LAWRENCE — A Kansas University study says federal programs to help the unemployed are failing job seekers with disabilities. The KU study by Jean Hall and Kathy Parker published recently in the “Career Development Quarterly,” shows two major federal programs — the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program and the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 — don’t help people with physical or mental health impairments. TANF requires recipients to find employment within two years. The Workforce Investment Act set up “one-stop” centers to cluster services for the unemployed. Hall said those people with disabilities get lost in the system when they deal with one-size-fits-all programs. About 63 percent of Americans with disabilities are unemployed, she said. One-third of TANF benefit recipients nationwide have physical or mental health impairments, she said. Counselors for the unemployed lack the training necessary to help clients with disabilities, she said.
Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2 p.m.
