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One-Stop career centers and job seekers with disabilities: insights from Kansas

Journal of Rehabilitation, Oct-Dec, 2005 by Jean P. Hall, Kathy Parker

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Methodology

We employed a two-step method for studying the responsiveness of One-Stops to job seekers with disabilities: consumer focus groups and mystery customers. First, we conducted focus groups to retrospectively identify recurring issues from the perspective of individuals who had used One-Stop or other vocational services, and to elicit descriptions of an ideal One-Stop. Next we modified the DOL's "mystery customer" investigation technique to examine issues and ideals identified by the focus groups related to universal access for job seekers with disabilities. In contrast to the focus group perceptions and recollections, the mystery customer process provided data and insights into the contemporary experiences of job seekers with disabilities.

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Consumer focus groups

We conducted a total of six focus groups in Leavenworth, Kansas City, Overland Park, Topeka, Lawrence, and Parsons, Kansas. These sites represent a range of urban/inner city, suburban, and rural locations. The sessions were held in the last four months of 2001.

Participants. We recruited a self-selected sample through centers for independent living, high-school transition specialists, community mental health centers and disability-specific support groups, and paid each participant $20. We had contact with a total of 48 job seekers with disabilities who were 65% female, 35% male with ages ranging from early 20's to mid-60's. Their disabilities ranged from visible to invisible, including such diverse conditions as asthma, depression and other mental illnesses, multiple sclerosis, arthritis, multiple chemical sensitivities, diabetes, osteogenesis imperfecta, various mobility impairments, cognitive disabilities, and HIV/AIDS. We did not collect data on race or ethnicity of participants, although we believe numerous racial and ethnic minorities were represented. Because many focus group members had past experience with One-Stops, they were in a good position to articulate how their experiences could have been better and what ideal services could look like.

Procedures. Our focus group facilitator followed a semi-structured process in which all participants were asked to discuss their past and current job search activities and their perceptions of what would make a One-Stop center seem inviting, welcoming, and inclusive to them. The facilitator posed questions about experiences people had trying to obtain employment, sharing information about their disability, and the support services they would like to reach employment goals. Table 1 lists sample questions from the facilitators' procedural guidelines.

Data collection and analysis. Audio recordings of each focus group session were transcribed, then checked for reliability by two researchers. We examined the transcripts, then categorized and tabulated with the goal of identifying recurring themes or "pattern-matching" (Yin, 1994).

Mystery customers

The DOL's mystery customer investigation technique involves sending job seekers into One-Stops and having them report back afterward using a checklist. This technique allows organizations to collect "real-life" data from the user's perspective (National Center on Workforce and Disability, 2004).

Health Care Industry

One-Stop career centers and job seekers with disabilities: insights from Kansas

Journal of Rehabilitation, Oct-Dec, 2005 by Jean P. Hall, Kathy Parker

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