Susan Kintner, Ph.D.ⁱ

The Telework/telecommuting Pilot Research Project is a three-year national research project operating out of Connecticut's CTWorks Career Centers. The project will provide data to help Congress, Department of Labor and other government agencies to determine future funding priorities for veterans and others with disabilities. The WorkPlace, Inc. is one of three organizations nationwide, and the only Regional Workforce Development Board, chosen by the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy to receive funding.

The objectives of the Telework/telecommuting Pilot Research Project are:

1. To assess the extent to which employers have integrated Telework/telecommuting work options into their human resource structures and to understand more fully the characteristics of jobs with telecommuting (e.g. part-time, full-time, informal and/or formal arrangements with management, work tasks, position pre-requisites).

2. To investigate whether not Telework job opportunities could enhance the employment options for veterans with disabilities and research the extent to which the personality profiles of returning service members and veterans with disabilities meet pre-determined (best case) criteria for performance success telecommuting.

3. To issue a national report based on the research and four "how to" Toolkits for Workforce Development Boards, public and private employers, veterans and others with disabilities and the organizations that serve them.

The Telework Project was catalyzed by three phenomena that occurred concurrently:

1. The WorkPlace, Inc. recognized, as the Workforce Development Board for Southwestern CT, the urgent need to proactively plan for the future and the critical workforce shortage that had already begun and would worsen exponentially over the next 10 years due to changing demographics and a variety of other factors.

2. The rapid increase in available, cost-effective and efficient technology resulting in technology becoming an effective employment tool for employers to meet their workforce needs and making it possible to "outsource" critical functions both nationally and overseas.

3. The numbers of service members and veterans returning from the Middle East with newly acquired disabilities were increasing and that this population group was eager to work, had the commitment, knowledge and skills to do so and would benefit, as would their employers, from flexible work arrangements.

The result of 1-3 for The WorkPlace, Inc. was a commitment to look for innovative funding opportunities to help employers meet workforce needs and support military services personnel. The search for funds revealed that the Office of Disability Employment Policy, Department of Labor, was looking for organizations with the capacity to conduct national Telework research that would provide data to help Congress and others determine future funding priorities for veterans with disabilities.

As of March 2006 the national research study of employers and the national study of service members and veterans with disabilities, both of which included case studies, have been completed and the report of the findings will be released in June 2006. Additional in-depth telephonic employer and veterans with disabilities research is currently being conducted in CT and employers, veterans and Veterans Services' Providers will be invited to participate in focus groups and Toolkit development.

One key result of both national and CT research will be identifying "best Telework and veterans' employment practices" and these findings will be made available in the Telework Toolkits to be published and distributed in 2007 to all constituencies, including but not limited to veterans and others with disabilities, Workforce Development Boards, One Stop Centers, VA and DOL Veterans Services' Providers and both private and public employers.

For additional information, please contact:

Susan Kintner, Ph.D.
Program Implementation Manager
The WorkPlace, Inc.
350 Fairfield Avenue
Bridgeport, CT 06604

Phone: 203-610-8548
Fax: 203-610-8549
skintner@workplace.org

i Susan Kintner, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.S., Project Implementation Manager, joined The WorkPlace, Inc. in November, 2004 to manage several workforce development grants for persons with disabilities, including a 3-year national research and demonstration Telework/telecommuting pilot project funded by the Department of Labor to investigate telecommuting employment trends among profit and non-profit employers nation-wide and the extent to which telecommuting can enhance the employability of persons with disabilities, particular disabled veterans returning from the Middle East. Dr. Kintner brings over 35 years of professional experience that combines a variety of academic and clinical appointments with developing, directing and evaluating community-based and staff development programs in both public and private sectors. She served in the Peace Corps; worked for the Office of Economic Opportunity; managed Human Resource Development for G.E. Capital Corporation, The Hartford Insurance Group and I.T.T.; and most recently was responsible for Save the Children's National Children in Crisis and Intergenerational Initiatives.