MEMO
To:
From:Support Team
Subject:The MOA, Methods to Strengthen Employment Services
for Iowans with Disabilities—How Can We Help You?
The Interagency Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), Methods to Strengthen Employment Services for Iowans with Disabilities, September 24, 2003, was created by seven state agencies to foster collaboration and coordination of career and employment services among the Partners to the MOA and among their local offices.
The seven Partners are
Iowa Department for the Blind
Iowa Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services
Iowa Department of Education
Iowa Department of Human Rights
Iowa Department of Human Services
Iowa Governor’s Developmental Disabilities Council
Iowa Workforce Development
In language from the MOA, it is clear that
- The Partners are committed to the encouragement and support of collaboration and coordination at all levels of service delivery.
- The Partners agree to respect and maintain each Partner’s existing program integrity.
- The MOA and its attachments shall be an ongoing resource to the local administrative and service staff of programs administered by
the Partners.
Support Team
To carry out the intent of the MOA, the Partners have formed a Support Team (ST) of agency staff to develop and update the supporting materials, communicate with the Partner Directors/Administrators, and provide consultation to local offices. (See the MOA, Attachment A: Support Team, for more information on the members of the ST and the role of the ST.)
The ST wants to emphasize their willingness to channel issues of collaboration to all of the state-level Partners. If local MOA partners find policies or procedures for any of the Partners that appear to stand in the way of effectively serving mutual customers, bring those issues to the appropriate ST member. This has been described in this manner: “If it
makes sense to do it, and you believe you can’t do it because of a policy or prescribed procedure that stands in the way, bring that issue to your ST member.”
The ST hopes to be available for consultation with local MOA partners in the Workforce Development Centers. All members may not be available each time a consultation around collaboration issues is requested, but the ST will work with the WDCs to meet their needs for consultation.
The ST holds regularly scheduled meetings on the second Monday of each month. For the rest of 2004, those dates are as follows:
March 8August 9
April 12September 13
May 10October 11
June 14November 8
July 12December 13
To bring issues that affect cooperation and collaboration before the ST at a scheduled meeting, local MOA partners are encouraged to provide information to their appropriate ST member by the first Monday of the month in order to be placed on the agenda for the following week.
Of course, issues of collaboration are welcomed by ST members at any time. When issues come to the ST between scheduled meetings, the members communicate by e-mail to develop a response to field staff of all of the MOA Partners. If a face-to-face discussion seems indicated, the issue is brought to the next scheduled ST meeting.
The MOA on the Web
On the DVRS website at
you will find the following:
- The MOA in PDF and HTML format. The MOA will be updated as needed, indicated by a revision date, when ST members change or new addresses or telephone numbers are needed.
- The letter of support from Governor Vilsack.
- Q & A that have been developed by the ST on issues raised by field MOA partners. ST members will notify the field by e-mail when new Q & A are posted.
- Announcements of interest to all MOA partners (e.g., ICN schedules). This will be a supplement to the normal field notification procedures used by each Partner.