Disability Program Navigators

Do you experience disability, homelessness, a criminal background, a long gap in work history, lack of transportation, or any other barrier to employment that has made your job search challenging?

All customers, regardless of the type or number of barriers to employment they may experience, have the ability to benefit from WorkSource services and have the capacity to reach outcomes associated with these services.

Worksystems Inc, has a history of developing and implementing innovative models to enhance access for all our customers. Through the Disability Program Navigator Initiative, a federally funded program sponsored by the US Department of Labor (DOL), WSI developed an array of strategies to improve access of customers with disabilities to the WorkSource system. Those strategies, including Career and Resource Mapping workshops, Resource Planning and Integrated Resource Teams have been recognized by the Department of Labor as national best practices. WSI continues to provide technical assistance around these practices to the DOL as they implement a new set of disability grants that focus on replicating the outcomes achieved locally with the use of these practices.

NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED FOR INNOVATION: Worksystems, Inc. has been sought out by the Department of Labor to provide technical assistance as they implement a new set of disability grants (the Disability Employment Initiative grants, 2011-2014). The Integrated Resource Team is a service strategy developed by WSI that has been incorporated into all nine of the state proposals awarded funding by the Department of Labor through this project,(Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, New Jersey, New York, and Virginia). WSI will assist in developing materials and trainings related to the best practices in providing workforce services for customers with disabilities.

Moving forward, Career and Resource Mapping workshops, Resource Planning and Integrated Resource Teams have been instrumental to the design and implementation of partnerships in our community and are currently being used to help social service case managers address multiple challenges to employment and case manage their customers through workforce services to living wage outcomes.

More information can also be found on the WorkSource Oregon website at
http://www.worksourceoregon.org/index.php/disability-navigator