National Council on Disability

An independent federal agency making recommendations to the President and Congress 

to enhance the quality of life for all Americans with disabilities and their families.

1331 F Street, NW ■ Suite 850 ■ Washington, DC 20004

202­272­2004 Voice ■ 202­272­2074 TTY ■ 202­272­2022 Fax ■ www.ncd.gov

Workforce Investment Act Reauthorization 

National Council on Disability 

March 23, 2010 

TOPICAL BRIEF: Workforce Investment Infrastructure 

Recommendation:

Congress should authorize dedicated funding for the One­Stop infrastructure, or, 

in the alternative, cap the percentage of administrative dollars from WIA 

mandated partners with a phase­in over a five­year period. In addition, Congress 

should require annual reporting from each state on how administrative funds 

from each WIA mandated partner are used to fund One­Stops in each Workforce

Investment Area. 

Summary of Concern:

The Workforce Development System replaced a number of smaller federally supported

employment programs, consolidating the funds into what was intended to be a more 

user­friendly, universally accessible system of employment services. The One­Stop

Career Center delivery system is the central delivery mechanism for providing locally 

designed and delivered workforce services to businesses, workers, and job seekers.  However, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports that One­Stop Career

Centers across the country are hampered by the lack of sufficient One­Stop

infrastructure funds.

ISSUE 2: Accessibility of the One­Stop Career Center system 

Recommendations:

1.  Congress should require each Workforce Investment Area to create and

implement an accessibility plan for all One­Stops that meets requirements for

vigorous and proactive enforcement of the antidiscrimination and accessibility 

requirements of Section 188 as established by the U.S. Department of Labor.  The plan should contain measurable goals, time frames, and methods for

achieving and maintaining physical, communication, and program access. 

2.  Congress should require state level plans to address technical assistance,  quality monitoring, and state financial participation to improve and maintain

ISSUE 1: Dedicated funding for One­Stop Career Center system infrastructure
accessibility of One­Stops in all Workforce Investment Areas. Such plans 

should include detailed criteria for assessing whether equal access has been

provided and for monitoring measurable progress toward that goal.

3.  Congress should require local areas and states to report annually to the U.S. 

Department of Labor on the status of plan implementation with documentation

of public comment and state responses. Congress should require each state 

to annually document their methods and measures and document

improvements with physical, communication, and programmatic access at

One­Stops as well as with federally funded training and skills development

activities with institutions of higher education and employers. 

4.  Congress should require mandated statewide employment and training

activities to include a dedicated, expert, full­time staff to navigate a pathway to

higher skilled and higher paying jobs for job seekers with disabilities that

improve their economic strength and security. A minimum of one full­time 

expert should be dedicated to each Workforce Investment Area to help

improve physical, communication, and programmatic access within OneStops and strengthen coordination and collaboration among employment and 

training programs within and outside the Workforce Investment system. Such

deployment should build on lessons learned from the Disability Program 

Navigator initiative.

Summary of Concern:

There are a number of accessibility requirements in Section 188 of WIA with which all 

One­Stop Career Centers must comply. The Department of Labor (DOL) has taken

steps to address these requirements by issuing a Section 188 checklist designed to 

assist program operators in identifying their nondiscrimination obligations, assessing 

their performance, increasing accessibility, and identifying resources that can be of 

assistance. However, concerns remain as to whether this is sufficient to address the 

physical, communication and programmatic accessibility issues facing individuals with 

disabilities within the system. 

The most pervasive challenges include a lack of sufficient dedicated resources for the 

implementation of accessible design or the procurement of accessible technology; a 

lack of knowledge on the part of One­Stop personnel as to the particular needs of and 

specialized services available to job seekers with disabilities; and concerns relating to

the comparative cost and difficulty of finding employment for people with disabilities.

ISSUE 3: Involving people with disabilities in state and local plan development

Recommendation:

Congress should require that state and local plans be developed with the 

participation of people with disabilities, with meaningful documentation of their 

involvement throughout the planning process as well as an account of how their 

comments and recommendations were incorporated into the final plans.
Summary of Concern:

State and local Workforce Investment Boards are in place to ensure that services 

address local needs, including those of jobseekers with disabilities. The State plan

represents a collaborative process amongst state and local elected officials, Workforce 

Boards, and partners. Plan development must include opportunity for meaningful 

stakeholder and public review and comment. The State plan must describe how it will 

meet the needs of each of the major customer groups, including individuals with

disabilities. The State plan must describe the plan development process, including a 

discussion on how comments were incorporated wherever possible.  With respect to 

persons with disabilities, the State Workforce Investment Board is responsible for

determining how best to organize the service system to most effectively serve 

customers with disabilities. At a local level, a similar process must be in place to involve 

individuals with disabilities in the planning process and incorporate their suggestions 

into the final plans.

ISSUE 4: Meaningful and effective participation

Recommendations:

Congress should require the Department of Labor (DOL) to establish and

publicize a complaint or dispute resolution procedure for use by individuals who

have been denied access or are not able to have effective and meaningful 

participation in available Workforce Investment system supports and services. In

addition, Congress should require DOL and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to

jointly develop a plan for vigorous and proactive enforcement of the 

antidiscrimination and accessibility requirements of the law and to provide 

annually to Congress an update on plan implementation that identifies current

state status to protect job seekers with disabilities from discrimination and afford

them full, effective, and meaningful participation in available services and

supports of the Workforce Investment system. 

