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August 2012
MSD Network News Flash
Improving Employment Outcomes for Individuals with the Most Significant Disabilities
In This Issue
Announcements
Counselor Tips
Employment
Social Security
Technology
Web Sites

Upcoming TACE Learning Opportunities

VR Implications of Working with the Family of Individuals with TBI

September 6, 2012

1:00-2:30 PM ET

The webinar will begin by reviewing the stages of the recovery process and the complex interpersonal issues relevant to family members who care for family members with traumatic brain injuries (TBI). The participants will be exposed to the changes an individual with a TBI experiences and the various roles that family members play in advocating during the recovery process.

 

Establishing Linkages to Promote the Recruitment and Hiring of Candidates with Disabilities
September 13, 2012
1:00-2:00 PM ET
 
This webinar will highlight the Vocational Rehabilitation Program as an important resource listed in the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) proposed revised regulations of Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended and released on December 9, 2011.
Kindly note that to register, you must create an account with Southeast ADA Center. Your MYTACE account information will not work for this webinar. 

 

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. 

   

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.

Other Learning Opportunities

Barriers and Supports for Research Use

SEDL's Center on Knowledge Translation for Employment Research (KTER) is hosting this free online workshop. Participants may login and "attend" whenever it fits their schedule. The workshop presents ideas and strategies to promote the use of high quality research information to support employment of people with disabilities. Barriers and how to address them are also discussed. This has been pre-approved by CRCC for 6 CRC-CEUs.

 

Employment First: Making it a Reality

September 13, 2012

2:00-3:00 PM ET

Laura Owens, APSE Executive Director, will explain the "Employment First" movement, take a look at what other states are doing, and explore what we can be doing in states to move this grassroots agenda forward.

 

The Health Care Law 101

September 13, 2012

12:30-1:30 PM ET

The HHS Partnership Center is hosting a series of interactive webinars to discuss the benefits and provisions of the Affordable Care Act. All webinars are open to the public and include a question and answer session.

 

Customized Employment

September 17-October 15, 2012

Cost: $100

This course will take a closer look at customized employment and how it can facilitate employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities.

 

Mental Health Aspects: Treatment and Support

September 18-19, 2012

Columbus, Ohio

The State of Ohio MI/DD Conference is celebrating its 10th Anniversary of the training partnership between the Ohio Departments of Developmental Disabilities and Mental Health and NADD in providing excellent training to assist people with co-occurring developmental disabilities and mental illness live better lives.

 

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.

 

Reasonable Accommodation & the Americans with Disabilities Act

September 20, 2012

Miami, Florida

Cost: $199

Commissioner Chai Feldblum and Commissioner Victoria Lipnic from the EEOC Headquarters in Washington D.C. will discuss the basics of reasonable accommodation and other related topics including essential job functions, leave and modified work schedules as reasonable accommodations, and the interactive process. This special topic seminar is especially beneficial to all HR and EEO practitioners, disability professionals, and labor law attorneys.

 

Customized Supported Self-Employment

September 24-December 17, 2012

Cost: $250

This online course is being offered by Virginia Commonwealth University's Rehabilitation Research and Training Center in collaboration with Griffin-Hammis and Associates. Discussion groups will be led by nationally known experts in self-employment from Griffin-Hammis and Associates.

 

USBLN� 15th Annual Conference & Expo

October 1-4, 2012

Orlando, Florida

This conference brings corporate, government, disability-owned businesses and BLN affiliates together to create workplaces, marketplaces, and supply chains where people with disabilities are fully included as professionals, customers and entrepreneurs.

 

Mental Wellness in Persons with IDD and ASD: Innovation, Collaboration & Quality of Life (IDD/MH)

October 17-19, 2012

Denver, Colorado

The 29th Annual NADD Conference & Exhibit Show strives to provide comprehensive training concerning mental health needs for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

 

Achieving Inclusion Across the Globe

October 25-28, 2012

Washington, D.C.

The Arc partners with Inclusion International to bring you this national convention and international forum on living in the community, leadership, self-advocacy and creating change with an international twist.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Greetings!

Welcome to the monthly electronic Southeast TACE Serving Individuals with the 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. 

 

Visit the TACE MSD Network web site to learn about current events in the world of employment for individuals with the most significant impact of disability.

Announcements: 

The U.S. Department of Justice has reached an agreement with the state of North Carolina to ensure the state complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act. The settlement follows an investigation by the Department of North Carolina's mental health service system that began in 2010. Over the next eight years, North Carolina will provide integrated supported housing to 3,000 people, expand Assertive Community Treatment teams to serve 5,000 individuals, provide a range of crisis services, and expand integrated employment opportunities by providing supported employment services to 2,500 individuals with mental illness. 

 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announces the brief video What's Disability to Me? [Video], featuring Mr. Bernard Baker, a person with disabilities who describes how he fully participates in life. The video might be useful when educating stakeholders about community inclusion and independent living.

 

The U.S. Census Bureau has released Americans With Disabilities: 2010 [PDF]. The report finds that nearly 1 in 5 Americans have a disability, with more than half reporting the disability as "severe." Adults with severe disabilities were about twice as likely as adults with non-severe disabilities to experience long-term poverty.

