The cooperative agreement funds are to establish positions for Disability Program Navigators in the One-Stop Career Centers.
These positions facilitate universal access to the One-Stop Career Center for job seekers with disabilities through reaching out to the disability community, assuring the availability of trained and expert staff, and enhancing coordination across programs and services.
The Department of Labor fosters and promotes the welfare of job seekers, wage earners and retirees by improving their working conditions, advancing their opportunities, protecting their retirement and health benefits and generally protecting worker rights and monitoring national economic measures.
There has been continued expansion and implementation of disability resource specialists or DPNs in One-Stop Career Centers to assure access to comprehensive, seamless services, and expertise. Currently, there will be approximately 450 Navigators in One-Stop Career Centers in One-Stop Career Centers across the country funded under this initiative as of June 2007 WIASRD data for PY 2005 for workforceinvestment boards (WIBs) with Navigators show the following outcome data for people with disabilities: 6.90 percent exiters; 80.4 percent employment retention rate; 69.9 entered employment rate; and $3,256 earnings change. Universal access has been promoted in the One-Stop Career Centers by expanding the availability of assistive technologies, training One-Stop Career Center staff and workforce investment boards on the utilization of assistive technology, reasonable accommodation resources and strategies, disability etiquette, WIA Section 188 non-discrimination regulations, Section 504 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act provisions. Enhanced partnerships have been expanded at the Federal, regional, state, and local levels with both mandated and other WIA partners by coordinating access to services in the One-Stop Career Centers. This included outreach to public and non-profit agencies that serve individuals with disabilities and facilitating coordinated services to this customer group. By including non-WIA mandated partners (e.g., the state Medicaid agencies or the SSA's Ticket to Work implementation) in their efforts, the WIGs/DPNs have demonstrated that expanding the scope of available services through innovative partnerships can have a positive effect on long-term employment outcomes of people with disabilities. A number of DPNs facilitated access to new Medicaid demonstration and waiver projects that are intended to remove health care barriers and facilitate employment for beneficiaries of the SSA. The One-Stop Toolkit (http://onestoptoolkit.org) Web site was utilized to share tools and products that grantees have developed for their state and local areas. These include training curriculum, self-assessment accessibility tools, memoranda of understanding with Vocational Rehabilitation or other agencies, mystery shopping protocols, effective strategies, etc. The Webcourse (www.wiawebcourse.org) for One-Stop-Career Center staff: "At Your Service: Welcoming Customers with Disabilities" was revised and disseminated.
Uses and Use Restrictions
Funds are used for establishing Disability Program Navigators in One-Stop Career Centers and improving the centers' physical and programmatic access for customers with disabilities.
All proposed costs should be necessary and reasonable according to the federal guidelines set forth in the Uniform Administrative Requirements for Grants and Cooperative Agreements to state and local governments, codified at 289 CFR Part 97, and must comply with the applicable OMB cost principles circulars, as identified in 29 CFR 96.27 and 29 CFR 97.22(b).
Awardees must comply with the all other applicable administrative standards and national policy provisions (listed in the SGA).
Indirect costs cannot exceed 10 percent of the award.
The DOL will negotiate performance goals with successful applicants that will be consistent with the Department's GPRA goals.