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Job Developer Types, Placement Practices and Outcomes Technical Report

December 1, 2012

Despite numerous employment initiatives, people with disabilities are significantly more likely to experience unemployment and consequently, reduced economic and social well-being and a dminished quality of life than their non disabled peers. In a recent national survey of employers, less than 14% of companies indicated that they actively recruit jobseekers with disabilities. Thus, the role of the job development professional is pivotal to helping job seekers with disabilities to find, secure and maintain employment. This research report examined the attitudes and beliefs of job development processionals articulated in a previous technical report by TransCen, Inc. and looked to further explore the relationship between the types, other personal characteristics and placement outcomes of the various job developer types.

Persons with Disabilities Seeking Employment and Public Transportation: Findings from a New Jersey Survey

September 1, 2012

Over a seven month period in 2010-2012, the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey conducted a survey of persons with disabilities in New Jersey who were actively searching for employment. The purpose of the survey was to identify key transportation-related issues -- with an emphasis on those related to public transit use -- hindering respondent job search and employment opportunities. The brief discusses how transportation is a prominent factor in the job search process and presents an overview of survey findings as they relate to public transit availability, usage, importance, and satisfaction among the approximately 500 survey respondents.

Strategies to Support Employer-Driven Initiatives to Recruit and Retain Employees with Disabilities

July 1, 2012

Across the United States, a growing number of employers have established initiatives to increase the participation of workers with disabilities within their companies. These employers typically establish partnerships with local workforce and disability service organizations to source for talent. Coordinated by a single agency (or small number of agencies), employers are provided assistance and support services for recruitment, training, and job retention for employees with disabilities. This research brief presents four profiles that highlight innovative practices among employers operating warehouse distribution centers in the U.S.

The State of the U.S. Workforce System: A Time for Incremental Realignment or Serious Reform?

June 7, 2012

A report from the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development aims to start a dialogue about the U.S. workforce system, and what it would look like if it were built for today's economy and by using today's tools and processes. The report seeks to spark conversations that can lead to a re-imagination and redesign of a system that can adapt to fundamentally changed economic, demographic and political circumstances and environments.

Strategies Used by Employment Service Providers in the Job Development Process: Are they consistent with what employers want?

November 1, 2011

Historically, the role of job developers employed in the state/federal vocational rehabilitation program and the larger network of community-based rehabilitation programs has been to identify and secure paid employment for individuals with disabilities, particularly those with significant disabilities. This technical report describes the results of a study of job development/job placement professionals' strategies in the employment process, and compares these results to employer perceptions of the employment process from recent literature. The report also identifies implications for job development/placement practice based on this comparative analysis.

Evaluating Workforce Programs: A Guide to What Policymakers Need to Know to Structure Effective, User-Friendly Evaluations

September 12, 2011

This brief discusses the value and purpose of program evaluations, highlights different evaluation tools and techniques, and illustrates how policy makers and program managers can structure and implement evaluations of workforce development programs.

Graduating to Success in Employment: How Social Media Can Aid College Students in the Job Search

September 12, 2011

This issue brief, the second in a series on social media in workforce development, explores how college career service centers can assist college students and recent college graduates in using social media as part of their job search.

Green Jobs: A Resources Guide for Individuals with Disabilities

September 1, 2011

Everyone is talking about "green jobs". But finding out what a green job really is, what training and education is required, and how to access these jobs can be a difficult task, especially for indivduals who have a disability. This guide is designed to direct people with disabilities and their advocates to the information and resources they need to begin an effective job search for green occupations.

Identifying Gaps and Setting Priorities for Employment and Training Research

July 1, 2011

The report summarizes recent workforce and employment related research, to identify current gaps in employment and training research and makes recommendations for future research processes and priorities that could better inform policy makers, practitioners, job seekers and employers. The report reviews workforce and related research funded by several federal agencies, including the US Departments of Labor, Education, Agriculture, Health and Human Services, and Housing and Urban Development, the National Science Foundation and other federal entities, as well as research undertaken by regional, state and local workforce agencies and philanthrophic organizations.

Creating a Pathway to a Better Financial Future: Developing State Strategies for Asset Development and Wealth Creation for People with Disabilities

June 8, 2011

Dedicated economic advancement strategies - such as savings and building assts, homeownership, and entrepreneurship -- are increasingly viewed as an important part of public policy efforts to give people with disabilities expanded access to the labor market. While no single program, policy, funding stream, or strategy to build assets has proven to be a universal solution for the multiple challenges encountered by low income individuals and their families, a variety of tools and strategies are being implemented by federal, state and local governments and communities to help lift disadvantaged wage earners - including workers with disabilities -- out of poverty. This brief introduces basic asset development concepts, tools, and activities that states can use as a framework for developing comprehensive, integrated state asset development strategies for people with disabilities and their families.

Social Enterprise Businesses: A Strategy for Creating Good Jobs for People with Disabilities

June 8, 2011

Over the past 10 years, there has been a tremendous growth in entities known as social enterprise businesses. This approach has been particularly promising in creating new opportunities for individuals with disabilities in emerging and growth industries. Over the past five years, the Kessler Foundation's "Transition to Work" grants program has invested $18 million toward the goal of creating job opportunities for people with disabilities. This investment has included support for several social enterprise businesses in New Jersey, stemming from the Foundation's believe that these businesses have potential for increasing employment of people with disabilities.

The Great Recession and Serving Dislocated Workers with Disabilities: Perspectives from One-Stop Career Centers and Rapid Response Coordinators

June 1, 2011

Recognizing the scope of long term unemployment and the consequences it exerts on all jobseekers, but especially people with disabilities, the report seeks to gain a better understanding of the extent to which people with disabilities who had lost their jobs in the Great Recession were seeking services from the public workforce system. The report also seeks to identify strategies, if any, being used at the state and local levels to help job seekers with disabilities reconnect with the labor market.