1. Disability Employment Initiative (DEI) Lessons Learned for WIOA: The Integrated Resource Team Approach for Populations with Multiple Challenges to Employment
Webinar Date: October 22, 2015
Presented by:
U.S. Department of Labor
Employment and Training Administration

2. Enter your location in the Chat window – lower left of screen
Where are you?
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3. Moderators Moderator: Laura Ibanez Title: Unit Chief
Organization: Employment and Training Administration
Moderator: Miranda Kennedy
Title: Director of Training for DEI, NDI Technical Assistance Team
Organization: National Disability Institute # 3

4. Here’s what you can expect to get out of this webinar!
An overview of the Integrated Resource Team (IRT) approach
Examples of IRT outcomes for populations with significant barriers to employment
Implications of the IRT strategy for WIOA
Strengthening partnership collaboration through IRT implementation #

5. Agenda Background on the Integrated Resource Team (IRT)
Coordination of the Integrated Resource Team
The Integrated Resource Team and WIA Performance
The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA)
WIOA and the Integrated Resource Team #

6. Presenters Presenter: DJ Ralston Title: Workforce Development Expert
Organization: National Disability Institute
Presenter: Brian Ingram
Title: Workforce Development Expert
Organization: National Disability Institute # 6

7. Background on IRT Strategy
Disability Employment Initiative (DEI) Lessons Learned for WIOA: The Integrated Resource Team Approach for Populations with Multiple Challenges to Employment
Background on IRT Strategy

8. Background on the IRT Strategy
The Disability Program Navigator (DPN) Initiative implemented in focused on the coordination of services to job seekers with multiple challenges to employment.
Disability Program Navigators (DPNs) witnessed the disconnect within and outside of the workforce investment system that often prevented job seekers with multiple challenges from accessing the array of available services/supports.
Many job seekers with complex resource needs were often ‘bounced’ from agency to agency, with a lack of processes in place to effectively coordinate or communicate across agencies and programs.
As a result of this identified need for Resource coordination at a customer level, a strategy was developed in selected DPN projects that proved effective in addressing these multiple challenges to employment and increasing access to intensive services and the outcomes associated with for these customers.

9. Background on the IRT Strategy
As plans were laid for the DEI (2010-present), successful strategies from the DPN initiative were incorporated as Service delivery strategies that were intended to be standardized and applied over multiple projects over the course of the initiative.
The IRT was included as one of these strategies and has indeed been selected by all 43 DEI projects operating within 27 states for implementation and has become a key element in the service design of these projects.
While the DEI is an active initiative; two of six rounds have been completed and some performance related data is available.

10. Vision of the IRT
“IRTs are organized around an individual jobseeker with a disability who experiences multiple challenges to employment and who has been enrolled in WIA intensive and/or training services (or is attempting to attain enrollment in these services). The concept from the IRT has now evolved to specifically refer to job seekers with disabilities who are currently enrolled and/or to be enrolled in WIA intensive and training services.”
From the Round 3 SGA – Page 9 (

11. What is an IRT?
An IRT is initiated on behalf of an individual who is experiencing multiple challenges to employment in order to address that one individual’s specific needs.
The jobseeker is responsible for identifying his/her role on an IRT and contributing towards attaining the employment goal.
The IRT brings together a team of diversified service providers, including community and partner agencies and Job Center programs, who work together with the individual job seeker to strategize on how services can be coordinated to reach and maintain an employment goal.
This “team” approach can promote greater systems collaboration, increasing cross-agency education and accountability.
All IRT members may collectively gain credit for the job seeker’s employment outcome.

12. What an IRT is and is NOT…
An IRT is NOT an interagency committee consisting of various community agencies that focus on systems collaboration.
IRT is an informal approach used for an INDIVIDUAL job seeker and should be driven by that jobseekers needs, each IRT is unique and the members reflect the customers resource needs to reach a specific employment goal, and that customers eligibility for specific services.
The main purpose of an IRT is NOT resource mapping or to assist an individual to learn about various agency resources.
The main purpose of an IRT is EMPLOYMENT.

13. Who Participates on an IRT?
An IRT may consist of members from a wide variety of community programs and service providers, including:
The Workforce Investment system
Mental Health
Vocational Rehabilitation
Parole officers
Veteran’s services
Supported Employment Specialist
Housing Provider
TANF
Advocates /Friends of Job Seeker

14. Goal of Introducing the IRT Model
To enhance cross-agency collaboration and communication to better leverage available resources in a seamless way for an individual jobseeker with a multiple challenges to employment.
To increase enrollments in available workforce development programs and enhance knowledge of available career options.
To help the Workforce system and partner agencies see the benefit of resource coordination and collaboration.

