State Exchange on Employment and Disability (SEED) Evaluation Survey

RECRUITMENT/CONSENT EMAIL SENT TO SAMPLED STATE
MEMBERS
Dear XXX,
The Council of State Governments, National Conference of State Legislatures and Women in Government
in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy invite you to
participate in a brief survey on disability employment policy and the State Exchange on Employment
and Disability (SEED) initiative. This survey should only take about 15- 20 minutes to complete. Your
participation is voluntary and there is no penalty if you choose not to participate.
By completing the survey you are agreeing to participate in a research effort that will assist in evaluating
and improving the effectiveness of the SEED initiative. Your answers will be kept strictly confidential.
Responses from all participants will be analyzed and the findings reported only in their aggregate form,
without any information that would identify you or your organization. Note that electronic
communications are not necessarily secure and could be viewed by a third party, however we anticipate
that participation in this survey presents no greater risk than everyday use of the Internet.
The link to the SEED Implementation Evaluation Survey:
[Survey URL]
Deadline to Participate: Please complete the survey no later than XXX.
The primary researchers conducting this study are Michelle Yin at American Institutes for Research
(AIR), and Daniel Weissbein at Coffey Consulting Ltd. If you have any questions, you may contact
Michelle Yin at (202) 403-5580 or [email protected]. If you have any questions or concerns regarding your
rights as a subject in this study, you may contact the AIR Institutional Review Board (IRB) for Human
Participants at 1-800-634-0797, or email at [email protected].
Thank you in advance for sharing your time and experience with us.
Sincerely,
Survey Research Analyst

1

STATE EXCHANGE ON EMPLOYMENT AND DISABILITY (SEED)
INITIATIVE IMPLEMENTATION EVALUATION
DEFINITIONS
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office for Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) recently launched
the State Exchange on Employment and Disability (SEED) in collaboration with several partners,
including the Council of State Governments (CSG), the National Conference of State Legislatures
(NCSL) and Women in Government (WIG). As one effort under the SEED initiative, NCSL and CSG
convened a National Task Force on Disability Employment comprised of state policymakers from
across the country. The Task Force was charged with formulating a National Policy Framework for
Disability Employment that was launched in December 2016. Through its state intermediary
partners, SEED also offered Technical Assistance (TA) to educate and assist states in adopting
policies related to improving employment for people with disabilities.
This survey is intended to obtain information from state policymakers and their staff members
regarding where they get information on disability employment policy, what their needs and
barriers are regarding adopting and implementing disability employment policies, SEED’s
implementation process for state disability employment policies, perceptions of SEED, and
organizational or policy changes that have taken place since SEED was formed (NOTE: Policy
changes here refer to either proposals or changes to law, executive orders, budget resolution,
regulation, guidance or other such binding policy structure).
Please read each item and provide the answer you believe fits the questions. Your information will
help to improve SEED processes and outcomes for the future.

INSTRUCTIONS
When questions refer to your organization, please answer for the unit of your organization at which
you are currently located or aligned.

2

1. Your title: Check one.
a. Legislator (please specify title): ________________
b. Staff to state Senator or Legislator
c. Governor
d. Lt. Governor
e. Staff to Governor or Lt. Governor
f. State executive branch employee (please specify title and agency): ______________
g. Other (please specify): ______________
2. Number of years you have been in this position (please enter a whole number, rounding
up): _____
3. In your position, how often do you have the opportunity to make policy decisions that
directly address disability employment issues? Check one.
a. Every Day
b. Almost Every Day
c. Occasionally/Sometimes
d. Almost Never
e. Never
4. Please check the box next to any organization for which you are or have been an active
member at any points since March 2016. Check all that apply.
 Council of State Governments
 National Conference of State Legislatures
 Women in Government
 Other legislative support organization (please specify):_________________
5. Please check the box next to any SEED activities with which you have been directly
involved. Check all that apply.
 CSG’s and NCSL’s National Task Force on Workforce Development for People with
Disabilities (March 2016 – May 2016)
 Women in Government’s (WIG) Policy Roundtables (May 2016)
 Other (please specify):_________________
 I have not been directly involved with any SEED activities
If you checked a box indicating direct involvement in any of the above SEED activities, please
proceed to Question 6. If you checked the box indicating NO direct involvement with a SEED
activity, please skip to Question 22.
6. Prior to your direct involvement with any of the SEED activities checked under question 5
above, how would you characterize your knowledge (and understanding) of disability
employment policy issues? Check one.
a. Advanced/Expert
b. Moderate
c. Basic/Limited
d. Very little
e. None

3

7. Following your direct involvement in any of the SEED activities checked under question 5
above, how would you characterize your knowledge (and understanding) of disability
employment policy issues? Check one.
a. Advanced/Expert
b. Moderate
c. Basic/Limited
d. Very little
e. None
8. Prior to your participation in any of the SEED activities checked under question 5 above,
how would you characterize your motivation to adopt or implement disability employment
policy in your state? Check one.
a. Extremely motivated
b. Very motivated
c. Somewhat motivated
d. Slightly motivated
e. Not at all motivated
9. Following your participation in any of the SEED activities checked under question 5, how
would you characterize your motivation to adopt or implement disability employment
policy in your state? Check one.
a. Extremely motivated
b. Very motivated
c. Somewhat motivated
d. Slightly motivated
e. Not at all motivated
10. Following your participation in any of the SEED activities checked under question 5 above,
were you involved in any disability employment-related systemic change (e.g., sponsored
legislation, established formal collaboration with another state agency, created new
position specifically to address disability employment, etc.)? Check one.
a. Yes
b. No
c. Not sure
If you selected “Yes” above, please describe in the box below.

