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Colorado Youth WINS/SSA Youth Demonstration Project
Colorado
Youth WINS (Work Incentive Network of Supports) is a six year Youth Transition
Process Demonstration (YTPD) funded by Social Security Administration (SSA)
starting September 30, 2003. The overarching goal of the demonstration project
is to remove major barriers and disincentives to work for youth, aged 14-25, who
receive SSI, SSDI or CDB in order to maximize their economic self-sufficiency
and career advancement. The project is utilizing a two-prong approach to achieve
this system goal: 1. An Independence Team (I-TEAM) located in each selected
community and housed at the local Workforce Center will provide specialized and
intensive transition services to youth and their families including connecting
with Individual Development Accounts. This I-TEAM will consist of a DPN
(Disability Program Navigator), Benefits Planner and Career Counselor; and, 2.
Federal waivers (SSA) applied to participating youth to eliminate or greatly
reduce many of the current regulatory barriers to employment. Through this
demonstration, Colorado was selected to be part of the national evaluation being
conducted by Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. (MPR). Colorado WIN Partners has
a contract to participate in this rigorous random assignment evaluation design
expected to continue into 2009.
Mathematica Policy Research, Inc/Youth WINS:
This MOU between Colorado WIN Partners and Mathematica Policy Research will evaluate the Colorado Youth WINS SSA Demonstration Project. Under this agreement, Mathematica will enroll 880 youth in the evaluation and randomly assign them to the treatment and control groups. WIN Partners will recruit treatment group members into the study and deliver services to each of the youth enrolled and will conduct a process study of the implementation of Youth WINS and analyze impacts on outcomes of youth in the study. The two organizations will share research designs, data, and research results as necessary to allow them to carryout their responsibilities under this agreement.
DisabilityInfo.Gov
Gap Analysis Project:
The Association of University Centers on Disabilities, a national association, was hired by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) to perform a gap analysis of the 9 content areas of the DisabilityInfo.Gov website. Colorado WIN Partners was selected as the consultant and content expert for the Civil Rights Content Area of the website for the analysis.
WIRED – Colorado’s Metro Denver WIRED (Work Innovation in Regional Economic
Development) Initiative from a Disability Framework:
Colorado’s WIRED Initiative, funded by the U.S. Department of Labor, is designed to align workforce, economic development, and education in support of the regional economy. In November 2007, the Colorado Office of Workforce Development (COWD), the recipient of Colorado’s Disability Program Navigator (DPN) grant received additional funding from the US Department of Labor to assist Colorado’s WIRED Initiative with incorporating the disability perspective in all of its goals and activities. Colorado WIN Partners was asked to take the lead on this new initiative by the US Department of Labor and will work in collaboration with the COWD and Colorado’s DPN Initiative.
Disability
Program Navigators
(DPN)
The Colorado Office of Workforce Development contracted with Colorado WIN Partners/UCD to provide technical assistance and training for the twenty DPNs established in Colorado’s Workforce Centers across the state. The Colorado Workforce Development Council received funding from the U. S. Department of Labor and Social Security Administration to expand Disability Program Navigators (formerly Consumer Navigators) throughout the state. These DPNs are incorporated into the Consumer Navigator network encompassing the original Project WIN Consumer Navigators. Colorado WIN Partners/UCD plans and organizes statewide training, monthly statewide teleconferences, a statewide listserv and site visits to ensure successful implementation of this model. Colorado WIN Partners is also working with the Colorado Office of Workforce Development on reporting the systems analysis of this model in Colorado.
Disability Program Navigator Evaluation:
This contract is with Colorado’s Office of Workforce Development/Colorado Department of Local Affairs. It is the DPN Customer Satisfaction Study. This contract will assist the Colorado Office of Workforce Development (COWD) in designing and implementing a participant perspective study to determine the Colorado Workforce System’s degree of universal accessibility. This will be done by conducting focus groups and providing a final report with the findings from the study.
Disability Program Navigator/Division of Vocational Rehabilitation
The Colorado Department of Human Services/Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) has contracted with Colorado WIN Partners to implement a program evaluation for the DPN initiative in Colorado. Colorado WIN Partners will work hand in hand with the leadership team in developing the program evaluation, collecting baseline data and other information, developing reporting tools, analyzing the results and providing a report with the results to the DVR
COWD - Colorado Department of Labor and Employment - Developmental Disabilities
Demonstration – Person-Centered Individual Planning Project (PIPP):
The Scope of Work consists of directing and
monitoring the implementation of the Developmental Disabilities Youth
Demonstration Project and providing training and technical assistance to those
youth and families involved in the project. This project is designed to 1)
develop individual individualized plans (portfolio) to provide person-centered
workforce system services to 40 youth, ages 18-22 with developmental
disabilities; 2) identification of accommodations needed for the workforce
system to serve the developmental disability population; and 3) education of
youth with developmental disabilities and their parents/caregivers about
agencies and services the youth can work with after they leave the school
system.
