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News and Updates

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Current Events

The WRP Database is now live! Remember to create your 2009 user account from March 16 forward at www.wrp.gov. At the top left, is a link to where you can register for a password. The password-protected website goes live on March 18 with
information on almost 2,000 students. The website can be used to search for potential employees by students' occupational interests, academic majors, degree programs, school attended, geographic preferences, keywords in interview notes, etc. You can then print or save (in PDF
format) the results of your searches. You can also print or save the detailed information about just one student via a PDF report.
Move quickly! The competition for students can be fierce, especially in the Washington, D.C., area where many organizations plan to hire at headquarters. Include all your locations nationwide in your efforts to place students.
A good approach usually is to identify students whose geographic preferences include the location of a least one of your installations that has expressed an interest in hiring through the program. Print out and fax (or save and email) the PDF-format student report to selecting officials. Be sure to include some particularly promising candidates regardless of their geographic preferences, as students often change
their minds when a job offer comes their way. Some students are very willing to spend the summer any place they find an opportunity that appeals to them. Please also remind your selecting officials that they too can get accounts on the website so they can do searches on their own.

FAA Launches New One-Stop Website for Job Applicants With Disabilities
The Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Office of Civil Rights National People with Disabilities Program is pleased to announce the establishment of our new website for job applicants with disabilities.
This new site, which is a part of FAA's ongoing effort to become a model employer of people with disabilities, is a one-stop resource where prospective FAA job applicants with disabilities can find information on our noncompetitive hiring process for people with disabilities, requesting reasonable accommodations, the FAA National People with Disabilities Program, and more.

To access this new resource, please go to www.faa.gov/jobs. and then click on Guidance for People with Disabilities.

Please share this information with your disability networks.

Should you have any questions regarding FAA's new disability website, please contact Mandy Haltrech at mandy.haltrecht@faa.gov or by phone at (202) 385-8127

Headlines in the News

Government Jobs: Why They're Hot Right Now
By Cara Scharf, Wet Feet
Omar Monteilh entered his Howard University MBA program with hopes of becoming a consultant at a private financial firm. But the dismal state of the economy has changed his mind.

OPM Urged to Offer Rapid Hiring Authority for Stimulus Efforts
By Robert Brodsky, Government Executive
The Office of Personnel Management should give federal agencies blanket fast-track hiring authority to bring back former employees and recruit new workers to implement the massive economic stimulus package, watchdogs and lawmakers said on Thursday.

Obama Proposes Staffing Increases for Some Agencies
By Alyssa Rosenberg, Government Executive
President Obama's first budget will boost staffing at a number of federal agencies, but it is not yet clear if the administration plans a long-term workforce expansion to help implement the economic bailout and address other shortfalls.

DHS's George Salim: Training Generation Y to Fight Terrorism
By The Partnership for Public Service, Washington Post
At the Department of Homeland Security, George Salim is building the next generation of Americans trained to combat terrorist activities. He isn't doing it by training soldiers, but instead by tapping into a group of Arabic-speaking college students who want a career in public service.

A Troublesome Decline in Disability Hiring--Stephen Barr Washington Post Jan. 17, 2008

EEOC Faults Government Efforts to Hire People with Disabilities--Stephen Losey Federal Times Jan. 21, 2008

Updates on the EEOC's LEAD Initiative

Questions and Answers: Promoting Employment of Individuals with Disabilities in the Federal Workforce

EEOC's Annual Report on the Federal Work Force Fiscal Year 2007

"ABC's on Schedule A" Booklets

Schedule A for the Hiring Manager -PDF | Word

Schedule A for the HR Professional - PDF | Word

Schedule A for the Disability Program Manager - PDF | Word

About LEAD-- "LEAD (Leadership for the Employment of Americans with Disabilities) is the EEOC's initiative to address the declining number of employees with targeted disabilities in the federal workforce. The goal for this initiative is to significantly increase the population of individuals with severe disabilities employed by the federal government."

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has issued two new question-and-answer (Q&A) guides providing technical assistance for employers and veterans on workplace issues affecting veterans with service-connected disabilities. The following is the link to the EEOC press release: http://eeoc.gov/press/2-29-08.html.

