Job Access and Reverse Commute (jarc) Program fy 2009 Service Profiles Region X alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington October 2010 fta-08-0162 Job Access and Reverse Commute (jarc) fy 2009 Service Profiles: Region X

Special Mobility Services (514)

Employment Transportation for People with Developmental Disabilities (1177)

Location: Eugene/Springfield (OR)
Type: Trip-Based Services/Demand response
Goal: Improved access/connections
Service description: Through a centralized RideSource Call Center call intake, ride scheduling and dispatch, and recordkeeping to manage billing and reporting are managed. Work and work-related trips are provided to people with developmental disabilities. Program participants do not pay a fare and receive guaranteed, regular transportation services. The Department of Human Services, through the local Lane Developmental Disabilities Services (DDS) office, collaborates by providing at least fifty-percent of the full cost of the service for individuals that are assigned to the program. DDS designates who will participate through their Case Management system.
Service is provided within the Eugene-Springfield metropolitan area.
Evaluation: Progress is measured by the number of individuals served, rides provided, and jobs accessed through the program.
Accomplishments: In June 2009 the Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy reported that “the percent of people with disabilities in the labor force was 22.6 compared with 71.9 for persons with no disability. The unemployment rate for those with disabilities was 14.3%, compared with 9.5% for persons with no disability, not seasonally adjusted.” The disparity between the number of people with and those without disabilities in the labor force has made little or no significant improvement for the disabled since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The greatest accomplishment of this project is providing consistent access to employment for people with limited incomes and cognitive disabilities. The cost-sharing agreement with the Department of Human Services eliminates, for the rider, having to pay the standard $3 one way fare. This is very important to participants and helps them with meeting other needs. The original agreement was to provide 53 “slots” per month, this was increased to 59 in the first year of the project, and in this year was increase significantly to include an average of 95 participants each month over the course of the year. This will in effect eliminate the waiting list for vocational transportation services for eligible riders.
Lessons learned: Establishing lasting relationships and agreements between agencies with different interests and organizational cultures requires much more time than expected. Once established the passing on of information and maintaining key contacts within both agencies is important.
It was important to the success of this program to ensure that DHS is a full partner with decision making authority and that they are invested in maintaining their commitment to the project. Updating the contract and adding service took a considerable amount of time and effort. And due to the heavy workload of staff responsible for identifying individuals that meet program criteria there has been a lag in reaching the full complement of participants.