Summary of Concern:

Provisions of the existing law require accessibility and bar discrimination against people 

with disabilities. However, many One­Stop Career Centers have not succeeded in 

making their premises, programs, and resources fully accessible and available to

people with disabilities. As set forth in Section 188 of the Act, the law is clear and 

unambiguous in requiring the services of the One­Stop Career Centers to be available 

to job seekers with disabilities on terms of equality with all other persons. Many ongoing

problems have been identified in achieving full physical, communications and program­ accessibility of the One­Stop Career Centers. Despite the provisions in Section 188 of

WIA, which contains accessibility and anti­discrimination requirements for the One­Stop

Career Centers and other entities operating under the Act, evidence continues to 

indicate that more action is needed to reduce and eliminate barriers to physical and/or

programmatic access of the Centers for individuals with disabilities.
ISSUE 5: Data collection requirements 

Recommendation:

Congress should change the data collection requirements related to all job

seekers who register for services at the One­Stops in order to collect information

on the receipt of Social Security (SSI and/or SSDI) benefits and to require a

disaggregation of data reporting on employment and wage outcomes to provide a 

much needed, accurate picture on the number of individuals with significant

disabilities served by One­Stops and the Workforce Investment system. 

Summary of Concern:

While SSA has been involved with special DOL projects targeting consumers with 

disabilities, such as the Disability Program Navigator initiative and the Work Incentive 

Grants, there has been little involvement in the regular WIA­funded core services 

(including outreach, job search and placement assistance, and labor market 

information) or intensive services (including comprehensive vocational skill and/or

interest assessments, development of individual employment plans, and career

counseling and career planning provided through the One­Stop Career Centers). 

The challenge from the WIA standard adult services is that eligibility is narrowly defined 

and determined. Only individuals who meet the criteria for groups such as dislocated 

workers or recipients of public assistance such as Temporary Assistance for Needy 

Families (TANF) generally qualify. In addition, agencies that provide the WIA­funded 

adult services are held to rigorous DOL performance standards relating to number of

placements, length of employment retention, number of hours worked, and wages 

earned. These performance standards inadvertently create a disincentive to enroll 

people with disabilities, since they are perceived to be less successful (or more costly in 

terms of intensity of staff support) to achieve required employment outcomes. SSA

beneficiaries would have access to another valuable source of employment preparation, 

training, and job placement services if DOL offered WIA providers additional 

performance credit for serving persons with disabilities.

ISSUE 6: One­Stop Career Center status as an Employment Network 

Recommendation:

Congress should mandate presumptive eligibility and automatic status for OneStops as Employment Networks (ENs) and authorize parity with VR agencies in

terms of receipt of milestone payments under the Ticket to Work program from 

ticketholders who assign their ticket to the One­Stop. 

Summary of Concern:

The public workforce system currently does not receive parity for services provided that 

are equivalent to the VR reimbursement system. A significant percent of persons with 

disabilities may prefer to receive services from a generic system, such as the One­Stop

Career Center system, rather than a disability­specific system, such as VR. Providing
the public workforce system parity with VR for cost­reimbursement under SSA’s Ticket 

to Work program would facilitate its registration and active involvement in the Ticket

process. This would result in the One­Stop Career Centers receiving reimbursement for

SSI and SSDI beneficiaries they are already serving, provide an additional revenue

stream for the One­Stops to expand their services to persons with disabilities and 

increase the number of persons receiving SSA disability benefits returning to work. 

Beneficiaries would have access to a greater choice of providers if SSA granted the

same reimbursement mechanism to One­Stop agencies that it currently reserves for the 

state VR agencies. This also may encourage One­Stop Career Centers to take a more 

active role in providing employment services and supports to individuals with disabilities.

ISSUE 7: Asset building strategies

Recommendation:

Congress should require states to annually report on the status of their 

collaboration with the Department of the Treasury (IRS, FDIC) to offer free tax

preparation assistance and financial education to all low­income job seekers with

and without disabilities and document activities to make such services and

supports fully accessible. 

Summary of Concern:

There are several asset building strategies that low­income job seekers with and without 

disabilities can use to improve their economic status.  However, currently there is a lack 

of collaborative efforts at the community level to ensure that these individuals are taking

advantage of the various tax credits and asset building opportunities available. 

The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), for example, is an asset building strategy and

represents the second largest federal expenditure among programs targeted to low 

income individuals. However, studies by the IRS show that up to 25 percent of qualified 

workers do not claim this credit. The IRS has been expanding its outreach to lowincome workers with disabilities to educate and inform eligible individuals about the 

benefits of the EITC and free tax preparation assistance and services. The Federal 

Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) created the Money Smart Curriculum to help 

youth and adults outside the financial mainstream enhance their money skills and 

create positive banking relationships. Money Smart is available free of charge and can

be modified to fit the needs of any population. This versatility makes it an ideal 

curriculum to offer in One­Stop Career Centers. More education and increased public 

awareness are needed about these and other asset building strategies. The public 

workforce investment system is in a unique position to help build economic self­ sufficiency for its customers with low incomes.

The National Council on Disability wishes to express its appreciation to Michael Morris 

and Dr. Peter Blanck (The Blanck Group, LLC) for their assistance in developing this 

brief.