Published On: June 2, 2015

Today’s post was written by Troy Frisz
What benefits are there for employers to hire persons with disabilities? Several industry surveys show that employees with disabilities have low turnover rates, low absenteeism, and high productivity. Furthermore, employers may receive tax credits and incentives from state and federal governments. When utilized, employees with disabilities have a strong support system that can provide additional training, accommodations, and/or employer advocacy.
The Great Recession hit the disability population harder than other demographics. The recovery has shown little change in the displaced disabled workforce. In order to stay profitable during the recession employers consolidated job descriptions in order to reduce their workforce. In today’s recovery, job opportunities have increased, but those jobs now require the ability to perform several skills in order to successfully complete all assigned tasks. The days of job carving are long gone.
Over the last 10 years eligible candidates have increased for Vocational Rehabilitation services. The increase is related to veterans, an older generation staying in the workforce, and the redefining definition of disabilities. Currently, few programs address older workers and the new challenges that they face. Veteran programs are often determined on a year to year basis thus doing little to address any on-going services. When a disability is redefined, it is seen as the trendy cause of the moment, often pulling funds from existing programs and rarely encouraging any new funding.
Peter at Butler University smiling at cameraDr. Christopher T. King looks at how the existing system can improve under the WIA. Dr. King is the former director of the Ray Marshall Center for the Study of Human Resources at the Lyndon Baines Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. His study is called “Improving Service for Persons with Disabilities under the Workforce Investment Act and Related Programs: Challenges, Opportunities, and a Way Forward.” This study’s focus is on the difficulties of employment services post recession.
“This paper concludes that employment support programs will benefit substantially from using performance standard adjustments and service incentives. These instruments will lessen unintended disincentives for service providers that the WIA system generates. In addition, data collection is often limited to self-reporting of disabilities, making it difficult to clarify the mix of services that should be provided… Lastly, there should be a concentrated effort to build a collaborative network of partners that involve not only state VR (Vocational Rehabilitation) programs, but other organizations that are tasked with serving individuals with disabilities as well.” (D, King. P 5.)
Tools that are now becoming more readily available are internships and work trials. Internships often provide interns to employers at no cost or commitment. Interns are given a chance to prove their capabilities within a reasonable time frame. Depending on the internship’s funding, interns can be paid a small stipend that will help cover transportation, clothing and food. Work trials are on the job assessments. Often the candidate is followed by their support system to evaluate their capabilities so that an accurate placement can be pursued. At this time these are the most commonly used tools that would be in line with Dr King’s recommendations.
The Connect to Work internship focuses on building job skills and experiences for candidates that have little to no work experience or large gaps in their work history. Through a private grant, Easter Seals Crossroads offers a weekly stipend to their internship candidates at no cost to host companies. Candidates are required to work 15-20 hours weekly for 8 weeks. Host sites are never asked for a commitment of employment at any time during the internship.
Host companies receive the benefit of visible assessing quality applicants. Each candidate goes through a pre-admittance assessment that provides the best qualified intern for each position. Once placed, Easterseals Crossroads provides worksite training for each intern which is designed to meet the host company’s specifications. Throughout the internship the candidate is assigned both a Project Coordinator and an Employment Specialist that follows the candidate’s progression to ensure the best results to both the host company and the intern.
The Connect to Work internship is yet another way that Easterseals Crossroads is leading the way in Vocational Rehabilitation Service.