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Upcoming TACE Learning Opportunities |
Financial Stability and Job Retention
May 8, 2012
1:00-3:00 PM ET
This session will examine the connection between financial stability and job retention.
Hiring Individuals with Traumatic Brain In.juries (TBI)
May 14, 2012
1:00-2:30 PM ET
The expected outcome of this webinar will be that employers will become more knowledgeable about individuals with Traumatic Brain Injury and its signs and symptoms. This increased knowledge will assist them in more effectively hiring, retaining and accommodating individuals with TBI.
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI): Coping with Loss and Grief - VR Implications
July 30, 2012
1:00-2:30 PM ET
The expected outcome of this webinar is that rehabilitation practitioners will have specific strategies and resources that will increase their effectiveness when working to facilitate adjustment and transition of veterans with TBI into civilian employment.
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| TACE Learning Communities |
Job Development Exchange The Exchange focuses on what a counselor needs to know, whether they are buying job development services or doing it themselves.
Improving Employment Outcomes for Individuals with Mental Health Disabilities Learning Community Series
Information, tools, and tips to communicate, interact, and support individuals with mental health disabilities to reach integrated, competitive employment goals.
Asset Development Exchange
January through May 2012
This five-webinar series will provide information that allows rehabilitation professionals to help clients think about how to become financially stable.
Helping Your Team Improve Employment Outcomes for Individuals with the Most Significant Disabilities-Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
March through September 2012
This four-webinar series will provide vocational rehabilitation counselors and area directors with information, tools, and tips to communicate, interact, and support individuals with TBI to reach integrated, competitive employment goals. |
| TACE Archives | |
2010-2012 TACE webinar recordings, handouts and PowerPoint slideshows are archived and available for you to access at your convenience.
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| Other Learning Opportunities | |
Job Coaching Web Course
May 8-May 21, 2012
Cost: $149
This training covers key principles and hands-on tools for effective job design, instructional and behavioral support strategies, and the development of natural and co-worker supports for workers and youth with disabilities.
Ticket to Work for People Who Have a Mental Illness: Support on Your Journey to Employment
May 9, 2012
3:00-4:30 PM ET
Learn about Social Security programs and rules that may apply to the people you serve, and hear a success story about a person living with mental illness who found a job through the TTW program.
The National Service to Employment Project: A Path to Competitive Employment for People with Disabilities
May 9, 2012
3:00-4:00 PM ET
This AAIDD webinar will familiarize you with the National Service to Employment Project (NextSTEP), which has a focus on service as a path to competitive employment for people with disabilities.
The Future for Young Americans with Disabilities: Economic Success or Dependence?
May 16, 2012
12:00-1:30 PM ET
Join this Mathematica Issue Forum and Webcast presented by the Center for Studying Disability Policy (CSDP) to learn more about: A disability framework to identify, compare, and contrast youth and young adults with disabilities; results from qualitative research highlighting barriers to economic independence as young people transition to adulthood; and findings from a new synthesis of outcomes for youth and young adults with psychiatric conditions in supported employment programs.
2012 AAIDD Annual Conference
June 18-21
Charlotte, NC
Join the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities for their 136th Annual Meeting, Research-Practice-Policy. The conference will feature informative and inspiring plenary sessions, cutting edge concurrent sessions, posters addressing emerging issues, and in-depth pre- and post-conference meetings on a number of important topics.
APSE 2012 National Conference [PDF]
June 27-29, 2012
Arlington, VA
The 23rd Annual Conference theme says it all - Employment First: A Capitol Idea! This year's conference topics will include Transition from School to Adult Life; Public Policy & Funding; Quality Service Delivery; Leadership and Personal Development; Mental Health and Employment; Employment for Individuals on the Autism Spectrum; and Job Seeker and Employee Topics.
The National Technical Assistance Center for Children's Mental Health at the Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development
July 25-29, 2012
Orlando, FL
The 2012 Training Institutes will focus on innovative approaches, and how lessons learned from systems of care can guide efforts to improve children's mental health service delivery in a dramatically changing environment.
Autism Summer Institute
August 6-8, 2012
Concord, NH
Registration is now open for the 14th Annual Autism Summer Institute, a conference for families, educators, community service providers, and self-advocates.
From Housing to Recovery: Building Community / Building Lives [PDF]
September 19-21, 2012
Tulsa, OK
This year, Mental Health America's Annual Conference will be held in collaboration with the 2012 National Zarrow Mental Health Symposium. The conference focuses in part on homeless and housing services, but this year, for the first time, includes multiple tracks focusing on community inclusion. |
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| Greetings!