15. Disability Employment Initiative (DEI) Lessons Learned for WIOA: The Integrated Resource Team Approach for Populations with Multiple Challenges to Employment
Coordination of an IRT

16. Coordination of an IRT: Customer Assessment
Consider the following questions when deciding whether or not to propose the IRT approach with a job seeker:
The Employment Goal
Are there resources beyond those available in your system that are critical to your customer’s success in attaining his/her employment goal?
The Customer
What other system(s) is your customer currently accessing?
What services might your customer be eligible for that are relevant in attaining their employment goal?

17. Coordination of an IRT: Customer Assessment
Before approaching partners, a customer should be engaged in your system and positioned to access resources.
For example:
The customer should be determined eligible and enrolled in your system’s services, such as Job Center Intensive or training services.
The customer should have determined an employment goal that allows for the application of your system’s resources.
The customer should be consulted and agree to all contacts with other partners, i.e. have a clear understanding of the IRT approach (and releases signed where needed).

18. Coordination of an IRT: Approaching Partners
After other service providers have been identified as potentially meeting resource/support needs, the job seeker may make initial contact independently or with support:
Introduction – Explain the services that the customer is currently engaged in with your system.
Eligibility – Ask if there is anything you can do to help your customer to complete the partner’s eligibility process.
Establish Partnership – Let the other service providers know that you are interested in partnering if the customer is determined eligible for their services.
Tracking Progress – Be willing to assist in communicating any issues or challenges the customer experiences during this process of initiating enrollment with other systems.

19. Coordination of an IRT: Negotiating Shared Resource Plans
Whenever possible, a face-to-face meeting should be arranged with partners within an American Job Center.
Discuss the role that the customer will take as the driving member of the IRT, i.e., will they facilitate the meetings, lead the discussion or participate as a member.
Reach consensus around three key parameters:
A common employment goal
Lines of communication (established Prior to the need)
A sequence of services

20. Sample DEI/WIA flow (Detail)
DRC provides support to Customer and Staff around Access to all Center Services
Customer begins mandatory suite of core services
DRC Provides *ARC
Customer attends WIA enrollment meeting
DRC Assists with IRT Meeting
Customer implements IEP
Placement
Customer attends center orientation
Customer begins job search using core services only
Customer attends Job search workshop
Customer attends resume workshop
Customer attends interviewing workshop
DRC provides support to Customer and Staff around Access to all Center Services
Key Code
Customer Decision –
Customer Activity –
DEI Support -
*ARC = Active Resource Coordination

21. IRT and WIA Performance
Disability Employment Initiative (DEI) Lessons Learned for WIOA: The Integrated Resource Team Approach for Populations with Multiple Challenges to Employment
IRT and WIA Performance

22. Background on the IRT Strategy

23. Background on the IRT Strategy

24. Preliminary Data
The information on the following slides is preliminary data from the Year 4 Disability Employment Initiative (DEI) Synthesis Report, compiled by Social Dynamics, who serves as the Evaluation Contractor under contract by the USDOL’s Office of Disability Employment Policy for the DEI. #

25. Background on the IRT Strategy

26. Background on the IRT Strategy
Did pilot sites have a higher employment rate than the comparison sites by quarter after enrollment? 
Differences between the employment rates of treatment and comparison groups in quarters 2, 3, and 4 after exit were statistically significant.
In every quarter except quarter 1, the pilot group out-performed the comparison group, indicating that pilot sites placed more JSWD in employment than comparison sites.

27. Background on the IRT Strategy
Did exited and employed pilot site JSWD have higher earnings than those from comparison group sites?
Average earnings of individuals in the treatment sites were $5, in the first quarter and $5, in the third quarter after exit.
These figures were $ higher than the comparison site mean in the first quarter ($4,687.51) and $ ($4,905.39) higher in the third quarter
Mean differences were statistically significant, which indicates that DEI customers in the treatment sites earned more than their counterparts in the comparison sites.

28. Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA)
Disability Employment Initiative (DEI) Lessons Learned for WIOA: The Integrated Resource Team Approach for Populations with Multiple Challenges to Employment
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA)

29. Excerpt from a summary of:
WIOA; The Law.
Excerpt from a summary of:
The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act; Joint Rule for Unified and Combined State Plans, Performance Accountability, and the One-Stop System Joint Provisions; Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
WIOA strengthened the alignment of the workforce development system’s six core programs by imposing unified strategic planning requirements, common performance accountability measures, and requirements governing the one-stop delivery system. In so doing, WIOA placed heightened emphasis on coordination and collaboration at the Federal, State, and local levels to ensure a streamlined and coordinated service delivery system for job seekers, including those with disabilities, and employers.

