Case Studies on the Implementation of the Workforce Investment Act: Focus on Involving Customers with Disabilities

Although it is uniformly accepted that customers with disabilities should be involved in the process to create a new workforce system under the mandates of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), anecdotal evidence suggests this to be more rhetoric than reality. Currently One-Stop Career Centers, workforce boards, and states are struggling with how to solicit and incorporate this important input into the planning process. The following is offered as a tool to help involve customers with disabilities as One-Stop centers are developed. This brief is part of a series of products offering practical solutions for state and local entities as they implement the Workforce Investment Act. Topics covered in other briefs include: leadership, merging cultures between partnering agencies, accessibility, and co-location. The source of much of the information presented below is from state case studies conducted in Maine, Minnesota, and Kentucky, completed as part of the Center on State Systems and Employment. Additional information is derived from other Institute for Community Inclusion work on increasing access for individuals with disabilities within the workforce system