The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended by Title IV of the Workforce Investment Opportunities Act (WIOA) of 2014, defines Competitive Integrated Employment as, "work that is performed on a full-time or part-time basis for which an individuals is: (a) compensated at or above minimum wage or commensurate with individuals without disabilities…

It is hard to imagine a more critical time for helping the low-skilled and disenfranchised youth in our communities to become gainfully employed. Even as the nation suffers through its worst economic downturn in decades, America's business and industry leaders are predicting an unprecedented shortage of educated and skilled workers to meet the…

This document contains work force development learning objectives formulated from focus and DACUM (Developing a Curriculum) groups conducted by members of the professional development workgroup coordinated by the National Association of Workforce Development Professionals (NAWDP). Included are general objectives based on areas of responsibility…

This packet contains seven short guides for activities that help work force development professionals develop their professionalism and establish ties with their peers. The guides cover the following topics: (1) building local peer networks; (2) meeting with other work force development professionals; (3) planning a roundtable; (4) sponsoring…

This paper examines why the Airway Science Program, initiated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to develop college-educated and technically prepared personnel for FAA employment (primarily for air traffic control), has failed to meet its work force goals. Research data were gathered from interviews with Airway Science Program…

This report contains a compendium of the opinions and concerns of a task force that researched current conditions that affect court-involved youth and identifies the most promising strategies for connecting court-involved youth to the labor market. The report includes three introductory chapters, four chapters related to task force discussion…

The employability of secondary-level youth is considered by a youth employment company official in testimony to the National Commission on Excellence in Education. Attention is directed to ways in which young people, and particularly the economically disadvantaged, can acquire the necessary reading, writing, and math skills for on-the-job success.…

This guide focuses on these two key challenges that states and localities have identified as important for the long-term success of welfare reform and work force development efforts: helping low-income parents sustain employment (steady work) and advance in the work force (better jobs). The guide consists of five parts and is structured to…

This document consists of three closely related reports, dealing with "State Governments", "Regional Councils", and "Local Econcomic Development Agencies", respectively, together with a fourth document, a preceding overview. These documents draw from results of a project to identify successful approaches to coordinating economic development and…

This paper proposes a model for a neighborhood program to help enough low-income individuals improve their employment and financial standing so that the impacts are meaningful at a neighborhood scale. Section I describes the project. Section II explains why neighborhood-focused employment programs are an important part of the solution for…

This document is a workbook that describes how youth practitioners, Workforce Investment Act (WIA) entities, policymakers, funders, and others can use the Promising and Effective Practices Network (PEPNet) to improve the field of youth employment and youth development. The workbook begins with an introduction to PEPNet, which is a framework for…

This document is intended to aid those in Texas doing joint planning of vocational and technical education programs with programs conducted under the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA), the Adult Education Act, Chapter I of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act, the Education of the Handicapped Act, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and…

This guide describes common One-Stop Career Center system-building goals and summarizes strategies used by states and local One-Stop sites to further each goal. Part I, Organizing and Governing One-Stop Systems, has these two chapters: Guiding One-Stop Systems: The State Role; and Building Local Partnerships and Governing One-Stop Systems. Part…

This publication provides a model curriculum with a focus on welfare-to-work, school-to-work, and first-time employees. It emphasizes the basic competencies most valued by employers for the current and future domestic and global work force. Section 1 presents an overview of LifeWork, a performance-based transitional program that uses the…

Progress in integration of state-level welfare and work force development systems in the Midwest was examined through case studies of 10 communities in 7 states. The case studies focused on local-level coordination and/or integration between the welfare and work force development systems. Despite legislative mechanisms to encourage collaboration,…