The University of Arizona’s Sonoran Center for Excellence in Disabilities is hosting a webinar on July 16, 2024 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. MT, which will cover Pre-Employment Transition Services and highlight Work Base Learning Experiences (WBLEs). Speakers will discuss how the Center for Excellence in Disabilities is working collaboratively with Window Rock Unified School District to develop WBLEs for their transition-aged students with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014 (WIOA) improves services for people to find and keep jobs, and requires vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies to use some of the money they receive from the federal government (about $1 of every $7) for pre-employment transition services (pre-ETS) for students with disabilities. Youth with disabilities, including those who receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI), might need support for finding and training for jobs beyond what school traditionally offers. Students with disabilities often do not have as many opportunities for career development and training, could have trouble finding work because of their disability, and might come from lower-income families.

This Mathematica brief summarizes findings from a study examining how transition-age youth with disabilities receiving SSI may have been affected by WIOA and their access to pre-ETS.

To meet the growing sector of clean energy’s labor force demands, employers and workforce development professionals are seeking new approaches to train workers quickly and more effectively. The Partnership on Inclusive Apprenticeship is an initiative funded by the Office of Disability Employment Policy that seeks to expand access to one such approach: registered apprenticeships for people with disabilities in high-growth sectors, such as clean energy. This Urban Institute brief discusses the need and opportunities for building inclusive apprenticeships in the clean energy sector.

The Federal Partners in Transition is hosting a webinar on May 17, 2024 from 3:45 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET which will include a presentation that focuses on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the workforce, potential future use of AI, and current policy, regulations, and laws surrounding AI at the state and federal level. Presenters from the Office of Disability Employment Policy will lead a conversation on the intersection between AI and Disability Employment.

The Rehabilitation Research and Training Center at Virginia Commonwealth University is hosting a webinar on May 22, 2024 from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. ET where Federal, State, and Tribal representatives will discuss effective models in service provision to Indigenous youth and young adults, including individuals with disabilities. There will be discussions on the challenges faced and the actions taken to form Indigenous Service Models. Examples of culturally-focused youth camps, WIOA-funded workforce programs, federal and state initiatives, and vocational rehabilitation best practices will be showcased.

In 2022, the Center for Advancing Policy on Employment for Youth (CAPE-Youth), in collaboration with the White House Office of Public Engagement, hosted a virtual roundtable discussion on “Improving Mental Health Service Delivery for Youth and Young Adults with Marginalized Racial Identities.” The event highlighted how mental health policies can help states promote positive long-term outcomes such as higher employment rates for youth and young adults (Y&YAs), including Y&YAs with disabilities who belong to marginalized racial groups. This CAPE-Youth brief provides a summary of various ideas and strategies participants raised during the roundtable discussion, highlighting:

• Expanding culturally responsive mental health care;
• Increasing access to mental health supports; and
• Embedding mental health programs and supports into workforce systems.

In recognition of Financial Capabilities Month, the Office of Disability Employment Policy’s Employment First Community of Practice (E1st CoP) will be holding a series of webinars on access to Financial Planning for people seeking and maintaining Competitive Integrated Employment (CIE) positions. The series begins on April 24th at 3:00 p.m. ET with the webinar, “Using Ticket to Work to Support Competitive Integrated Employment.” This webinar will help shed light on the benefits of Ticket to Work for the worker and the provider and will discuss how beneficiaries can make the most of the program without feeling burdened by administration, apprehension, and paperwork.

The National Center on Leadership for the Employment and Economic Advancement of People with Disabilities (LEAD Center) will be hosting a Good Jobs Initiative webinar on April 25, 2024 from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET. Attendees will look at the construction industry to learn how inclusive hiring practices – including equitable workforce development pathways like pre-apprenticeship and Registered Apprenticeship programs, as well as labor-management partnerships – have benefited employees with disabilities and their employers in the construction industry.

This Mathematica resource is part of the evaluation of Promoting Opportunity Demonstration (POD), which provided modifications to Social Security Disability Insurance program rules to determine if a benefit offset formula can promote employment, reduce people’s dependence on benefits, and decrease the program’s administrative complexity. This publication is a study of how disability beneficiary work behavior responds to a rule change that replaces a cash cliff, a threshold above which benefits reduce to zero, with a benefit offset ramp. This resource provides an analysis of mechanisms indicating that administrative burden, the limited size of the incentive, and individual and systemic barriers to employment for people with disabilities likely contributed to the limited impacts.

On April 2, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced the award of $10.5 million to fund the first year of four, five-year cooperative agreements aimed at developing strategies to assist youth and young adults with disabilities — particularly in underserved communities — in successfully transitioning into the workforce. This DOL news releasee announces that Connecticut DOL, Kansas Department of Commerce, Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, and the New York DOL received the awards.