DEI Orientation Part 1:
Setting the Stage for Round VI DEI Projects
• Hosted/Facilitated by: Laura Gleneck, NDI Technical Assistance Team
• Presented by: David Jones, National DEI Program Office and
Miranda Kennedy, NDI Technical Assistance Team
DEI Orientation Series – 2016
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Host / Moderator
Host / Moderator: Laura Gleneck
Title: Project Manager for the DEI, NDI Technical
Assistance Team
Organization: NDI Consulting, Inc.
Disability Employment Initiative
(DEI)
DEI is jointly funded and administered by the U.S. Department of
Labor’s (DOL) Employment and Training Administration (ETA) and
Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP).
Training and Technical Assistance to DEI Projects on
implementation of the DEI is provided under U.S. DOLETA
contract with NDI Consulting, Inc. and the National Disability
Institute (NDI), the NDI Technical Assistance Team.
Evaluation of the impact of the DEI Projects implementation and
outcomes of the DEI will be provided under U.S. DOL ODEP
contract with Social Dynamics and its partners.
Presenters
Presenter: David Jones
Title: Workforce Analyst, Disability Employment
Initiative (DEI)
Organization: U.S. DOL, Employment and
Training Administration (ETA)
Presenter: Miranda Kennedy
Title: Director of Training and Technical
Assistance
Organization: National Disability Institute (NDI)
Agenda
I.
An Overview of the DEI and how it Connects with WIOA
II. DEI History and Current Administration
III. DEI Outcomes – Lessons Learned
IV. Foreseeable Opportunities and Challenges for Round VI
Grantees
V. Clarifying National DEI Roles and Responsibilities
VI. Resources
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DEI Overview
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DEI Grantees
Since 2010, there have been 6 rounds of DEI grantees awarded just
under $110 million covering 43 projects in 27 states:
1. Round 1 in Program Year 2010 at $22 million: Alaska, Arkansas (youth),
Delaware (youth), Illinois, Kansas, Maine, New Jersey (youth), New York
and Virginia
2. Round 2 in Program Year 2011 at $21 million: California, Hawaii, Ohio,
South Dakota (youth), Tennessee, Washington, and Wisconsin
3. Round 3 in Program Year 2012 at $21 million: Florida, Indiana, Iowa,
Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota (youth) and Rhode Island
4. Round 4 in Program Year 2013 at $18 million: Alabama (youth), Alaska,
Connecticut, Idaho (youth), Illinois, Maine, New York and Virginia
5. Round 5 in Program Year 2014 at $15 million: California, Illinois (youth),
Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, South Dakota (Round V grantees
had all received previous rounds of DEI funding)
6. Round 6 in Program Year 2015 at $15 million: Alaska, Georgia, Hawaii,
Iowa, New York, Washington
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The DEI Landscape
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DEI Strategic Service Delivery
DEI implements different service delivery strategies:
• Partnerships and Collaboration
• Integrated Resource Teams
• Blending and Braiding Funds / Leveraging Resources
• Customized Employment
• Self-Employment
• Guideposts for Success
• Asset Development Strategies
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Workforce Innovation and
Opportunity Act (WIOA)
WIOA was signed into law on July 22, 2014, by President
Obama. WIOA is designed to streamline and improve the
coordination of employment and training services across
federal agencies and to strengthen collaboration. Several key
provisions to highlight include:
• Seamless Customer-Focused American Job Centers (AJCs)
• Aligns the “core” programs to provide coordinated,
comprehensive services
• Career Pathways
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WIOA Career Pathways Definition
The term “career pathway” means a combination of rigorous
and high quality education, training, and other services that•
•
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•
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aligns with the skill needs of industries in the economy of the State or regional economy
involved;
prepares an individual to be successful in any range of secondary or postsecondary
education options, including apprentices registered under the Act of August 16, 1937;
includes counseling to support an individual achieving the individual’s education and
career goals;
includes, as appropriate, education offered concurrently with and in the same context as
workforce preparation activities and training for a specific occupation or occupational
cluster;
organizes education, training, and other services to meet the particular needs of an
individual in a manner that accelerates the educational and career advancement of the
individual to the extent practicable;
enables an individual to attain a secondary school diploma or its recognized equivalent,
and at least one recognized postsecondary credential; and
helps an individual enter or advance within a specific occupation or occupational cluster.
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Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
(NPRM)
On April 16, 2015, five new proposed rules were released for public
comment to fully implement WIOA. One of the five proposed rules
focused on joint regulations on Unified and Combined State Plans,
Performance Accountability, and the One-Stop Joint Provision.
