Department of the Treasury Internal Revenue Service Lions World Program
The Challenge
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has long sought to facilitate the hiring and retention of individuals with severe disabilities. Persons hired by the IRS are typically provided with intensive on-the-job training and instruction concerning tax administration duties for the positions into which they are hired. Employment candidates with severe visual impairments present specific challenges due to their inability to read and write effectively using customary materials. While such persons can certainly be accommodated, learning how to use adaptive equipment and materials while being trained on tax administration matters places a heavy burden on such candidates.
The Solution
In order to address this set of challenges, the IRS partnered with Lions World Services for the Blind in 1967 to form the Lions World Program. Under the arrangement with Lions World Services, the IRS extends commitments to hire qualified individuals with visual impairments referred for consideration.
This commitment is conditioned on the successful completion of pre-employment training conducted by Lions World Services and the IRS. During this pre-employment training, the IRS provides candidates with training materials in alternative media, as well as adaptive equipment and assistive technologies to use while in training and on the job after an appointment to a position has been made.
Those who successfully complete the training and accept a position with the IRS report for duty already familiar with the computer systems, alternative media resources, as well as the adaptive or assistive equipment and technologies that they are expected to use on the job. This greatly facilitates on-the-job learning and enhances successful job performance.
The Lions World Program is overseen by the Office of the Chief Accessibility Coordinator (CAC), located within the IRS’s Wage & Investment Business Division. This division serves approximately 118 million customers, accounts for 90 million tax returns, and represents the largest organization within IRS. The CAC is responsible for the administration of the Lions World Program and works closely with the Equal Employment Opportunity and Diversity Office, the Alternative Media Center, which prepares and maintains work-related materials in non-conventional formats, and the Information Resources Accessibility Program Office, which provides adaptive equipment and assistive technologies to employees with disabilities.
The Results
The Lions World Program has led to the creation of a cadre of visually impaired managers and employees who provide coaching to others and continued testing of adaptive equipment and technologies in association with evolving tax administration programs. Some of the individuals hired through the program have retired after spending their careers with the IRS. Others continue to work in various positions ranging from front line to senior level management, including the current CAC.
Initially, the Lions World Program prepared candidates for customer (taxpayer) service representative positions. To date, the IRS has hired 428 customer service representatives through this program. In 1984, the Lions World Program was expanded to include preparing candidates for contact collection representative positions, resulting in 187 hires for those positions. In 1991, the Lions World Program was further expanded to prepare candidates for service center collection representative positions, resulting in 58 new hires.
To date, 673 persons with significant visual impairments have been hired by the IRS through this program. The IRS has also directly hired 126 visually impaired computer programmers recommended by Lions World Services.
The IRS is proud of its long-standing commitment to hire individuals who can perform successfully, irrespective of disabilities, and its productive relationship and achievements with Lions World Services for the Blind.
The Organization
The Internal Revenue Service is a bureau within the U.S. Department of the Treasury. The more than 100,000 dedicated professionals with the IRS provide America’s taxpayers with top quality service by helping them understand and meet their tax responsibilities, as well as by applying the tax laws with integrity and fairness. The IRS is sub-divided into a number of business divisions which are designed to meet the service needs of various types of taxpayers.
