The Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 CAP Final Guidance on requesting assistive technology and employment support services details participant eligibility and funding priorities. This guidance provides the daily framework for our efforts to advance the CAP Mission to ensure access to assistive technology and employment support services for DoD employees and Service members with disabilities and supports implementing CAP’s FY 2024 Program Priorities and budget by ensuring we fully operationalize the priorities and implement the program plan.
The CAP Mission is critical throughout DoD and the entire Federal workforce.
The CAP Mission supports the Department of Defense (DoD) affirmative strategies and programs to ensure DoD remains a model employer of individuals with disabilities. CAP supports, equips, and empowers individuals with disabilities throughout DoD to obtain equity, inclusion, and accessibility to information and communication technology.
CAP provides assistive technology (AT) and employment support services to the Total Force, both DoD civilian employees and Service Members with disabilities. CAP conducts Disability Workplace Needs Assessments throughout the Federal workforce and partners with Federal agencies to attain disability workplace expertise and to identify model disability employment practices for implementation DoD-wide.
In Fiscal Year 2024 CAP will proactively partner with DoD Military Departments and Components to advance access, equity, and employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities and support wounded, ill and injured Service Members carry out the mission by supporting the following CAP Program Priorities:
- DoD Employees with Disabilities – Proactively ensure DoD civilian employees with disabilities receive assistive technology and employment support services. CAP experts will conduct Disability Workplace Needs Assessments to ensure individuals receive support for accommodations. Proactively build stakeholder partnerships and anticipate emerging workplace needs to provide AT and employment support services.
- DoD Wounded Service Members and Wounded Service Members Continuing on Active Duty – Proactively ensure Wounded Service Members and Wounded Service Members Continuing on Active Duty utilize CAP as a resource for Disability Workplace Needs Assessments, AT, and employment support services. Proactively establish partnerships and identify emerging needs.
- DoD Internship Programs Advancing Disability Employment Opportunity - Proactively ensure DoD civilian interns with disabilities receive AT and employment support services. CAP experts will proactively conduct Disability Workplace Needs Assessments to ensure interns receive support for accommodations before starting their internship. CAP provides priority services to Workforce Recruitment Program (WRP), Pathways, and other DoD internship program participants to ensure they are empowered on the first day of work. Proactively establish partnerships with the WRP Team to advance DoD employment goals for individuals with disabilities.
- DoD Military Treatment Facilities – Proactively build a nation-wide program of partners and champions to ensure the DoD medical community has access to Disability Workplace Needs Assessments, AT, and employment support services. Proactively educate stakeholders on the resources and services available for DoD employees with disabilities and wounded, ill or injured Service Members. Provide AT demonstration kits, establish onsite inventories, and conduct device demonstrations and set-up. Expedite the process for Service Members to obtain workplace assessments and AT.
- DoD Section 501 Advancing Employment Support Services – Strengthen partnerships with Federal agencies to build programmatic technical expertise and eliminate the gaps to provide Employment Support Services. Proactively ensure DoD civilian employees with disabilities receive assistive technology and employment support services. CAP experts will conduct Disability Workplace Needs Assessments to ensure individuals receive support for accommodations including complex employment support services (Interpreters, Readers, Communication Access Realtime Translation services, Scripting/Captioning, Training, Personal Assistant Services, and others).
- DoD Section 501 Advancing Disability Reasonable Accommodation and Program Management – Proactively build stakeholder partnerships with disability program managers and reasonable accommodation professionals across DoD and throughout the Federal workforce. Proactively partner with DoD agencies to provide AT demonstration kits, training, resources, and conduct device demonstrations and set-up to ensure comprehensive workplace accommodations.
- DoD Section 504 Advancing Program Accessibility and Communication – Proactively equip DoD programs and activities with the AT and employment support services required to ensure effective and meaningful communication and information dissemination for individuals with disabilities. Proactively conduct virtual and onsite audits for DoD community and public programs and activities to ensure equal access.
- DoD Section 508 and Digital Accessibility Advancing Accessible Information Technology – Proactively partner with DoD agencies to advance compliance with Section 508 and other accessibility requirements. Proactively attain JSP and other network AT software license approvals for CAP customers and inventory. Proactively expand accessibility testing tools and capabilities DoD-wide in support of Section 508 Standards and digital Accessibility compliance. Proactively provide DoD stakeholders with testing tools to eliminate inaccessibility of information technology.
- DoD Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Advancing Executive Orders and Disabled Veterans Affirmative Action Program – Proactively support the implementation of Executive Orders and Disabled Veterans Affirmative Action Programs, and other initiatives to advance DoD strategic plans and guidance throughout the DoD Workforce.
- DoD Prevention of Disabling Conditions – Requests submitted to prevent disabling conditions require CAP Director approval.