Recommendation: The Commissioner of Education's Rehabilitation Services Administration should work with state VR agencies to determine whether and what additional information and assistance VR agencies may find helpful regarding on-demand training, such as online videos, to employers on disability issues. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Education
Status: Open

Comments: Education disagreed with this recommendation, noting that state VR agencies have the primary responsibility for determining how best to meet employers' needs, promote mainstream employment, and collaborate with other workforce programs in their states. Education recognized the importance of providing information and technical assistance to state VR agencies to help them serve employers, while stressing that it is a state matter how to best meet the training needs of employers. The agency did not provide an update in FY19.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of Education's Rehabilitation Services Administration should work with state VR agencies to determine how to most effectively disseminate information about the circumstances in which individuals who are employed may be eligible for career advancement services. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Education
Status: Open

Comments: Education disagreed with this recommendation, noting that state VR agencies have the primary responsibility for determining how best to meet employers' needs, promote mainstream employment, and collaborate with other workforce programs in their states. The agency recognized the importance of expanding career advancement opportunities for individuals with disabilities in accordance with the Rehabilitation Act as amended by WIOA. At the same time, Education said it is up to states to determine how to most effectively disseminate information about their services. Education noted it will continue to work with state VR agencies to determine what additional information may be necessary about the circumstances in which individuals who are employed may be eligible for career advancement services. The agency did not provide an update in FY19.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of Education's Rehabilitation Services Administration should work with state VR agencies to develop more complete information on when and how VR agencies should assess employment settings, including settings supported by the AbilityOne program, to determine if they meet the definition of competitive integrated employment. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of Education
Status: Open

Comments: Education disagreed with this recommendation. The agency stated that it is a state matter to determine whether an employment location qualifies as an "integrated setting" for the purpose of the VR program, and that it is not Education's role to inform states as to when and how to make such determinations. Nevertheless, Education said it will continue to work with the states to determine if additional information would help them assess employment locations. The agency did not provide an update in FY19.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of Education's Rehabilitation Services Administration should encourage local areas to clarify and document the roles and responsibilities of partner agencies in working with employers and provide sample language of how local areas may document roles and responsibilities in their MOUs. (Recommendation 4)

Agency: Department of Education
Status: Open

Comments: Education neither agreed nor disagreed with this recommendation. Education said it believes that state workforce development agencies are in the best position to lead employer engagement efforts, but will continue to collaborate with other federal partners to provide technical assistance to states in this area, including examples of state- and local-level collaboration on employer engagement. The agency did not provide an update in FY19.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of Education's Rehabilitation Services Administration should, in setting the employer performance measurement approaches with DOL after the pilot is concluded, take into account VR agencies' concerns and key attributes of successful performance measures, including clarity in what is meant by employer services, coverage of the VR agencies' core program activities, and consideration of factors outside of VR agencies' control. (Recommendation 5)

Agency: Department of Education
Status: Open

Comments: Education neither agreed nor disagreed with this recommendation. Education said it will work with DOL to ensure that state VR agencies' concerns are considered when the performance measure for effectiveness in serving employers is finalized. The agency did not provide an update in FY19.

Recommendation: The Assistant Secretary of DOL's Employment and Training Administration should encourage local areas to clarify and document the roles and responsibilities of partner agencies in working with employers and provide sample language of how local areas may document roles and responsibilities in their MOUs. (Recommendation 6)

Agency: Department of Labor
Status: Open

Comments: DOL agreed with this recommendation, noting that local workforce boards and one-stop partners are in the best position to lead employer engagement, but that it will collaborate with federal partners in providing related technical assistance. In June 2019, DOL shared with GAO a local workforce area memorandum of understanding (MOU) that documents the workforce system partners' roles and responsibilities for engaging with employers. DOL has posted this MOU on its technical assistance web site, so it is available to other local workforce areas. However, in order to close the recommendation as implemented, GAO will need DOL to demonstrate that the agency has actively encouraged local workforce areas to document the roles and responsibilities of workforce partners--including the vocational rehabilitation program--for working with employers, through a Training and Employment Guidance Letter or other such guidance.

Recommendation: The Assistant Secretary of DOL's Employment and Training Administration should, in setting the employer performance measurement approaches with Education after the pilot is concluded, take into account VR agencies' concerns and key attributes of successful performance measures, including clarity in what is meant by employer services, coverage of the VR agencies' core program activities, and consideration of factors outside of VR agencies' control. (Recommendation 7)

Agency: Department of Labor
Status: Open

Comments: DOL agreed with this recommendation and said it will coordinate with Education to ensure state VR agencies' concerns are considered in defining the performance measure. In June 2019, DOL told us the two agencies expected to complete their evaluation of the pilot performance measures for effectiveness in serving employers by June 30, 2020, and then make a final decision about which measures to put in place. DOL also said the two federal agencies are working to consider VR agencies' concerns during this pilot, and have developed a crosswalk to identify appropriate VR services that count towards this measure. For GAO to close this recommendation as implemented, DOL will have to demonstrate that the finalized performance measures have taken into account VR agencies' concerns, including clarity in what is meant by employer services, coverage of the VR agencies' core program activities, and consideration of factors outside of VR agencies' control.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Labor should systematically collect sufficient information on state profiling systems, possibly through DOL's new UI state self-assessment process, to identify states at risk of poor profiling system performance. For instance, DOL could collect information on challenges states have experienced using and maintaining their profiling systems, planned changes to the systems, or state processes for assessing the systems' performance. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Labor
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Labor agreed with this recommendation and said it would take action to address it. In June 2020, DOL reported that agency staff and a contractor had made significant progress in implementing plans to revise the self-assessment tool. First, staff and the contractor gathered feedback and recommendations for improvements to the tool through focus group sessions with states in each region. DOL also reported that the contractor has been developing revised questions for inclusion in the updated self-assessment tool. While agency work on the project was temporarily halted due to the agency's focus on issuing guidance and providing technical assistance to states concerning various new UI programs of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (Pub. L. 116-136), officials said the contract has been extended to November 2020, and staff plan to resume work on the project soon. GAO will monitor the agency's progress and update the status of this recommendation, as appropriate.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Labor should develop a process to use information on state risks of poor profiling system performance to provide technical assistance to states that need to improve their systems. DOL may also wish to tailor its technical assistance based on state service delivery goals and technical capacity. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Labor
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Labor agreed with this recommendation and said it would take action to address it. In June 2020, DOL said that it was committed to using the information collected by the new self-assessment tool to develop standard operating procedures for capturing and maintaining the profiling assessment tracking information. These activities are dependent on the revisions to the self-assessment tool discussed in DOL's update for recommendation 1. We will monitor the agency's progress and update this recommendation as appropriate.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Labor should update agency guidance to ensure that it clearly informs states about the range of allowable profiling approaches. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of Labor
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Labor agreed with this recommendation and committed to publishing an Unemployment Insurance Program Letter (UIPL) regarding the implementation and maintenance of acceptable state profiling systems. In June 2020, DOL reported that efforts to develop the UIPL had been delayed, due in part to the intersection of the Worker Profiling and Reemployment Services (WPRS) program and the now permanent Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessments (RESEA) program. Agency officials said they remain committed to publishing the UIPL and noted that they were developing an analysis of statistical modeling approaches that states can consider using and providing a framework for a simplified and low-cost approach to testing these different modeling techniques using their own state data. While agency officials said they were not able to devote the needed time to completing the UIPL due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the UI program, officials said their goal was to publish the UIPL by the end of 2020. We will monitor the agency's progress in implementing this recommendation, and update its status, as appropriate.