1. Local Equal Opportunity Officer TrainingMODULE 1 Equal Opportunity Officer’s Roles and Responsibilities

2. Your Facilitators • Kalena James – State Level EO Officer • Jennifer Biddle – EO Specialist • 19 years of experience with State and Federal Government • Pursing a Masters Degree in Business Administration at IWU • Passionate about leadership and adult learning strategies • 38 years of experience in workforce development • Policy developer as well as Monitor • Deeply committed to workforce development

3. Learning Objectives • Explain The Federal Requirements For Designating EO Officers Under WIOA • Explain The State And Local EO Officers Responsibilities • Ensure Non-Discriminatory & Regional Non-Discriminatory Practices Are Followed • Local EO Officers Assigned Duties Regarding Nondiscrimination and Equal Access for Persons with Disabilities • EO Assurance/EO is the Law Notice/EO Tagline • Provide Overview Of The Local EO Officers Data Collection & Maintenance Processes

4. House Keeping Rules • Arrive on time for beginning of sessions at 9:00 am. Please arrive a few minutes early to ensure access. • Stay attentive and tuned into the matters at hand • Turn off or silence mobile devices to minimize distractions • Keep questions and comments brief so things can keep moving • Use Webinar features to speak one at a time • Be open to the opinions of others • Don’t expect instant solutions or results during the meeting • Respect the meeting leaders, training facilitators, and participants • Be teamwork and team learning oriented / stay positive • Provide feedback in a constructive, non-critical fashion

5. What is Equal Opportunity Equal opportunity helps remove unfair external factors that prevents an individual’s personal ambition, talent and abilities from being developed or explored.

6. #1Federal Requirements for Designating EO Officers under WIOA Governor designates DWD to administer DWD Commissioner responsible for ensuring compliance WIOA Recipients and workforce system partners comply with all federal regulations.

7. #2State and Local EO Officer Responsibilities Workforce Innovation & Opportunity Act (WIOA) Section 188 requires designation of a Local EO Officer in each workforce region to ensure EO/Nondiscrimination in the administration and operation of programs and services within the One-Stop system.

8. #2State and Local EO Officer Responsibilities State EO Officer: • Serve as liaison w/ CRC • Coordinate State EO responsibilities under 29 CFR Part 38; • Draft, implement, and maintain compliance under Indiana’s Methods of Administration (MOA); • Ensure periodic EO and nondiscrimination compliance monitoring of WIOA Title I programs across the State; • Review state and LWSA policies to make sure those policies are nondiscriminatory; • Provide training, technical assistance, and guidance to the local EO Officers; and • Develop, publish, and ensure compliance with procedures for processing discrimination complaints; and • Undergo training to maintain competency.

9. #2State and Local EO Officer Responsibilities State EO Officer: • EO Officer must be senior-level employee. • EO Officer’s job duties and reporting relationships must not create or give the appearance of a conflict of interest. • Make public the EO Officer’s name, position title, address, and telephone number. • Ensure that the EO Officer’s identity and contact info appear on all internal and external communications. • Assign sufficient staff and resources to the EO Officer, which provides top management support. • Ensure that the EO Officer and staff have training opportunities needed to maintain competency.

10. #2State and Local EO Officer Responsibilities What are a recipient's responsibilities? • Take appropriate steps to ensure effective communications. • Furnish appropriate auxiliary aids or services where necessary. • Use telecommunications devices for individuals with hearing impairments. • Ensure accessible services, activities, and facilities. • Provide signage at a primary entrance to each of its inaccessible facilities. • Display the international symbol for accessibility at each primary entrance of an accessible facility.

11. #2State and Local EO Officer Responsibilities Local EO Officer: • Report all EO activity to the State EO Officer. • Handle regional discrimination complaints. • Conduct periodic compliance monitoring of regional Title I WIOA programs. • Ensure physical and programmatic accessibility of WorkOne offices and services. • Conduct or assist with Americans with Disability Act (ADA) surveys at the WorkOne offices.

12. #2State and Local EO Officer Responsibilities What’s the difference between EO and EEO? • EO = Equal Opportunity • EEO = Equal Employment Opportunity

13. #3Ensure Non-Discriminatory & Regional Non-Discriminatory Practices Are Followed “No individual in the US may, on the ground of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, political affiliation or belief, and for beneficiaries only, citizenship or participation in any WIOA Title I-financially assisted program or activity, be excluded from participation in, denied the benefits of, subjected to discrimination under, or denied employment in the administration of or in connection with any WIOA Title I-funded program or activity.”

14. #3Ensure Non-Discriminatory & Regional Non-Discriminatory Practices Are Followed What does discrimination look like? • Forms of Discrimination include: • disparate treatment (intentionally treating members of protected groups differently based on their protected status) and • disparate impact (using policies or practices that are neutral on their face, but have a disproportionate impact on members of some protected groups).

15. #3Ensure Non-Discriminatory & Regional Non-Discriminatory Practices Are Followed: Helpful resources for monitoring compliance: • DWD Policy 2007-31 concerning EO Monitoring http://www.in.gov/dwd/files/DWD_Policy_2007-31.pdf • DWD’s EO webpage under Regulatory Oversight and Compliance • CRC’s webpage: https://www.dol.gov/oasam/programs/crc/index.htm

16. #4 Local EO Officer Assigned Duties Regarding Nondiscrimination and Equal Access for Persons with Disabilities DWD Policy 2007-30 concerning Non-discrimination and Equal Opportunity for individuals with disabilities http://www.in.gov/dwd/files/DWD_Policy_2007-30.pdf

17. #4 Local EO Officer Assigned Duties Regarding Nondiscrimination and Equal Access for Persons with Disabilities

18. #5 EO Assurance/EO is the Law Notice/EO Tagline DWD Policy 2012-05 concerning Non-Discrimination and Equal Opportunity Requirements http://www.in.gov/dwd/files/DWD_Policy_2012-04.pdf

19. #5EO Assurance/EO is the Law Notice/EO Tagline

20. #5 EO Assurance/EO is the Law Notice/EO Tagline • Assurance • EO is the Law Notice • Tag Line

21. #6 Overview of Local EO Officer Data Collection & Maintenance Processes Discussing the: • Who? • When? • How?

22. #6 Overview of Local EO Officer Data Collection & Maintenance Processes Important to DOL/CRC! Why? • DOL/CRC is issuing citations to states for “no meaningful access” and requiring corrective action plans. • Proposed EO Regulations increase oversight responsibilities by the Governor. • Through research, DOL/CRC determined the population being served by the system is more diverse. When? • After end of program year when outcome data is available. How? • Data needs to be entered into the participant reporting system. • On-site reviews done by EO Officers.

23. Questions Questions 1-13

24. Wrap-up Activity: Quiz 1-24