To be eligible to apply for employment through a 55-a Program you must: 

• Be certified as having a physical or mental disability;
• Be qualified to perform the duties of the job, with or without a reasonable accommodation.  
• Your skills, education and/or work experience must meet the minimum qualifications of the position.

There are two agencies that provide this determination:

• New York State Office of the Adult Career and Continuing Education Services-Vocational Rehabilitation (ACCES-VR) certifies persons as physically or mentally disabled and makes determinations as to whether the individuals are qualified to satisfactorily perform the duties of the position sought.  There are local offices in Poughkeepsie.
• The New York State Commission for the Blind (NYSCB) certifies persons who are blind and makes determinations as to whether the individuals are qualified to satisfactorily perform the duties of the position sought.  

There is no guarantee of receiving an interview or a position.  Appointments through the 55-a Program are discretionary for each agency. 

1. Review vacancies of entry level positions advertised in Putnam County County Departments. 
2. Complete and submit an application(s) for the civil service title(s) that you would like to apply for. A separate application must be submitted for each title to which you are applying.

Please Note: 

• If you wish to proceed with a 55-a application, you must be comfortable with hiring administrators knowing that you have a disability and that you may need a reasonable accommodation, however you are under no obligation to disclose the nature of your disability. 
• If you do not want hiring administrators to be aware that you have a disability, do not file the 55-a application.  
• You may withdraw your 55-a application at any time.

Once a completed application is received by the Personnel Department:

1. Your application will be reviewed;
2. If you meet the minimum qualifications, your application will be sent to ACCES-VR or NYSCB along with the position description, so they can verify that you can perform the essential functions of the job.
3. ACCES-VR or the NYSCB evaluates your skills and abilities against the essential functions of the job and either:
   • Approves your 55-a status and suggests appropriate reasonable accommodations or disapproves you for not being able to perform the essential functions of the job.
   • This decision is made on a job-by-job basis so if you are disapproved for not being physically or mentally able to perform the essential functions of one job, you may still be eligible for something else.
4. The Personnel Department notifies the applicant of their approval or denial of 55-a candidacy for the position. If approved, your application will be sent to the department where the vacancy exists.

With each vacancy the hiring process is initiated by the department seeking to fill a position. This agency will arrange for its own interviews and may request submission of additional documents (professional letters of reference, a writing sample, etc.). 

Yes. This is the only way your appointment can become a permanent competitive position.

• 55-a Program provides the opportunity to work in a position that would normally be within the competitive class, the 55-a Program does not provide all of the same rights and protections of a competitive class position because when it becomes 55-a, it is changed to a non-competitive class position. Non-competitive class positions do not garner any protections unless they have been in the position for five consecutive years.  

• The only way to become permanent in a competitive class position is to take and pass the competitive civil service examination, be appointed from the resulting ‘eligible list’, and successfully complete the probationary period.

• When taking a competitive civil service examination, reasonable accommodations are available upon request and with the submission of required supporting documentation.