The One-Stop Joint Rule Provision had the following cluster of proposed
regulations in the NPRM:
– General Description of the One-Stop System
– One-Stop Partners and Responsibilities of Partners
– MOU for the One-Stop Delivery System
– One-Stop Operators
– One Stop Operating Costs
– One-Stop Certification
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Joint One-Stop Vision Guidance
On August 13, 2015, the core partners and Administration of
Children and Families (ACF) of U.S. Department of Health
Human Services (HHS) jointly released “Vision for the OneStop Delivery System Under the WIOA” (TEGL 4-15) which
reinforced the following principles:
• One-Stop Centers provide excellent customer service to job
seekers, workers, and businesses
• One-Stop Centers Reflect Innovative and Effective Service Design
• One-Stop Centers Operate with Integrated Management Systems
and High-Quality Staffing
DEI – A Vehicle for Innovation
Based on WIOA statute, proposed regulations to implement WIOA,
and DOL guidance issued, the DEI is a perfect vehicle to be
innovative. Thus, the DEI can:
•
Model Service delivery strategies for all participating systems
•
Participate in small scale pilots that explore larger WIOA
systems issues
•
Use expertise around multiple systems to develop operational
models
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DEI History and Current
Administration
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When you are aiming at a moving target,
shoot at where it’s going
and not at where it has been.
Historical Retrospective
Previous ETA and ODEP grants to improve employment
outcomes of youth and adults with disabilities:
– ODEP Employment Service Models
• Customized Employment Grants (CEG)
• Workforce Action (Olmstead) Grants
• START-UP Initiative
• State Intermediary Youth Grants
• Guideposts for Success
– ETA Systems Change Models
• Work Incentive Grant (WIG) Projects
• Disability Program Navigator (DPN) initiative
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Historical Retrospective
The DEI has evolved over its short history:
• Rounds I-IV (2010-2013) – Laying Down the Foundation of the
Service Delivery Strategies
• Round V (2014) – Introduction of Career Pathway Component;
Stronger Partnerships to implement job-driven strategies, Targeting 3
different populations (Adults, Youth, and Significant Disabilities),
Ticket/Workforce EN Component, and Elimination of random
assignment
• Round VI (2015) – Builds on the changes from Round V. Two states
received funding focused on capacity building and service delivery
targeting individuals with significant disabilities.
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DEI Administration
• The DEI grants are funding a PROJECT and NOT a program:
specifically the DEI is a SYSTEMS CAPACITY BUILDING PROJECT
• DEI grants help expand the capacity of the American Job Centers
(AJCs) to serve customers with disabilities
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DEI Administration
The mission of DEI is to expand the capacity of the workforce
system to better serve job seekers with disabilities by:
• Improving training and employment of persons with disabilities
focusing on career path which lead to economic self-sufficiency;
• Building effective partnerships that leverage public and private
resources to better serve persons with disabilities; and
• Expanding the public workforce development system’s capacity to
become Employment Networks for beneficiaries under the Social
Security Ticket to Work (TTW) Program.
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DEI Administration
Responsibilities of the DEI Project Lead include:
1) Coordinating with local DEI workforce development boards
implementing sites to ensure issues are addressed and
common goals are achieved
2) Representing the state in administrative communications and
facilitating state and local DEI participation in training and TA
activities
3) Establishing and coordinating partnerships with other state level
agencies
4) Coordinating implementation of Ticket to Work
5) Facilitating implementation of additional data collection and
process evaluation requirements
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Ticket to Work (TTW)
Participating as an Employment Network in the Social Security
Administration's (SSA) Ticket to Work Program to provide SSA
beneficiaries with disabilities with expanded choices regarding
services and supports needed to enter, re-enter, or maintain
employment and to generate additional funding for service delivery
at the AJCs.
EN activity will be operational (Tickets assigned and first
payment received) by end of DEI grant year 1.
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Workforce Employment Networks
The comprehensive nature of the American Job Centers makes
them a natural service provider as an EN.
•
Job Centers are employment support providers that can help
Social Security disability beneficiaries return to work.
•
Participation as an EN provides an additional revenue source
to leverage funding to maximize services for customers with
disabilities.
All DEI EN Tickets Assigned by Quarter (NYESS data not included )
Qtr end 3/31/14
Qtr end 6/30/14
Qtr end 9/30/14
Qtr end 12/31/14
Qtr end 3/31/15
Qtr end 6/30/15
Qtr end 9/30/15
2357
2564
2910
2572
2747
2984
3075
$2,432,716
$2,956,465
$3,399,409
$3,429,058
$3,923,330
$4,192,694
$4,576,295
*Information made available from data collected from Ticket Program Manger
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DEI Outcomes –
Lessons Learned
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DEI Outcomes – Quantity of Individuals Served
Rounds 1 and 2 grantees made a significant impact on the enrollment
of individuals with disabilities into AJCs
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DEI Outcomes – Partnerships
Building relationships between staff at AJC and Vocational
Rehabilitation (VR) Offices resulted in improved efficiencies of
operations between partners and improved service delivery to our
consumers.
