The Employment and Training Administration (ETA), in coordination with DOL’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), announces the availability of approximately $22 million for cooperative agreements to state Workforce Investment Act (WIA) administering entities.

The Combined Appropriation

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Act of 2010, Division D of P.L.

111-117, included $12 million in funds to ETA and $12 million to ODEP to develop and implement a plan for improving effective and meaningful participation of persons with disabilities in the workforce.

This funding is being used to implement the Disability Employment Initiative (DEI), under which the Department intends to make 6 to 10 grant awards that are designed to:
1) improve educational, training, and employment opportunities and outcomes of youth and adults with disabilities who are unemployed, underemployed and/or receiving Social Security disability benefits; and 2) help these individuals with disabilities find a path into the middle class through exemplary and model service delivery by the public workforce system.

DEI grants will be awarded for a three year period of performance.

Grants will be issued as cooperative agreements with the expectation that there will be considerable engagement by ETA and ODEP with states and their local workforce investment areas throughout the life of the initiative.

Extensive technical assistance will be available to grantees and an independent evaluation of the projects will be conducted utilizing quantitative and qualitative data from grantees.