Closing the accommodation cliff starts with ownership. For each transition an employee may go through, name one person, not a process, who is responsible for two things: carrying existing accommodations forward and offering accommodation to everyone entering the transition. For a promotional interview, that might be the hiring manager working with Human Resources. For a leadership cohort, it is the program coordinator. For an acting assignment or reassignment, it is the receiving supervisor. For a return from leave or a move to a new system, it may be the supervisor with the ADA coordinator and the technology team.
Carry the accommodation, not the diagnosis. The receiving supervisor or program needs to know what works: a later start, captioning, materials in advance, a screen reader compatible system, a quiet workspace, rest breaks. They do not need to know why. Under Minnesota Management and Budget's reasonable accommodation policy for executive branch agencies, medical information is kept confidential and separate from personnel files, and the fact that someone has an accommodation is shared only with those who need to know to put it in place. The agency ADA coordinator guides the process and must be consulted before any request is denied. With the employee's agreement, the accommodation process can tell the receiving supervisor what to continue.
Cost is rarely a good reason to drop an arrangement at a transition. Minnesota law created a state accommodation account that can reimburse agencies for part of the cost of certain accommodations, including accommodations for applicants and ongoing services, as funds allow. Check with Human Resources or the ADA coordinator about how DHS uses it. A unit's budget should not decide whether an employee keeps what already works.
Offer accommodation to everyone at every transition, in the same sentence used for logistics: The interview will be at ten in room four or by video; let us know about any accommodation you need for any part of the process. That way no one must disclose to receive it. After the transition, check in. Ask everyone, not only the people who requested something, whether the arrangements worked, and fix what did not. Remember that this course is about pathway design and ownership. Decisions about any individual accommodation, and any disagreement about one, belong to Human Resources and the accommodation process.