30. WIOA; DOL Guidance
“Program coordination standards might also include operational standards such as: integrated resource teams such as those piloted in the Disability Employment Initiative or other methods are used to jointly fund services to meet the specific needs of individuals; resource rooms include high-quality up- to-date information about the services and supportive services available to individuals”
Excerpt on IRT and DEI is from pages and of the following NPRM Federal Register Notice: Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act; Joint Rule for Unified and Combined State Plans, Performance Accountability, and the One-Stop System Joint Provisions; Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Pages [FR DOC# ] (Joint Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) with the Departments of Education and Labor).

31. WIOA and the Integrated Resource Team
What we know about WIOA to date:
WIOA calls for streamlining of major programs, including the development of a unified state plan and cross-system/program common measures.
WIOA also calls for focusing services on targeted populations that in the past have been referred to as hard to serve/in greatest need and they have been tasked with providing more wrap around services.
What the IRT does:
Offers a tangible model for providing wrap around services based on the individual need of the job seeker to help the job seeker meet their employment goal (WIOA Performance) without the need for formal agreements but that as a model at the same time can be scaled up to inform and develop formalized agreements.

32. Disability Employment Initiative (DEI) Lessons Learned for WIOA: The Integrated Resource Team Approach for Populations with Multiple Challenges to Employment
IRT and WIOA

33. WIOA and IRT
The IRT is a model that can be implemented immediately allowing for cross agency/system collaboration to commence and it can be used as a prototype to scale that simulation from the local level all the way to the state level.
The IRT has many qualities that may make it an important and effective strategy for emerging WIOA service delivery models. This is due to the IRT’s method of coordinating resources that are:
Customer focused
Outcome driven
Informal
Applicable through multiple outcomes

34. Customer Focused
The IRT is formed in response to the Job Seeker’s individual employment goal.
The Job Seeker is an active participant in all IRT meetings and plan development.
The Job Seeker is at the center of this model, with resources and services being specifically coordinated based on the Job Seeker’s specific and unique needs.

35. Outcome Driven
Multiple systems and programs come together around one job seeker’s specific needs with the purpose of helping the customer to achieve their identified employment goal. The employment goal is the outcome thereby making the IRT “outcome driven” at its core.
Furthermore because the IRT requires that the job seeker be engaged at the intensive/training level of service this means the employment goal aligns with the performance outcomes associated with workforce programs. As such, the IRT propels job seekers towards program outcomes.

36. Informal
The IRT brings together multiple programs and systems in an informal way to assist a customer who has already been made eligible for each system/program’s specific services.
Multiple programs are able to come together and work collaboratively because none of these systems are being asked to provide resources or services that their program wouldn’t otherwise already be providing.
The IRT allows for these programs to be coordinated at the customer level thereby negating the need for formal agreements.
Instead with each program/system providing resources unique to their program in a coordinated fashion it ensures there is no duplication of services and allows programs/systems to leverage additional resources and dollars that ultimately allow them to serve a larger pool of job seekers all through coming together informally around one of the customer’s specific needs.

37. Applicable Through Multiple Outcomes
The IRT is an ongoing process that can support a job seeker through multiple outcomes because it is designed to help the job seeker meet their employment goal, upon achieving that goal they may wish to advance in their career, allowing the IRT to come back together to support the job seeker in attaining that next advanced employment goal.
Because the IRT is predicated on an employment goal and a sequence of services is established, an IRT could be easily applied to a Career Pathways model with programs and systems being coordinated in such a way that they can be leveraged for different sections of the career path (i.e. Workforce supports tuition and placement for initial participation in pathway with VR supporting tuition and placement for the next session). An IRT allows for both short-term and long-term planning.

38. In today’s presentation we covered the following:
Summary
In today’s presentation we covered the following:
The background on the Integrated Resource Team (IRT)
What an IRT is and is NOT
How to coordinate an Integrated Resource Team
How an IRT has been used to effectively serve and assist customers with multiple challenges to employment achieve system established performance outcomes
What the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity (WIOA) legislation says about the Integrated Resource Team strategy
Why the Integrated Resource Team is a “good fit” within the context of WIOA implementation

39. Integrated Resource Team Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Resources
Making Connections for Job Seekers with Disabilities – IRT Promising Practice Video
/info
Integrated Resource Team Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
/info #

40. Final Word from Laura Moderator: Laura Ibanez Title: Unit Chief
Organization: Employment and Training Administration # 40

41. Please enter your questions in the Chat Room!#

42. Speakers’ Contact Information
Speaker: DJ (Danielle) Ralston
Title: Workforce Development Expert
Organization: National Disability Institute
Telephone:
Speaker: Brian Ingram
Title: Workforce Development Expert
Organization: National Disability Institute
Telephone: #