

One of the goals of WIA is to provide all jobseekers easy access to services that will help them find jobs and advance their careers, while also meeting employer workforce needs. WIA brings together many different federally funded employment and training programs into a more simplified, “user friendly” system for jobseekers. People with disabilities will potentially benefit from this overall push for higher quality and easier assess to services.

What Kinds of Services are Available for Young People?

Youth activities are provided to what are called Transition-Age youth. These are low-income youth, ages 14-21, who fit one or more of the following challenges to successful employment:

l high school dropout;

l someone with basic literacy skill needs;

l homeless, runaway, or foster child;

l pregnant mother or a parent;

l offender;

l someone who needs help in completing an educational program or securing and holding a job.

At least 30 percent of the funds for youth programs must be spent on out-of-school youth. Five percent of funds for youth activities can be used for youth who are not low-income but meet a specific category, such as individuals with disabilities (including learning disabilities). For youth with disabilities, only their own income, not their family’s, is considered in determining whether they meet income criteria. Youth who meet the income eligibility criteria for receiving cash payments under any federal, state, or local public assistance program (such as SSI benefits from Social Security) are eligible for youth services.

The state’s workforce plan must address how the state will meet the needs of youth with disabilities. Each local workforce investment area must have a youth council to coordinate youth programs and activities that link them to local labor market needs. WIA requires assessments, preparation for postsecondary educational opportunities or unsubsidized employment (as appropriate), links between academic and occupational training, and links to the job market and employers.

Required support services include tutoring, study skills training, instruction leading to high school completion (including dropout prevention), alternative school services, adult mentoring, paid and unpaid work experiences (including internships and job shadowing), occupational skills training, leadership development opportunities, follow-up services for not less than 12 months as appropriate, and comprehensive guidance and counseling.

Whether a young person is eligible for services or not, one-stop workforce centers can serve as information and referral sources. There is no rule which keeps any youth under 18 from using the core services of the one-stop centers. The WIA encourages youth to make use of these services early in their development and to use the system as an entry point for obtaining education, training, and job search services.

As a resource for the transition process, one-stop workforce centers can:

l Assist students with job searches by providing job listings, helping with resume development, teaching interview skills.

l Provide information and access to experimental employment activities. Many students, including those with and without disabilities, gain early work experiences through internships, apprenticeships, mentor programs, cooperative education programs, and summer work programs.

l Provide instruction on conducting a job search. One-stop centers have considerable expertise on conducting job searches both locally and nationally.

As with all programs, everything may not go as smoothly as the law provides. Perhaps the one-stop center in your area is accessible to people with disabilities in general but not accessible for your specific disability. Accessibility goes beyond physical access issues such as ramps, Braille, interpreters, adapted computer keyboards, appropriate accessories, and software. Also, the services and programs provided to the general public need to be accessible to you. By law, this is the responsibility of the workforce center.

What is Your Youth Responsible For?

Participants must:

l Be willing and able to advocate for themselves or have an advocate who can support them in obtaining the rights and services needed. An advocate could be a parent, friend, rehabilitation counselor, teacher, or a professional from an Independent Living Center or a Parent Training Center in your area.

l Talk honestly about their work goals. The better a participant can define and express her or his goals, the more efficient and accurate the one-stop center can be in meeting those needs.

l Be responsible for the work they need to do. If a class requires homework it must be done and tasks should be completed in a timely manner; these are also important aspects of keeping a job.

Ask for assistance from the one-stop center staff when they need it.

l Have all their forms and documents ready, including high school transcript, addresses of past employers, and reference letters.

Who is Eligible?

All adults 18 and older are eligible for core services, including job search and placement assistance, labor market information, initial assessment of skills and needs, information about available services, and some follow-up services to retain jobs. Intensive services for unemployed people who aren’t able to find jobs through core services alone will also be available. These include more comprehensive assessments, individual employment plans, group or individual counseling, case management, and short term pre vocational services.

How Can Your Daughter or Son Access the Workforce Centers?

The one-stop system operates through a network of centers in each state. States are required to have at least one comprehensive center physically located in each local service delivery area. Service areas are designated by the governor and based on factors such as population, the local labor market, and the need to provide services within a reasonable travel distance for individuals. Any city or county with a population of 500,000 or more is automatically approved as a local workforce investment area.

WIA aims to establish a system that not only gives jobseekers easy access to services to help them find a job and advance their careers, but also meets employer needs. It brings together many different federally funded employment and training programs under one roof. People with disabilities will benefit from this overall push for higher quality and easy access to services.

Adapted with permission from Parent Brief, 8 2001 a publication of the National Transition Network at the University of Minnesota, 103 U Tech Center, 1313 Fifth Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455.