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| Transition and Employment Projects Tidbits |
| Welcome to the July Transition Tidbits!
We hope this finds you all well and enjoying your summer. Here are a number of transition-related resources we thought might be helpful. |
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Learning Opportunities
8/16/11: "Portfolios - What are they? How can they be used?"
9/20/11: "Using Portfolios for Health Care Needs"
10/18/11: "Identifying and Communicating Support Needs"
11/15/11: "Rural Work Experience"
All sessions are from 1:00-2:30 Mountain Time. There is no cost to register. Archives of previous webinars are available.
National WISE Webinar
July 27, 2011
1:00-2:30 PM MT
Cost: None
Learn more about the Social Security Ticket to Work and other work incentives.
Supported Employment Web-Based Certificate Series
August 1 - October 24, 2011
Cost: $200 for APSE members
Individuals who complete all of the requirements for VCU's online course in supported employment will be eligible to receive a National Certificate in Employment Services.
Why High Fidelity Wraparound and Why Now?
August 10, 2011 from 10:00-2:00 MT in Helena, Montana;
August 31, 2011 from 2:00-5:00 MT in Billings, Montana
Cost: Free
To register or if you have questions, contact Nancy Whitbeck-Nicholson at NWhitbeck-Nicholson@mt.gov or (406)444-4545 and provide your name, agency, email and phone number.
Wellness Recovery Action Planning™
August 15-17, 2011
Butte, Montana
Cost: Free
This 3-day workshop presented by the Montana Peer Network is for people who experience Mental Heath difficulties and those who care about them. For more information or to register, please contact Jim Hajny, MPN Office Manager, at 406-587-7774 or jim@montanamentalhealth.org.
Understanding the Role of Vocational Themes in Discovery and Creative Job Development
August 16, 2011
11:00-12:00 PM MT
Cost: $50 APSE Members/ $100 Non-Members
This webinar will explore the critical activities of the Discovering Personal Genius (DPG) strategy and how discerning the Vocational Themes moves us beyond stereotypical jobs into jobs and businesses where new skills are learned and solid employment lives are possible.
Disability and Stigma: Are you Creating it or Dispelling it?
September 8, 2011
11:00-12:00 PM MT
Cost: $50 APSE Members/ $100 Non-Members
In this session participants will learn how to recognize stigma in marketing (including a set of humorous logos gone awry); strike a balance between the message of social justice and community inclusion; and formulate respectful images of job seekers without pity or myth.
Partnering to Increase Employment Opportunities for Individuals with Disabilities
October 6, 2011
12:00-1:00 PM MT
Cost: $50 APSE Members/$100 Non-Members
This webinar will provide an overview of the array of national, regional and state initiatives underway to increase employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities.
Montana Youth in Transition Conference
November 9-11, 2011
Great Falls, Montana
Transitioning from life after high school is a big process. You are not alone! Come meet other youth, parents, teachers and professionals to see all the resources that are waiting to work with you.
"No Excuses" - TASH National Conference
November 30 - December 3, 2011
Atlanta, Georgia
2012 Disability Policy Seminar
April 23-25, 2012
Washington, DC
Save the date! The 2012 Disability Policy seminar is your chance to come together with advocates from across the county to have your voice heard. |
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Montana News
Visit the Montana Transition Training, Information and Resource Center Facebook page and let us know if you "like" what you see!
Young adult members of the Montana Transition Training, Information and Resource Center Advisory Board decided to form the Mental Health Work Group to address the mental health needs of youth with developmental disabilities. The work group recently finalized their handout Developmental Disabilities and Mental Health - What Young Adults Want You to Know [PDF]. They invite readers to download and share the document widely, especially with educators, medical professionals, mental health and developmental disability service providers, families, and young adults with developmental disabilities. |
| Assistive Technology
RoboBraille is a free, non-commercial provider of document conversions for accessibility. You can send an e-mail with an attached text document to the RoboBraille e-mail account and receive the document back in an accessible format.
App Accessibility: Are We at a Tipping Point? is a March 2011 posting to the Official FCC Blog by Pam Gregory, Director, Accessibility and Innovation Initiative. Director Gregory lists a number of new educational apps that may help persons with disabilities, including: Wallet Advanced to safely manage your website logins, credit card info and other private information; Pill Time to remind you to take your medications (it also breaks up your medications by medication type, ailment concerned, dosage, frequency and the specific time of day); PhotoDiary so you can track your day with photographs, and add captions and date and time-stamps to the photos; and Ring Finger, a speed dialing program that you can program for time and automated calling (for example, it could automatically connect you with your job coach at 1:30 each day). |
| Employment
Check out the July issue of The Riot! - Real Jobs for Real Pay [PDF]. This is part 1 of a two-part series on employment for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Cary Griffin of Griffin-Hammis Associates, LLC recently shared these video links from the Iowa Medicaid Infrastructure Grant (MIG): Self-Employed Iowans with disabilities [YouTube Video] and Wage Earners with disabilities in Iowa [YouTube Video].
The Kessler Foundation and the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development recently released Social Enterprise Business: A Strategy for Creating Good Jobs for People with Disabilities [PDF]. The report discusses the merits of social enterprises and strategies for creating successful social enterprises that employ people with disabilities. Successful social enterprises must provide an inclusive environment in which workers earn minimum wage or more and have the opportunity for advancement.