Welcome to the monthly electronic Southeast TACE Serving Individuals with Most Significant Disabilities Network News Flash (MSD Network News Flash). In this edition, you will find Announcements, National News, Upcoming Learning Opportunities, and our other regular features. In addition, we offer you resources for serving individuals with severe mental health disabilities and people with traumatic brain injuries.
Visit the TACE MSD Network web site regularly to learn about current events in the world of employment for individuals with the most significant impact of disability. |
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Southeast TACE Launches New Website:
Southeast TACE is pleased to announce the launch of our new website. Designed with vocational rehabilitation professionals in mind, the new, more accessible format brings you the quality content, community networking and learning opportunities you have come to expect from Southeast TACE. It also allows us to go further in meeting and exceeding your expectations. We have already added TACE resources not previously represented on the old site. The redesign is launching in two phases. Phase One introduces new main pages, menus and submenus that will link back to some of the secondary pages and portals you'll recognize from the old website. Phase Two will unify the entire site under the new design. As part of the launch, we've added three new pages: |
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Announcements:
What is the best way adults can support young people with mental health challenges so they can graduate from high school? Read what youth have to say.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, awarded the 2012 "Collaboration and Coalition Building Award" to the Missouri Traumatic Brain Injury Implementation Partnership Project for their work establishing partnerships between agencies and organizations at the state and local levels.
In Linda Hodgdon's April online newsletter, she writes about creating and using videos as teaching tools for students with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Her article includes links to examples and other resources.
Best Hopes, Worst Fears [PDF] by Kathie Snow suggests a simple strategy that agencies, schools and other organizations can use to move toward inclusion.
The VCU Autism Center for Excellence posted the Autism Q and A: Positive Behavior Support fact sheet on their website. Positive behavior supports can be used to help individuals successfully participate at home, in school, and in their communities. These supports can prevent a behavior from occurring or teach the individual a new functional skill to replace it.
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Counselor Tips:
On April 17th, the Southeast TACE hosted Job Development, Placement & Support Strategies for Consumers w/SMI - Part 2. Presenters Charles Bernacchio, Ed.D., CRC and Eileen J. Burker, Ph.D., CRC, were joined by consultants Bonnie Schell, Obie Johnson, and Laurie Coker to discuss employment rights under the ADA; identifying employment opportunities; job creation (including Customized Employment); customer service; ongoing relationships; job leads; job supports (including natural supports); principles guiding disclosure; and suggestions/recommendations for Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors. Recommendations included: - Be well-versed with the ADA and how it applies to individuals with SMI
- For job creation know your client and the employer's needs, not just the current job descriptions
- Involve the community (family, friends, CRPs)
- Job coaching is a most effective, critical accommodation for people w/SMI
- Provide ongoing long-term supports to improve job retention
- Natural supports (including the use of peers) have a lot to offer
Webinar presenters provided Fast Facts on....Reasonable Accommodations & The Americans with Disabilities Act [PDF] as an additional resource. |
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Employment:
From War to Wall Street tells the story of military officer Fred Phelan. After his tour in Iraq left him with multiple injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder, Fred connected with the Wall Street Warfighters Foundation, where he trained for a job at Drexel Hamilton. He's now helping other veterans build new careers on Wall Street.
Frequently Asked Questions About Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) & Employment answers some of the most commonly asked questions about employment after a TBI. A number of workplace accommodation ideas are also provided in the document.
In late April, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued updated guidance and a Question & Answer document on employer use of arrest and conviction records. The new guidance includes best practices for employers.
The Office of Disability Employment Policy recently launched the Employment First State Leadership Mentor Program to help states align their policies and priorities to promote community-based, integrated employment. Iowa, Oregon and Tennessee were selected as protégé states and Washington State will serve as their mentor.
Beyond Segregated and Exploited: Update on the Employment of People with Disabilities [PDF], a new report from the National Disability Rights Network, provides an update to the organization's 2011 report Segregated and Exploited: The Failure of the Disability Service System to Provide Quality Work [PDF] on the failure of the disability service system to provide quality work. According to Curt Decker, NDRN Executive Director, "The following update to our report details the work started over the past year and examines further how federal policies are contributing to the segregation and exploitation of workers with disabilities. We are proud of the work that has been accomplished this past year but there is much still to do. Indeed we are only just beginning. Only 20% of people with disabilities are in the workforce with over 400,000 of them stuck in sheltered workshops earning on average only $175 per month. Few receive health care or the other benefits typical of the average American worker. And because of the nature of segregated work - in which workers with disabilities are isolated and hidden away - there continues to be instances of exploitation, abuse and neglect. This must end. Now."
