[Excerpt] All Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) demonstration programs use aspects of an intermediary approach to connect organizations and agencies at all levels in meeting educational and employment goals on behalf of people with disabilities. As part of Phase III of the independent evaluation of ODEP demonstration programs, ODEP asked Westat to conduct an in-depth analysis of the role of intermediaries in building sustained capacity and integration of services of the workforce development system to better serve youth with disabilities.
The overriding question in the context of this issue analysis is whether, to what extent, and how the intermediary approach is being used in youth demonstration programs and whether it is effective in creating systems change to better serve youth with disabilities. The following questions were addressed:
- What characterizes the intermediary approach?
- What are ODEP’s requirements with regard to the use of an intermediary approach by demonstration programs?
- What are demonstration project sites’ experiences in using an intermediary approach?
&#; What can be said to date on the effectiveness of using an intermediary approach, particularly with regard to systems change