• Opening lines of communication early in the DEI process; Educate
and increase awareness
• Ensuring trust that will improve the efficiency of the administration of
Ticket to Work amongst partners.
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DEI Outcomes- Integrated Resource Teams (IRT)
Integrated Resource Teams (IRTs) have facilitated the blending
and braiding of resources across public and private providers.
• Though blending of funding streams is difficult due to state and federal
program requirements, DEI grantees examine the individual needs of
job seekers with disabilities and determine which funding streams
address those needs.
• Using the IRT approach at the individual job seeker level has
contributed to DEI staff learning more about the resources and
expertise that is available through WIOA mandated partners. This
knowledge has been used to increase the efficiency of services at a
systems level by reducing programmatic duplication.
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DEI Outcomes – Ticket to Work
States that have established or accessed an Administrative Level
Employment Network (EN) have seen economies of scale that
have influenced the ability of local staff to administer Ticket to
Work program.
• Skillful administration of the Ticket to Work (TTW) program is time
intensive. States, such as New York, Kansas, Wisconsin, and
Iowa that have established State Level EN to shoulder the
administrative burden of the TTW program. Additionally there are
national level Administrative ENs that are approved by DOL and
can be accessed for this support. This allows LWIAs to focus on
what they do best, which is career exploration and job placement.
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DEI Outcomes – Sustainability
• Administrative EN supports can advance DEI project efforts
significantly improving goals of sustainability.
• Advancing EN efforts quickly is one way to make sustainability
possible
– A number of Round 1, 2 and 3 DEI project sites are still active ENs
with revenue supporting full-time DRC staff
• Additionally a number of states and local areas that have
adopted the project model have gone on to sustain and grow
many of the DEI strategies (e.g. Integrated Resource Teams
and Asset Development strategies) within their existing
programs and among their partners, both for people with AND
without disabilities.
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Foreseeable Opportunities and
Challenges for Round VI
Grantees
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Foreseeable Opportunities
• Be “Innovative”- Opportunity to assess procedures in
place and advocate for change; Thinking outside the box
to improve on how things get done
• Building Partnerships- Building and expanding a network
with professionals in other agencies with common mission
• Making a Difference- Working towards an end goal to
help improve the lives of individuals with disabilities
through systems change
Foreseeable Challenges
• Period of Transition – New learning occurring in transition from
WIA to WIOA; Finalizing the proposed regulations
• State and Local Administration of DEI Project
• No Cookie-Cutter Approach – Each LWIA is unique and a wide
variety of structural issues might need to be addressed to
maximize seamless operations
• Documentation- Documenting the work to support DEI
• Mission Creep– Expansion of DEI focus beyond its original goals
(increasing access/outcomes to Career Pathways) when DRCs
are faced by unmet needs of job seekers with disabilities entering
centers not interested in Career Pathways.
• Pace of Change – Building the capacity of systems to better
serve job seekers with disabilities takes time; Patience
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Roles and
Responsibilities
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A Recap of DEI National Roles
1. National DEI Program Office
• ETA
• ODEP
2. ETA Federal Project Officers
• Regions 1 – 6
3. Contractors
• NDI Technical Assistance Team
• DEI Evaluation Team
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DEI Leadership
“It is common sense to take a
method and try it. If it fails, admit it
frankly and try another. But above
all, try something.”
-Franklin D Roosevelt
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Questions
If you have a comment or
question you can:
A: Submit it to the host in writing
via the Chat or Q&A Box to the
right, or…
B: Click on the “raise hand” icon
to have your line un-muted and
ask your question/make your
comment.
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Additional Resources

DEI Technical Assistance Project (http://www.dei-ideas.org/)
 For grant implementation tools and ongoing support for state-level project
staff, go to the State Leads resources page (requires you to be logged in):
http://www.dei-ideas.org/chapter2-3/page01a_stateleads_private.cfm
 For resources, tools and information on Career Pathways programs and
systems, go to the Career Pathways resources page (Note development of
this section is in process and will require you to be logged in):
http://www.dei-ideas.org/chapter2-4/page01a_careerpathways_private.cfm

Disability and Employment Community of Practice provides disability
and employment resources for the public workforce system
http://disability.workforce3one.org

ODEP http://www.dol.gov/odep/
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Contact Information
David Jones, National DEI Program Office
Title:
Workforce Analyst
Phone: 202-693-3397
E-mail: [email protected]
Miranda Kennedy, DEI Technical Assistance Team
Title:
Director of Training and Technical Assistance
Phone: 720-890-3990
E-mail: [email protected]
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