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.

On-the-Job (OJT) funds under the Workforce Opportunity and Innovation Act (WIOA) are a relatively new source of support well suited to the needs of NTI’s applicants.