Equal Opportunity is the Law

It is against the law for this recipient of Federal financial assistance to discriminate on the following bases: Against any individual in the United States, on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions, sex stereotyping, transgender status, and gender identity), national origin (including limited English proficiency), age, disability, political affiliation or belief, or, against any beneficiary of programs financially assisted under Title I of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, on the basis of the individual’s citizenship status, or participation in any WIOA Title I-financially assisted program or activity.

The recipient must not discriminate in any of the following areas:

  • Deciding who will be admitted, or have access, to any WIOA-Title I financially assisted program or activity;
  • Providing opportunities in, or treating any person with regard to, such a program or activity; or Making employment decisions in the administration of, or in connection with, such a program or activity.

Recipients of federal financial assistance must take reasonable steps to ensure that communications with individuals with disabilities are as effective as communications with others. This means that, upon request and at no cost to the individual, recipients are required to provide appropriate auxiliary aids and services to qualified individuals with disabilities.


What to Do If You Believe You Have Experienced Discrimination

If you think that you have been subjected to discrimination under a WIOA Title I-financially assisted program or activity, you may file a complaint within 180 days from the date of the alleged violation with either: the recipient’s Equal Opportunity Officer (or the person whom the recipient has designated for this purpose);

Equal Opportunity Officer
Erica Thomas
Tri-County Council for Southern Maryland
PO Box 745, Hughesville, MD 20637
(301) 274-1922

ethomas@tccsmd.org

Or

The Director
Civil Rights Center (CRC)
U.S. Department of Labor
200 Constitution Avenue NW
Room N-4123
Washington, DC 20210

If you file your complaint with the recipient, you must wait either until the recipient issues a written Notice of Final Action, or until 90 days have passed (whichever is sooner), before filing with the Civil Rights Center (see address above).

If the recipient does not give you a written Notice of Final Action within 90 days of the day on which you filed your complaint, you do not have to wait for the recipient to issue that Notice before filing a complaint with CRC. However, you must file your CRC complaint within 30 days of the 90-day deadline (in other words, within 120 days after the day on which you filed your complaint with the recipient).

“We have been so blessed and thankful for the support, we as an organization, have received from
Southern Maryland’s Tri-County Council. Thank you so much!”

Jenny Roberson, Executive Director HR of MRW Lawn’s, Inc.

“This program has allowed me to not only learn new concepts that will help me when joining the workforce, but has also allowed me to grow as an individual. The various courses taught me valuable lessons and skills that will be useful for my future. The internship courses showed me what it will take to succeed as an intern in the field, then mentorship program taught me how to successfully lead, and the other courses taught me Adobe and Photoshop. With these skills that I have obtained due to this program I have now developed a new expertise that I could bring into interviews, making me a better applicant than my peers that may be applying. I am thankful for this opportunity in participating in this program and am happy that it taught me valued sill that I will hold onto for the rest of my life.”

Aria S.

“I thought the program was great! It’s nice to know that there are programs like this one that is both credible and extremely beneficial to young adults. Although I went into the program not expecting too much, I learned quite a few things about soft skills and leadership, and in the end, I received a considerable amount of money that I could use for college. I would recommend this program to anyone.”

Maryam A

“I cannot thank the Tri-County Council for Southern MD enough for providing funding for 40 regional members of the MVF to take an advanced vehicle rescue class that was in dire need. The process was seamless, and we now have a highly skilled Rescue team in SOMD.”

Tyler Burroughs, Training Captain at MVF

“The Tri-County Council for Southern MD has been a tremendous help over the past 6+ years helping us find the candidates we need to hire and setting up the interviews holding recruitments for us. Thank you for all your hard work.”

Mike Latham, Owner of Mike’s Works