CDLE - Developmental Disabilities Demonstration – Evaluating PIPP:
The Scope of Work consists of designing and implementing an evaluation of the
Developmental Disabilities Youth Demonstration Project operated through the
Jefferson County Workforce Center serving the Tri-County Region.
Department of Human Services/Colorado Works Program Evaluation: The Lewin
Group
The Colorado Department of Human Services (DHS) has contracted with the Lewin
Group and its partners, Colorado WIN Partners/The University of Colorado Denver,
the Johns Hopkins University’s Institute for Policy Studies, and Capital
Research Corporation to perform an in-depth study of the Colorado Works Program.
Its aim is to provide administrators with information about program strategies
and approaches counties might find useful for improving program implementation,
performance, and outcomes. The study began in January 2005 and has been designed
in active consultation with DHS and an Advisory Committee that includes
representative of the counties and Colorado’s advocacy community. The study
objective is to identify successful programmatic choices and service delivery
strategies used by the counties in order to learn more about what policies and
approaches work well. Topics for special analysis include: Program Coordination
and Collaboration in the Colorado Works Program; Employment Services and
Employer Interaction in Colorado Works Programs; Family and Preventative
Services in Colorado; and, Serving the Hard-To-Employ in Colorado.
COWD State Youth Council
The Colorado Office of Workforce Development has contracted with Colorado WIN
Partners to collaborate with Colorado’s State Youth Council in providing
statewide technical assistance, training, and evaluation activities. Colorado
WIN Partners will provide continued support and technical assistance to the
three previously funded and three currently funded youth transition sites
originally funded through the Office of Disability & Employment Policy and to
expand this technical assistance to all of the workforce regions within the
state. WIN Partners is also charged with developing and/or disseminating
training curriculum around components of the US Department of Labor’s “Promising
Practices” to be presented regionally in the state. WIN Partners will also
provide consultation and input regarding data collection and program evaluation
during the development of the next round of State Youth Council Program Guidance
Letters and attend bi-monthly State Youth Council meetings.
Easter Seals Evaluation
Consistent with the Department of Health and Human Services/Administration
for Children and Families, a multifaceted evaluation of the Cardio Expansion
Project (CEP) will be conducted by Colorado WIN Partners. This evaluation will
include both an implementation evaluation and an outcome evaluation. A
comprehensive evaluation plan that includes both of these elements will be
developed in the first year of the grant to ensure ample time to develop a
unified data collection system and collect baseline information.
DVR/Colorado Department of Human Services Needs
Assessment:
Colorado WIN Partners will work with the Colorado Department of Human
Services/Division of Vocational Rehabilitation and their State Rehabilitation
Council to design a Needs Assessment to identify the needs of individuals with
disabilities residing within the state for vocational rehabilitation services
and for guidance in the development of their state plan. Colorado WIN Partners
will conduct a needs assessment survey, analyze survey results to identify the
needs of individuals for vocational rehabilitation services and to determine the
need to establish, develop, or improve community rehabilitation programs within
the state. In addition to assessing overall general services and customers’
needs, the effectiveness of two initiatives will be assessed: efforts to reduce
paperwork and increase self-employment options for consumers.
RERC (Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center)
Colorado WIN Partners was contracted by the Colorado Assistive Technology
Partners to participate on their new Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center
(RERC) for the Advancement of Cognitive Technologies Project. Colorado WIN
Partners’ role is to assist in the design and development of the “Perceptive
Animated Interfaces for Workforce Training” demonstration project and in
evaluating the 12 research programs in the Center to determine adherence to and
movement towards the RERC’s goals.
Colorado Department of Labor and Employment/WELLS Center:
Colorado WIN Partners will perform the evaluation of the CDLE/Colorado Trust 5 Million Lives Project through the WELLS Center. WIN Partners will design and implement an evaluation of the project. This will include managing and directing the research, gathering and analyzing data, writing the evaluation, presenting conclusions, and writing and publishing a final Project Evaluation report.