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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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Our other customer with a visual impairment said he was never told that the Center had assistive technology (and he couldn't see it) so he never went back to the Center; he was able to access job-search websites through the Internet on his computer at home. On the other hand, our mystery customer with cerebral palsy stated "when 1 couldn't read a bunch of words together, he read it to me. He actually showed me and underlined everything. He was real helpful. He was awesome."

Except for a list of job-search websites that was given to each of our mystery customers, they utilized no other written material. Furthermore, no one was offered any alternative format for the list of websites, even when it was evident that two of the customers would have difficulty reading it.

Several of our mystery customers commented on the lack of phones. This Center did not have phones available to customers to make contact with employers. When they asked, they were directed to a pay phone in the hallway. This was inconvenient and difficult for some customers to access.

Attitudes and disability awareness of staff. The first person encountered by the mystery customers was the office receptionist. The receptionist's job is to answer questions and to direct individuals to the computer work areas. Researchers have no way of knowing if the same receptionist greeted all of our mystery customers but several of them commented about the chilly reception they received: "I went up to the front desk and got this cold kind of stare from the receptionist" and "I walked in there and right away the person behind the desk kind of leered at me." Another customer explained:

   The receptionist had something that needed to be filled
   out. She asked me if I would be able to fill it out, and I
   said, no, that I would need some assistance. Instead of
   getting up and going over to ask one of the other people
   who worked there to help me, she picked up the
   telephone and called him. I could hear both ends of the
   conversation across the office, so I think everyone could
   probably hear it fairly well. She said something like: she
   had someone up here who needed assistance with filling
   the form out.

Our mystery customer said she was embarrassed and felt that such behavior indicated a lack of understanding about confidentiality issues. Finally, the customer with multiple sclerosis related the following incident, which made him reluctant to ever return to a One-Stop center:

   I told the receptionist, "I'm looking for a job."
   Immediately she put out a paper that listed Internet job
   search sites. She said, "It's all done on the Internet. Do
   you have a friend who's got a computer or somewhere
   you can go and use their computer?" She didn't even
   offer to let me use the computers in the room. Half of
   them were empty. I told her, "I've got a computer in my
   home." She said, "Oh, you can go home and do it then."
   Then I asked her, "Do you want me to fill out something
   or to start a file on me to get me in your system?" And
   she got angry. She said, "It's all done on the Internet--go
   home and do it."

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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