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The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) has a mission to develop and influence policies and practices to increase the number and quality of employment opportunities for people with disabilities. In 2016, ODEP sponsored a Technical Assistance (TA) Center Program comprising five TA Centers: the Job Accommodation Network (JAN); the Employer Assistance Resource Network (EARN); the National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth (NCWD/Y); the Partnership on Employment and Accessible Technology (PEAT); and the National Center on Leadership for the Employment and Economic Advancement of People with Disabilities (LEAD).

These five Centers sought to promote successful employment policy and practices, and each had a unique focus, including assisting customers with workforce accommodations, systems-level changes, and accessible technology, as well as finding ways to increase employment opportunities for people with disabilities. The Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) of DOL, in partnership with ODEP, sought to examine customer satisfaction with the TA Center Program. The overarching goals of the study, as described in the report, were to examine the extent to which the program meets customer needs, as well as the reach and satisfaction with services provided by the individual TA Centers.

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Research Questions

• How do the TA Centers operate as part of ODEP?
• To what extent is the assistance provided by the TA Centers of high quality, high relevance, and high usefulness?
• To what extent, has the assistance provided by the TA Centers led to adoption and/or implementation of ODEP’s policies and practices?

Key Takeaways

• Interviewed customers contacted the technical assistance Centers for various reasons, including: assistance with reasonable job accommodations; questions about the Americans with Disabilities Act; to gather information on topics related to disability employment; or for continuing education information.
• Customers interviewed from both Centers reported they were happy with the websites and valued the extensiveness of the information and the useful templates and examples available.
• When the customers interacted with JAN and EARN, a large majority of customers interviewed (85 percent) used individualized services like one-on-one communication via telephone, email, or chat. More than 60 percent referenced resources posted on the TA Centers’ websites.
• EARN customers interviewed said they were satisfied with the webinars available as they allowed the customers to be informed of the latest disability policies and determine if their own policies match what others are doing.
• JAN and EARN customers were satisfied with the amount of time it took to receive assistance, and believed the staff had sufficient expertise to answer questions and provide guidance.

Citation

Bennici, F., Palan, M., Giesen, L. (2020). Westat. Study of Customer Satisfaction with Two ODEP Technical Assistance Centers. Chief Evaluation Office, U.S. Department of Labor.

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The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) sponsors independent evaluations and research, primarily conducted by external, third-party contractors in accordance with the Department of Labor Evaluation Policy and CEO’s research development process.