Maryland:

• The Budget and Management Department has a coordinator who assists state agencies to include persons with disabilities in the applicant pool for state positions.
• The Highway Administration has included in its Strategic Plan for Managing Diversity 2000-2004 a plan to promote state government employment opportunities to disability advocacy organizations.

Vermont:

• The Governor recorded a series of radio Public Service Announcement specifically designed to encourage all people, including those with disabilities, to consider state employment.
• The Human Resources Department is developing a “Working for the State” workshop for community-based organizations throughout the state, including people with disabilities. The Department also partners with the Division of Rehabilitation to assist individuals with specific impairments/disabilities in applying for jobs.
• The Personnel Department works with the Division for the Blind and Visually Impaired to provide vocational assessments and evaluations for assistive technology.
• Vermont allows individuals with “qualifying disabilities” who meet the minimum qualifications for a state job to ask for a “mandatory interview.”

Washington:

• The affirmative action policy covers, among others, Vietnam Era veterans, disabled veterans, disabled persons, and people over forty. All general government agencies and higher education institutions must maintain an annual affirmative action policy and, depending on their size, must submit either an agency profile or a plan.
• The Department of Personnel provides assistance to state agencies and monitors their progress.

Hiring Programs Specifically for People with Disabilities:

Vermont:

• The VR-OPT Program offers training in clerical support skills;
• The Clean Sweep Program provides training in a wide range of cleaning, safety, and maintenance procedures;
• The On-the-Job Training (OJT) Program allows state departments to fill entry-level positions at a lower salary.

Washington: In 1997 a supported-employment program for people with significant disabilities was created allowing agencies to add positions to budgets that would not count against their allotted full-time positions while the individual is employed by the agency. In October 1998 people were hired and by October 2003 107 people were hired.

Job Announcements and Job Applications:

Maryland: Agencies operating under the Department of Budget and Management provide all job applicants who take employment tests with information about how to request accommodations for the tests.

Florida: Managers and supervisors are directed to designate those job functions considered “essential” in job descriptions and to prepare job descriptions prior to recruiting for a position.

Interviews:

Florida: The Agency for Health Care Administration, the Department of Transportation and the Department of State requires that all managers and supervisors receive ADA training that includes specific information about how to prepare job descriptions and conduct job interviews of applicants with disabilities. The Health Care Administration requires that all personnel, including the receptionist, have ADA training.

Maryland: The Aviation Administration included a section in its Structured Interview Guidelines that discusses people with disabilities and the interview process.

Vermont: People with Disabilities, Employment and the Workplace, a reference guide includes information on the ADA, interviewing techniques and etiquette, suggestions on interacting with individuals with specific disabilities, a discussion of reasonable accommodation, and resources. The information is at http://www.vermontpersonnel.org/.

Washington: The University of Washington’s Selection and Hiring Tools Reference informs hiring officials about the need to make reasonable accommodations during the interview process. The University also provides hiring officials contact information for individuals and agencies to answer questions concerning accommodations.

Mentoring: The American Association of People with Disabilities and the Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy co-sponsor National Disability Mentoring Day every October. Vermont’s state employees provide one-on-one mentoring and job shadowing to job seekers to help them evaluate personal goals, target career skills for improvement and perhaps develop lasting mentor relationships. Maryland’s Disability Mentoring Day combines an experiential first-hand view of state government work with workshops that may assist participants with disabilities to gain state employment.

Written Reasonable Accommodation Procedures:

Florida: The Department of Children and Families’ reasonable accommodation procedures empower supervisors to provide the accommodation requested or one that is equally effective, and requires them to refer the request to the human resources department if they believe the accommodation would change the nature of the employment.

Vermont: The Reasonable Accommodation Policy is provided to all newly hired state employees. The information is at http://www.vermontpersonnel.org/.

Washington: In 1993, the governor issued an Executive Order requiring all agencies or institutions with fifty or more employees to develop written reasonable accommodation procedures.

Procedures Related to the Denial of Reasonable Accommodations:

Florida’s Department of State’s Reasonable Accommodation Record requires managers to explain why an accommodation was not provided and they must be submitted to the Department’s Bureau of Human Resources. Vermont has created a Reasonable Accommodation Committee (RAC) to review department requests for reasonable accommodation and provide an “advisory opinion” as to whether an accommodation should be granted.

Washington requires all state agencies to provide evidence supporting its decision to deny a reasonable accommodation. The Department of Personnel’s Disability Accommodation Revolving Fund is used to make unanticipated worksite modifications if an agency does not have the financial resources

Tracking Requests for Reasonable Accommodations:

Florida: The Department of Transportation’s form includes the toll-free phone and TTY number for the Job Accommodation Network (JAN) and requires managers to indicate whether they contacted JAN.

Maryland: Beginning in 2001, several agencies tracked annual information regarding the provision of reasonable accommodations to state government applicants and employees. By 2003 nineteen state agencies tracked this data.

Vermont: Results from a survey of state employees showed that 17% said they had a disability; from that group, 45% said that their disability had started before they came to work for the state, and 68% said their disability was physical. More than half of the 38% who indicated that they had requested accommodations responded that they had no problems receiving them, and of the few who encountered problems, 25% received accommodations other than the ones they had requested.

Florida:

• The Agency for Persons with Disabilities improves the quality of living for people with disabilities through improved housing, employment, and transportation opportunities.
• A Blue Ribbon Task Force on Inclusive Community Living, Transition, and Employment of Persons with Developmental Disabilities manages transition services for students with developmental disabilities.
• The Americans with Disabilities Act Working Group provides information and technical assistance to state agencies and people with disabilities on ADA requirements.
• All Florida agencies comply with section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act

Maryland: The former Governor’s Office for Individuals with Disabilities was elevated to cabinet-level status, establishing the Department of Disabilities.

Vermont: The Governor’s Workforce Equity and Diversity Council was created by Executive Order to lead the state’s efforts in Affirmative Action and Diversity areas by acting as a consultant and advisor to the Commissioner of Human Resources and the Secretary of Administration.

Washington: The Governor of Washington established the Governor's Task Force on Employment of Adults with Disabilities with business leaders, legislators and policy staff, and disability advocates. Accomplishments include:

• Creating a clearinghouse for employers with a single point of contact for recruiting applicants;
• Enacting a Medicaid buy-in for workers with disabilities with an income 450% of federal poverty level;
• Creation of partnerships and continuing coordination around implementing the Ticket-to-Work program;
• A Careers Day program was developed and funded by Microsoft, for students with disabilities, teachers, and parents.

Florida: The Able Trust, a 501(c)(3) public-private partnership foundation, has awarded over $14 million to individuals with disabilities and nonprofit vocational rehabilitation agencies, and helped approximately 2,000 individuals with disabilities annually to enter the workforce.

Vermont:

• The Governor’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities sponsors the Youth Leadership Forum to encourage youth with disabilities to develop leadership skills and create a plan for their career development.

Florida:

• A waiver was secured from the Social Security Administration, enabling it to move persons with developmental disabilities into jobs without immediately jeopardizing Medicaid and SSI eligibility.
• A five-year initiative expanded the Developmental Disabilities Program’s emphasis on employment to divert 25% of people receiving Adult Day Training Services into competitive employment opportunities.

Maryland: “WorkTech” program provides public and private sector employers with free information, consulting, and training about job accommodation strategies and the employability of individuals with disabilities.