"More and more Americans with disabilities are going into business for themselves. In fact, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, people with disabilities are almost twice as likely as individuals without disabilities to start a business..." Visit the Disability Blog to read more about resources for entrepreneurs with disabilities.
Featured articles in the June 2011 Disabilities At Work Newsletter include:
- Kessler Survey: A Long Way to Go, which shares the finding that only three percent of people who identify themselves as having a disability are working.
- Business Simulation Training for New Jersey Students, an overview of the LearnDoEarn Student Achievement System. This partnership between the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce and the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development offers free week-long business simulation "Boot Camps" this summer for college-bound students with disabilities who will be entering the ninth or tenth grade this fall.
- Connecting to Business Opportunities shares how businesses owned by individuals with disabilities can increase their access to potential contracting opportunities with major corporations, government agencies and other disability-owned businesses through the Disability Supplier Diversity Program�.
State Intellectual and Developmental Disability Agencies' Funding for Employment Services issued DataNote 33. The report states that the data reviewed "do suggest that integrated employment services are more cost-effective compared to facility-based work. In addition, if more individuals are to be supported in jobs in the community, a greater percentage of overall funding needs to be allocated towards integrated employment services and away from facility-based work and other non-work services." (Winsor, J. E., & Smith, F. A., 2011, State Intellectual Disability and Developmental Disabilities Agencies Funding for Employment Services. DataNote Series, Data XXXIII. Boston, MA: University of Massachusetts Boston, Institute for Community Inclusion.) |
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National News
Kathy Martinez, assistant secretary of the Office of Disability Employment Policy, recently delivered the keynote address at the National Federation of the Blind's annual convention. She highlighted ODEP's upcoming Integrated Employment Toolkit of resources to ensure that people with significant disabilities have access to integrated, community-based employment opportunities with benefits and wages at or above minimum wage.
On July 14th, the Senate HELP Committee held a hearing on Lessons from the Field: Learning from What Works for Employment for Persons with Disabilities. The committee sought to learn about proven strategies that have a positive impact on employment outcomes for all people with disabilities, including young adults and veterans. |
Post-Secondary Education
The Research to Practice brief Role of Mentoring in College Access and Success [PDF] synthesizes scholarly research into the role of mentoring to promote college access and success.
The June/July 2011 Think College Newsletter is now available. Highlights include Friends By Inclusion; TPSID Spotlight: TOPS Program; A Most Special Commencement; and Title IV Eligibility for Students with ID.
DREAM - Disability Rights, Education, Activism, and Mentoring strives to promote a national disabilities agenda for post-secondary students and their allies and to serve as an educational resource and source of support for both individuals and local campus-based groups. |
Social Security
The Consortium of Citizens with Disabilities has posted recordings and slides from two recent webinars on Social Security. "Social Security 101" explains the basics of the social insurance safety net that is created by the Social Security retirement, disability, and survivors programs. "Current Social Security Reform Proposals: How They Would Affect People with Disabilities" explains the specific reforms that have been proposed by organizations and commissions, and their impact on people with disabilities, the elderly, and families who rely on the Social Security safety net. |
| Transition
The Riot announces that Space Race is now available for purchase. This game is designed to teach people with intellectual and developmental disabilities of all ages about self-determination. Players talk about career interests, where they want to live, who they want to spend time with, community involvement, and health. Players record their ideas on a "Space Log," that later can be used during transition or service planning.
The National Service Inclusion Project at the Institute for Community Inclusion, UMASS Boston, has added a new resource section designed to help educators plan, implement and evaluate service-learning projects.
This month the Council on Quality and Leadership explores Supports and Services as one of the key factors of person-centered excellence.
The Youth Connections Community of Practice will allow practitioners in the youth employment field to discuss and share promising practices and technical assistance, and to network. Youth Connections is hosted by the Division of Youth Services in the U.S. Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration. |
Web Sites
Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Youths and Adults offers a wealth of information and access to resources, including the HKNC's Regional Representatives located in ten offices across the country. Examples of services provided by the regional representatives include consumer advocacy; consultation and technical assistance to schools and agencies; professional development and in-service training; maintenance of the HKNC National Registry of Persons Who Are Deaf-Blind; and information and referral.
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) launched the Olmstead: Community Integration for Everyone web site that includes information and resources about the Olmstead case and decision, a searchable map that lists ongoing Olmstead litigation in the 12 Circuit Courts of Appeals involving DOJ, guidance for states and local governments about the Americans with Disabilities Act integration mandate, and information about how to file an Olmstead complaint.
Visit the National Health Care Transition Center's web site to learn more about health care transition.
On the anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Office of Disability Employment Policy Assistant Secretary Kathy Martinez announced the new and improved version of the ODEP web site. The site includes a resource-rich Youth in Transition section.
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Please note: the Transition and Employment Projects at the University of Montana Rural Institute shares information and resources our listserv members may find of interest. We do not endorse the web sites or workshop contents or their providers, and we assume no responsibility for the validity of information provided on sites or in sessions not hosted by our agency.
Transition Tidbits is produced by the University of Montana's Rural Institute Transition and Employment Projects, which is funded in part under a contract with the Montana Council on Developmental Disabilities. The representations, if any, contained herein do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Council. |
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