Francine Rodriguez represents the Westside Center for Independent Living and has been active in implementing the Department of Labor two-year demonstration grant in the South Bay area.

People with disabilities in California, including Latinos, may now find it easier to obtain the services they need to find employment. A two-year demonstration grant from the Department of Labor is helping eliminate barriers experienced by disabled job seekers who want to use the One Stop Service Centers in Westchester, Inglewood, Gardena, Hawthrone, and the Beach Cities in the South Bay region. Organizations involved with the grant are hoping their work can, and will, be emulated in other parts of the United States.

Three partners are involved with the grant in South Bay: the Westside Center for Independent Living, the Westside Regional Center, and the South Bay Workforce Investment Board. Many additional community and private entities have also contributed to the project by helping to identify existing barriers to employment and helping to decide how to remove these barriers.

Eliminating Physical Barriers

Francine Rodriguez, from the Westside Center for Independent Living, explained the grant to participants at the Building Bridges conference. "A One Stop Service is a community agency that helps people find employment in various ways," said Rodriguez. "Often, they're not friendly for people with disabilities. The phone, water fountains, computer desk, and front doors are not accessible."

The grant funded physical renovations at the One Stop Service Centers to make it easier for job-hunters with disabilities to enter and leave the center, use the restroom areas, and have access to computer systems. Assistive technology such as Jaws, WIN Reader, and TTY phones were installed. Now, said Rodriguez, "Anyone can come and use the computer, phone, and fax. They can look at job postings. A person can get a case manager or sign up for training if they qualify."

Attitudes: The Next Barrier

In addition to removing physical barriers, intensive training about disabilities was offered to staff members at the targeted One Stop Service Centers. Rodriguez indicated that One Stop Service Centers are often understaffed, which means that the staff is "overwhelmed, and not willing to learn about disabilities," said Rodriguez. "The hardest problem was dealing with the attitude that the agency was understaffed and underpaid. They're dealing with homelessness, drug abuse, and HIV."

Training for staff members at One Stop Service Centers included teaching them about the range of disabilities that consumers might have, including mobility disabilities, vision impairments, hearing loss, developmental disabilities, HIV, substance abuse, and mental illnesses. Various community agencies helped train One Stop staff in the special needs of consumers who are homeless, women living in shelters as domestic abuse survivors, and veterans seeking employment. Trainers also taught staff about the etiquette needed to work effectively with job seekers who have disabilities, reasonable accommodations, and job development for people with disabilities.

"Our constant goal is working with the attitudes of the staff," said Rodriguez. "For example, some staff still believe they should transfer people with disabilities to Rehabilitation services." Instead, the Westside Center for Independent Living and other entities are supporting One Stop Service Centers in efforts to provide job training and education for people with disabilities who want to enter the work force, or who need refresher training in a specific area or occupation.

Rodriguez indicated that she has also been trying to set up on-the-job training for people with disabilities for as long as needed. In this program, people with disabilities would sign up with employers to obtain job training. The employers would have the option of hiring workers at the end of their training. "Hopefully what we've done [in South Bay] can be emulated," said Rodriguez.

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