11. If you participated in the national task force conferences, which subcommittees did you
participate in? Check one.
a. Hiring, Retention & Reentry
b. Career Readiness & Employability
c. Entrepreneurship & Tax Incentives
d. Transportation, Technology & Other Employment Supports
4

12. To what extent does the CSG-NCSL National Policy Framework on Workforce Development
for People with Disabilities assist you in advancing your state’s policy efforts to improve
employment outcomes for people with disabilities? Check one.
a. A great deal
b. A moderate amount
c. Somewhat
d. Very little
e. Not at all
13. To what extent are you aware of additional disability employment related resources,
technical assistance, and learning opportunities offered by state intermediary groups (e.g.
CSG, NCSL and WIG)? Check one.
a. Extremely aware
b. Moderately aware
c. Somewhat aware
d. Slightly aware
e. Not at all aware
14. To what extent do you access those resources, technical assistance, and learning
opportunities? Check one.
a. Very frequently
b. Frequently
c. Occasionally/Sometimes
d. Rarely
e. Not at all
15. To what extent do those learning opportunities and resources increase your capacity to
adopt or implement disability employment policy in your state? Check one.
a. A great deal
b. A moderate amount
c. Somewhat
d. Very little
e. Not at all

5

16. To what extent are you familiar with the ongoing collaboration with CSG, NCSL, WIG and
ODEP, also referred to as the State Exchange on Employment & Disability (SEED) initiative?
Check one.
a. Extremely familiar
b. Moderately familiar
c. Somewhat familiar
d. Slightly familiar
a. Not at all familiar
17. What specific resources from this collaboration would be most helpful to supporting
disability employment policy efforts in your state? Check all that apply.
 Disability employment data
 Educational materials
 Customized technical assistance
 Potential policy options
 State examples
 Other (please specify): _____________________
18. What specific area(s) of this collaboration do you think are highly effective and relevant to
your work? Check all that apply.
 Disability employment data
 Educational materials
 Customized technical assistance
 Potential policy options
 State examples
 Other (please specify): _____________________
19. What specific area(s) of this collaboration do you think need to be improved to be more
helpful in your work? Check all that apply.
 Disability employment data
 Educational materials
 Customized technical assistance
 Potential policy options
 State examples
 Other (Please specify): _____________________
20. Do you observe/have you observed any negative effects of this collaboration?
a. Yes
b. No
c. Not sure
If you selected “Yes” above, please describe in the box below.

6

21. What activities have you engaged in since the implementation of SEED in July 2015? Check
all that apply.
 Contacted a state intermediary, national disability group, or statewide organization
for more information about disability employment policy issues.
 Engaged constituents with disabilities to discuss and get input on potential state
policies, or the state of disability employment in my state.
 Contacted business leaders to discuss disability employment issues, such as barriers
to hiring persons with disabilities or employer priorities for future policy.
 Requested in-state technical assistance from NCSL, CSG or WIG on a disability
employment issues.
 Crafted legislation or regulation related to state disability employment
 Other (please specify): _____________________

7

22. Please identify any organization(s) you rely on as a resource on disability employment
issues. Please include a brief description of how each organization assists you and whether
the resource has a national, state-wide or local presence. Please provide the name,
organization, and location.

23. Please describe any additional resources (e.g., first-hand experience, friends or colleagues
with disabilities, staff or other colleagues, websites, etc.) that you turn to for assistance
and/or support on disability employment policy issues. Please provide names and contact
information, website URLs, and other pertinent information about these other resources.

24. How would you characterize the level of influence of state intermediary organizations (e.g.,
CSG, NCSL, and WIG) in your policy adoption and implementation related to disability
employment? Check one.
a. Extremely influential
b. Very influential
c. Somewhat influential
d. Slightly influential
e. Not at all influential
25. How would you characterize the level of influence that policy efforts in another state(s)
have on your state’s adoption of disability employment policy? Check one.
a. Extremely influential
b. Very influential
c. Somewhat influential
d. Slightly influential
e. Not at all influential
Please specify which state(s) has influenced your adoption of disability employment policy.

8

26. Select any barriers that apply and rate their level of significance as a barrier that you face in
adopting and implementing policies in your state to improve employment outcomes for
people with disabilities.

Lack of relationships or
commitment on the
issue
My state’s current
economic reality
Political atmosphere
(state and/or federal)
Competing priorities
that take precedent
Other

Very
Important
Important
□
□

Fairly
Slightly
Not
Not a
Important Important Important Barrier
□
□
□
□

□

□

□

□

□

□

□

□

□

□

□

□

□

□

□

□

□

□

□

□

□

□

□

□

If you selected "Other" above, please describe in the box below.

27. What are the technical assistance services or resources, including research, that could help
improve your capacity to develop, adopt, and implement disability employment policies in
your state? Please be as specific as possible.

9