Work Incentive Grants

The Work Incentive Grants (WIGs) and Disability Program Navigators (DPNs) have been established to increase the labor force participation and career advancement of persons with disabilities by effecting systemic change in the One-Stop Career Centers.

These programs support the capacity of the
One-Stop Career Center system to achieve integrated, seamless, and comprehensive services for people with disabilities, thereby increasing their employment, retention, and earnings.

The competitive WIG Program has been reoriented from a competitive solicitation to the Disability Program Navigator (DPN) cooperative agreement, thereby assuring that the essential goals of the WIGs are achieved in the workforce investment system.

The Department of Labor (DOL) and the Social Security Administration (SSA) jointly established a new position, the Disability Program Navigator (DPN), in the DOL's One-Stop Career Centers.

The DPN guides the One-Stop Career Center staff in helping people with disabilities access and navigate the various programs that impact upon their ability to gain/retain employment.

Complex rules surrounding entitlement programs, along with the fear of losing cash assistance and health benefits, can often discourage people with disabilities from working.

Consequently, the DPN initiative was established to better inform beneficiaries and other people with disabilities about the work support programs now available at the DOL-funded One-Stop Career Centers.

The major objectives of the DPN initiative are: (1) creating systemic change and transforming the culture of how the One-Stop Career Center system serves customers with disabilities; (2) promoting meaningful