The Idaho Department of Labor’s statewide team of specialists focused on removing employment barriers for workers with disabilities has received national recognition.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration labeled Idaho’s Disability Program Navigator initiative one of the most effective among the states.
The Disability Program Navigator project began two years ago under a $1 million federal grant. Headed by Gordon Graff, the Idaho project involves department staff strategically placed in local offices throughout the state to assist people with disabilities navigate the often-complex programs intended to help them get and retain jobs.
Randee Ellen Chafkin, the senior program specialist for disability programs at the U.S. Department of Labor, said in a letter to Idaho Labor Director Roger B. Madsen that Graff and his team have been of significant assistance to her office and have developed many examples of promising procedures that are being spread nationwide.
Idaho’s “innovation, expertise and commitment have resulted in the Idaho DPN grant having a large positive impact on promoting quality employment of people with disabilities not only in Idaho, but also throughout the country,” Chafkin wrote.
Just this month, Graff and his team provided an Internet-based training session on collaboration among navigators and others in the work force system to assist disabled veterans. Registration for the session nationwide was at the maximum within three days of its announcement and a waiting list of hundreds more was created.
“Gordon’s commitment to the workers of Idaho, able-bodied and disabled, is unmatched,” Madsen said. “His team has had a significant and welcomed impact on the composition of our state’s labor pool.”