Effective Training for Employment Consultants: Job Development and Support Strategies [PDF], an Institute for Community Inclusion Brief, summarizes the key elements of a training and support approach for Employment Consultants. Key elements include focused training content, a variety of training formats and delivery methods, and on-the-job mentoring.
The 2010-2011 National Survey of Community Rehabilitation Providers Report 1: Overview of Services, Trends and Provider Characteristics [PDF] is a Research to Practice brief from the Institute for Community Inclusion. The brief presents findings on people with disabilities who are served in employment and non-work settings by community rehabilitation providers (CRPs).
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Web Sites:
Medline Plus, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine at the National Institutes of Health, provides a wealth of information about traumatic brain injuries. Rehabilitation/recovery, research, and helpful organizations are just a few of the resource categories available on the site.
America's Heroes at Work features a variety of resources related to traumatic brain injury, including Common Employer Questions, fact sheets, reference guides, presentations, training tools, and success stories.
Brainline.org provides basic information about employment after a traumatic brain injury, job accommodation ideas, and links to pages and other web sites covering a number of TBI-related topics.
Autism Family Online offers information and resources for parents, family members, educators, Speech Pathologists, therapists and others who work to support the learning and living needs of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders and related learning challenges.
The Department of Labor web site features the Benefit Finder, a tool that asks users questions about themselves to help them determine which government benefit programs they may be eligible to receive.
The Tennessee Kindred Stories of Disabilities web site shares stories of people with disabilities and their families. The site is searchable by disability, age range, county, storyteller perspective, and topic.
The goal of ODEP's apprenticeship initiative is "to increase systems capacity to provide integrated inclusive apprenticeship training to youth and young adults with a full range of disabilities, including those with the most significant disabilities, and to utilize the increased flexibilities detailed in DOL's newly released apprenticeship regulations." The ODEP apprenticeship web page offers a variety of resources and links for additional information. |
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Please forward this MSD Network New Flash to agency staff, parents, individuals with disabilities, and anyone else you think might find the information useful. Invite them to subscribe by joining the Southeast TACE Employment Listserv. To join the listserv, they simply visit the Southeast TACE MSD Network web site and follow the MSD E-Mail-List link. We'll take it from there!
If you have any questions about TACE or would like to request technical assistance, please contact Jill Houghton at jilldh@bellsouth.net. For questions about the Southeast TACE Employment Listserv or the monthly Southeast TACE Serving Individuals with Most Significant Disabilities Network News Flash, please contact Kim Brown at brown@ruralinstitute.umt.edu.
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Are You Accessing the Portals?
To use the Portals, visit the TACE MSD Network web site
In the "Portal For" section on the left-hand side of your screen, select "Counselor" or "Coordinator." This will take you to the "Login to MyTACE Account." You will use your MyTACE Account to register for available events, seek applicable credit, and access your specialized portal (Counselor or Coordinator).
Attended a TACE Webinar? You may already have created a MyTACE Account. If you have a MyTACE Account and want to access the Portal, email tacesoutheast@law.syr.edu and request to join the TACE Most Significant Disabilities Network. If you don't already have a MyTACE account, follow the instructions to "Create a New MyTACE Account"
and also apply for Portal access.
About the Southeast TACE Serving Individuals with Most Significant Disabilities Network News Flash:
This free service is being sponsored by Southeast TACE, the Technical Assistance & Continuing Education (TACE) Centerfor Region IV. TACE is a partnership of academic, governmental, and community expertise that provides technical assistance and continuing education activities to meet the training and organizational development needs of State Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) agencies and their partners in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Southeast TACE supports VR, Community Rehabilitation Programs, Centers for Independent Living, Client Assistance Programs, and other agencies to enhance employment outcomes, independent functioning, independent living and quality of life for persons with disabilities throughout the eight states in the Southeast Region IV.
Meet the Southeast TACE Team:
Chip Kenney, Project Director & Principal Investigator
Jill Houghton, Network Coordinator, Organization Development Specialist
Abby Cooper, Consultant
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