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December 10, 2025
New Assistant Secretary Leads ODEP
ODEP welcomes a new assistant secretary of disability employment policy, Julie Hocker. Julie takes the helm at ODEP with a deep commitment to serving American workers with disabilities. She is focused on accountability, measurable results, and a belief that policy must translate to jobs, careers, and sustained advancement. She knows the extraordinary power of work to support dignity, health, and economic mobility, and understands that these opportunities should be open to every American. Julie’s most recent federal role as U.S. Commissioner on Disabilities at the Department of Health and Human Services “reinforced a simple truth,” she says. “When we set high expectations, organize supports well, and remove barriers, people with disabilities thrive.” Hear more from Julie directly on the Department of Labor blog.
A Complete Guide to Reasonable Accommodations
Reasonable accommodations are foundational to the success of all American workers with disabilities and required by the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act. If you are an employer, HR professional, legal expert, or otherwise responsible for reasonable accommodation requests in your workplace, check out JAN’s updated Workplace Accommodation Toolkit. The toolkit offers comprehensive step-by-step guidance for managing requests, along with templates, checklists, and training to make the accommodations process easier and more efficient.
Direct Support Professionals: Start Here, Go Anywhere!
Join ODEP on Tuesday, Dec. 16, at 3:00 p.m. EST for the webinar “Advancing Direct Support Professional Careers: Start Here, Go Anywhere.” Direct support professionals, or DSPs, help people with disabilities, including intellectual and developmental disabilities, build skills to live independently, participate in their community, and succeed in employment. Currently, the nation has a severe shortage of these essential support workers. The upcoming webinar hosted by ODEP’s LEAD Center will discuss strategies to help boost recruitment and retention of DSPs, strengthen career pathways within the profession, and highlight opportunities for advancement into related fields.
Autistic in the Workplace: Supporting Success on the Job
Workplaces that support neurodiverse workers, such as autistic individuals, are more likely to thrive. ODEP has two new briefs to promote success, for both employers and employees. The first brief outlines key principles and practices for employers hiring autistic young adults or seeking to retain their current autistic employees. The second brief is a case study of the LifeMAP program, a one-on-one job-coaching program that helps autistic young adults gain and retain employment, among other goals. LifeMAP has served more than 3,000 people as of 2024. Both briefs are part of ODEP’s Research Support Services for Employment of Young Adults on the Autism Spectrum, or REYAAS, project.