Education

Service providers can leverage these different resources, maximize the efficiency of delivery, and strengthen programs through “braided funding.” Braided funding involves using multiple resources streams from varying agencies or programs separately and simultaneously “to provide specific services that support an individual in pursuing, obtaining or maintaining competitive integrated employment. Braiding funds has been shown to “reduce complexity, to provide supports more effectively, to use funds and resources more efficiently, and ultimately to better serve jobseekers with disabilities."

The Strengthening Career and Technical Education (CTE) for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V, P.L. 115-224) provides new opportunities for states to serve learners with disabilities in CTE. Perkins V specifies that learners with special population status, including learners with disabilities, need to be prepared for high-wage, high-skill, in-demand employment opportunities or post-secondary education. Perkins V requires state and local leaders to describe how CTE will be made available to learners with special population status and provides flexible funding and policy levers to achieve that goal.

The COVID-19 pandemic posed challenges for the provision of Career and Technical Education (CTE) for Students with Disabilities (SWDs). Many schools were forced to rapidly pivot to providing remote or virtual learning rather than the hands-on learning common to CTE. Despite challenges, state policymakers, educators, workforce administrators and CTE personnel responded to pandemic exigencies, leveraged funding and developed strategies to promote and maintain CTE for SWDs. This brief describes adaptations used by states to respond to challenges with CTE for SWDs during the COVID-19 pandemic.