On‑the‑Job Training with NTI
National Telecommuting Institute (NTI) was founded as a nonprofit organization in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1995. Its mission is to train and place Americans with disabilities into home-based customer service and tech support jobs. NTI’s first placement was with a quadriplegic New Yorker who worked from his nursing home room making confirmation calls to patients of local hospitals using a modified computer. He was named “Most Outstanding Placement of the Year” by the NY State Vocational Rehabilitation Agency. Over the past 30 years, over 8,000 of NTI’s applicants have been placed in jobs with almost a hundred organizations such as the IRS, The General Services Administration, the Department of Labor, the EEOC, and dozens of commercial companies such as Amazon, IBM, Teleperformance, and AAA Roadside Assistance.
Funding in support of NTI’s placements has been provided by the Dept of Veterans Affairs, The National Science Foundation and Kessler Foundation. Placements into jobs at federal agencies are supported by the AbilityOne program.
For WIOA Administrators:
Should I refer an NTI applicant with a disability who is seeking OJT funding to their State VR agency?
No. Less than 1% of State VR agency funding is allocated to OJTs, and the application and approval process often takes months. Candidates referred by NTI already have a job offer or are finalists for one, with an employer who expects OJT support to be provided. These candidates need an affirmative decision from an OJT administrator within 2–3 weeks; otherwise, they risk the employer selecting an alternative applicant.
Do NTI‑referred applicants seeking OJT funds require any disability‑related accommodations?
Yes. Since NTI works exclusively with Americans with disabilities who are seeking home‑based employment, nearly all NTI applicants will need to be interviewed and complete the OJT application process from their homes. Please note that under WIOA regulations:
Programmatic accessibility. All WIOA Title I-financially assisted programs and activities must be programmatically accessible, which includes providing reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities, making reasonable modifications to policies, practices, and procedures, administering programs in the most integrated setting appropriate, communicating with persons with disabilities as effectively as with others, and providing appropriate auxiliary aids or services, including assistive technology devices and services, where necessary to afford individuals with disabilities an equal opportunity to participate in, and enjoy the benefits of, the program or activity.
Disability accommodations for WIOA‑funded OJT contracts may include a part‑time OJT; access to the OJT application process by phone or computer when a mobility impairment makes travel to a local one‑stop center difficult; and approval of an OJT for a job choice that may not be prioritized in the applicant’s county, provided the job is appropriate for the individual’s needs and constitutes competitive integrated employment. ETA does not prohibit any of these items as reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities, nor does it determine what constitutes an appropriate reasonable accommodation for any specific worker. All OJT arrangements must comply with 20 CFR 680 Subpart F.
Who employs NTIs' home-based customer and technical support agents?
As noted above, more than 100 companies and federal agencies have employed NTI agents, including the EEOC and the Department of Labor. While many of these positions involve a direct employer–employee relationship, NTI also participates in co‑employment arrangements in which NTI serves as the employer of record, and the company or government agency serves as the common‑law employer.