EEOC Report: Improving the Participation Rate of People with Disabilities in the Federal Workforce January 2008

Updates from OPM

OPM's Report on Agencies use of Hiring flexibilties 2008

GovExec's article on OPM's report

Proposed OPM Rule to Eliminate the Time-In-Grade Requirement

Proposed OPM rule to revise its regulations regarding medical qualification determinations

OPM's Disability Resource pages

Schedule A Guidance

Memo from the Director of OPM to Chief Human Capital Officers regarding the Hiring Authority for People with Disabilities

Updates from ODEP, DOL

Kathy Martinez, Nominee for Assistant Secretary for Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), Department of Labor
Blind since birth, Kathy Martinez is an internationally recognized disability rights leader specializing in employment, asset building, independent living, international development, diversity and gender issues. She was appointed Executive Director of the World Institute on Disability (WID), based in Oakland, CA, in 2005. Martinez directs Proyecto Visión, WID’s National Technical Assistance Center to increase employment opportunities for Latinos with disabilities in the United States, and Access to Assets, an asset-building project to help reduce poverty among people with disabilities. At WID, she also led the team that produced the acclaimed international webzine DisabilityWorld (www.disabilityworld.org) in English and Spanish. In 2007 she was appointed a member of the board of the U.S. Institute of Peace, a Congressionally-created agency dedicated to research and projects in conflict management. In 2005 Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice appointed Martinez as one of eight public members of the newly-established State Department advisory committee on disability and foreign policy. In 2002 she was appointed by President Bush as one of 15 members of the National Council on Disability, an independent federal agency advising the Presi dent and Congress on disability policy.

ODEP releases a new Survey on Employer Perspectives

The Survey of Employer Perspectives on the Employment of People with Disabilities is the first of its magnitude, with responses representing more than 2.4 Million companies nationwide. The survey reveals that a majority of large businesses hiring people with disabilities are discovering that costs for accommodations differ very little from those of the general employee population. Additionally, the survey showed that once an employer hires someone with a disability, they are much more likely to hire other people with disabilities. http://www.dol.gov/odep/documents/survey_report_jan_09.doc

EARN Launches New Federal Business Case for Hiring People with Disabilities

EARN has launched a new Federal business case for hiring people with disabilities on EARNWorks. The business case was developed specifically for federal agencies and addresses issues relevant to the federal government, including the President’s Management Agenda, Schedule A and other hiring authorities, and the impending workforce shortage.

Federal human resources professionals, functional and hiring managers, Chief Human Capital Officers, Selective Placement Program Coordinators, Disability Program Managers, and others can use the Federal business case to learn about the contributions people with disabilities can make to an agency’s workforce and for insights from other agencies about developing programs and strategies to become a more inclusive organization.

The Federal business case was developed based on industry and Focus Group (MS Word) research. Explore the Federal business case on EARNWorks.

EARN E-News Update pdf

EARNWorks Employer – Tools- An extensive collection of disability employment tools for employers.

Updates from Justice

Online Training "Reaching Out to Customers with Disabilities" available.

HUD and Justice Department release new guidance on "Reasonable Modifications" under the Fair Housing Act.

New guidance released this week by the Departments of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Justice (DOJ) reinforced the right of persons with disabilities to make “reasonable modifications” to their dwellings if a structural change to their dwelling or to a common area of the building or complex in which they live is needed so that they can fully enjoy the premises.

Updates from the Access Board

TEITAC Presents its Report on the 508 Standards in April

On April 3, the Telecommunications and Electronic and Information Technology Advisory Committee (TEITAC) presented its report to the Access Board on updating accessibility criteria for information and communication technologies. The committee’s report recommends revisions to the Board’s standards for electronic and information technology covered by section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. It also addresses updates to guidelines for telecommunications products issued by the Board under section 255 of the Telecommunication Act.

Updates from GSA

GSA to grade agencies on 508 compliance

GSA will allow Segway use in Federal Buildings for people with mobility impairments.

One more way to stay informed about new information being added to DisabilityInfo.gov: http://twitter.com/Disabilitygov.

Do you have news you'd like to have posted here? Contact jennifer@fdwc.info