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Workforce Development
Orientations – Part Two: 7 Key Strategies for Ensuring Accessibility
Orientations are an excellent way to
inform customers about your services; it’s an opportunity to initiate a
professional and positive relationship. Great first impressions, not to mention
a clear message, are anchored on a well-prepared orientation.
The
following are seven key strategies to maximize the accessibility and impact of
your orientation:
1. Remind everyone before starting that
additional assistance is available.
Ideally, pre-registration
should already surface the kind of assistance participants will need. This may
include the use of assistive technology, alternate format materials, staff
support, adjustment to existing procedures, and in some cases the addressing of
physical accessibility issues.
To ensure everyone’s needs are met, don’t
wait for participants to come to you and inquire if assistance is available.
There are very few private moments in a group setting, and you don’t want to
lead your customers to the disclosure of disability in front of other customers.
This will not only impact your future working relationship, but this is also a
violation of their confidentiality. Before orientation begins, let customers
know that you or another staff person is available if they need any additional
assistance. You can also post signage in the center indicating the same.
2. Provide the community with a summary of customers served.
Your customers would like to know if they’re qualified for your services.
For this purpose, explain in detail what’s meant by the term ‘disability’. Give
examples of not just visible disabilities, but hidden ones as well. This
includes learning disabilities, cognitive impairments, psychiatric disabilities
or medical conditions that are not readily apparent. Also identify and explain
other target groups, such as Limited English Proficiency.
A complete
list can help your customers increase their awareness of what they’re eligible
for. More importantly, a list avoids public disclosure. You don’t want to compel
participants to have to ask if they are covered or eligible for your services.
Be proactive!
3. Discuss why disclosure is important.
Disclosure about disability is ultimately voluntary. There are various
reasons why a customer would feel that disclosure is not a good idea, including
the fear that what they share may disqualify them for services.
The best
way to address this concern is to explain how disclosure of their situation or
disability may help qualify them for additional services and that inquiries are
only made for this purpose. Knowing a customer’s full history, or the parts that
are relevant to the job placement process, will increase the likelihood of a
positive placement.
To encourage your customer’s disclosure, emphasize
that all information will be kept confidential, even after your working
relationship has ended. It’s their legal right. In fact, any disability-related
information is required to be kept in a separate file to ensure discrimination
does not occur during the placement process.
4. Provide an
overview of partner services.
A great program is one that’s
comprehensive and seamless. Partners are a key component in providing services.
While it’s not important for your customers to know what funding is paying for a
particular service, it is important for them to understand exactly what your
partners do.
This should be provided in writing so it can be referenced
following the orientation. However, including partners in the orientation itself
is the best way to provide detailed information and address relevant
misconceptions. For example, in California, few know that the Department of
Rehabilitation provides vocational rehabilitation services. Based on its name,
most believe this is an agency providing substance dependence services. Never
assume your customers already know an agency’s purpose.
5.
Explain why evaluation is important.
Most workforce development
agencies require some type of evaluation to determine a customer’s math, reading
and/or writing skills. This is done to ensure a customer is adequately prepared
for certain jobs and to provide additional assistance in addressing basic skill
deficiencies.
For your customers, evaluations of any type can be anxiety
provoking. If you are administering any type of evaluation, it’s important that
you explain what it is, why you’re doing it, and what the results will be used
for.
Emphasize that evaluation can help you match them to the
appropriate opportunities and that documentation is necessary (this may vary by
program) to gain access to programs and funds. Emphasize that the test results
will only be shared with staff and partners on a need to know basis only and
that results will be kept confidential.
6. Discuss Testing
Accommodations
Reassure customers that testing accommodations
will be provided, if requested. For example, a quiet space or additional time
may be provided if there is not a time limit. This will help ensure that the
results are an accurate measure of the customer’s abilities.
7.
Acceptance of Previous Assessment Scores
If your customer has
participated in a similar program or is referred to you, be sure to check if
they already have any relevant test scores. This will eliminate the possibility
of your customer going through any necessary re-testing.
Would you like to reprint this article?
You may as long as you include this blurb in its entirety:
Lisa Jordan
is a disability and workforce development expert. Lisa uses her keen ability to
identify challenges and develop solutions so
that workforce development professionals can increase their comfort level,
productivity and effectiveness when working with a diverse clientele. Download
Lisa’s White Paper on 5 Easy Disability Tips to Immediately Increase Agency
Accessibility by visiting
http://www.human-solutions.net.
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