Raising Disability Awareness and Self-Efficacy of One-Stop Workforce Center Staff Serving Job Seekers with Disabilities

Abstract

Under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) access to employment services for all job seekers, including those with disabilities, is available partly through a system of One-Stop Workforce Centers (Storen & Dixon, 1999; U.S. Department of Labor, 2001). However, early studies of WIA implementation found that One-Stops had limited outreach to and lacked accessibility for people with disabilities. This article describes a training program designed to raise disability awareness and self-efficacy of One-Stop staff serving people with disabilities, and to contribute to a unified culture of sensitivity toward, and an ability to work with, job seekers with disabilities.