 

The Department of Veterans Affairs offers a fact sheet describing the Veterans' Pension for Non-Service-Connected Disability, a benefit paid to wartime veterans with limited income who are no longer able to work. To qualify, the veteran must be permanently and totally disabled or have reached the age of 65, and have served on active duty at least 90 days with at least one day of wartime service. Income limits and other requirements apply.

 

The National Disability Institute is offering a free six-webinar Financial Wellness series. Each 90-minute webinar will begin at 3 p.m. Eastern Time on select Wednesdays starting on September 5th. The series will address personal finances, taxes and public benefits as they relate to people living with multiple sclerosis, their families and caregivers. However, the topics would be of interest to all people with disabilities.

 

APSE chapters in our region have a number of upcoming events:

October 10-11: North Carolina APSE Fall Training Event [PDF]

October 10-12: Georgia APSE 17th Statewide Conference

October 12: Alabama APSE's Preparing for the Future [PDF]

December 5-7: Kentucky APSE's Supported Employment Works! [PDF]

June 19-21, 2013 Alabama APSE's Annual Conference [PDF] 

 

Counselor Tips:

If you weren't able to attend the July 30th webinar Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI): Coping with Loss and Grief - VR Implications, be sure to view the archived recording. Tammara Thomas with the Department of Veterans Affairs from Iowa City was the featured presenter for this third session in the TACE Helping Your Team Improve Employment Outcomes for Individuals with the Most Significant Disabilities-Traumatic Brain Injury Webinar Series.

 

If you haven't already done so, register to attend VR Implications of Working with the Family of Individuals with TBI, which will be held on September 6, 2012 from 1:00-2:30 PM Eastern. The webinar will begin by reviewing the stages of the recovery process and the complex interpersonal issues relevant to family members who care for family members with traumatic brain injuries (TBI). The participants will be exposed to the changes an individual with a TBI experiences and the various roles that family members play in advocating during the recovery process. Specifically, this webinar will:

  • Identify the potential impact of TBI on the family and assist participants in developing an understanding of the recovery process and possible sources of stress;
  • Review the family role in the "treatment team approach" in helping the family cope with the dynamics of TBI;
  • Discuss behavioral management strategies that assist the family in working as partners in developing solutions to address behavioral challenges; and,
  • Review the process of adjusting, coping, and factors that influence the rehabilitation process.

Employment:

In response to a need for more easily accessible and organized information on governmental benefits available to veterans and their families, The Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University (IVMF), in collaboration with Griffin-Hammis Associates, LLC, has released the publication Navigating Government Benefits & Employment: A Guidebook for Veterans with Disabilities [PDF]. This new manual covers benefits and work incentives for both wage and self-employment.

 

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has awarded nearly $35 million in grants to public housing authorities, resident associations and non-profit organizations to promote jobs and self-sufficiency for public housing residents. The funding will also connect the elderly and people with disabilities with services to support independent living. All eight states in the Southeast TACE Region IV received funding.

 

The Winter/Spring 2012 Impact newsletter [PDF] from The Institute on Community Integration & Research and Training Center on Community Living features articles on the career needs of students with intellectual and developmental disabilities, social networking to build careers, customizing job development, supported self-employment, and peer training to achieve employment goals.

 

National News:

On August 23, 2012, the National Council on Disability (NCD), an independent federal agency, released a report calling for a six-year phase-out of section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act. This provision allows employers to receive a certificate from the U.S. Department of Labor to pay less than federal minimum wage to workers with disabilities for work performed. "The 14(c) program should be phased-out gradually as part of a systems change effort that enhances existing resources and creates new mechanisms for supporting individuals in obtaining integrated employment and other non-work services," writes Jonathan Young, chairman of the NCD, in a letter to the president that accompanies the report. "NCD recommends a phase-out of the 14(c) program rather than immediate repeal because those who have been in the program for many years need time to transition to a supported employment environment."  

 

The NCD report includes a number of specific recommendations addressing such areas as:

  • Congressional reauthorization, development and implementation of an expanded, integrated benefits planning and assistance program
  • Coordination and expansion of peer support efforts to both families and individuals with intellectual/developmental disabilities transitioning from the 14(c) programs to integrated employment
  • Alignment of state reimbursement rates to providers to reflect a bias in favor of integrated settings
  • Exploration of performance-based payment systems for employment supports
  • Expansion of access to customized employment and job carving services
  • Development of a strong working collaboration between the state Vocational Rehabilitation agency, ID/DD service-provision agency and State Education Authority

During the site visits conducted to prepare the report, NCD identified two key indicators that an individual was more likely to choose competitive employment. The first indicator was age - younger people with disabilities were more likely to advocate for employment at or above the minimum wage. The second indicator was whether or not they came from an inclusive K-12 school environment. Individuals who had access to the general curriculum and integrated classrooms were more likely to say they wanted integrated employment (and their parents were more likely to support this desire).

 

Another important finding from the site visits was that "an individual's desire to work at all, and at what wage, was influenced heavily by the expectations that were set for that individual beginning in childhood and all the way through school. Participation in inclusive settings should include both academic work and opportunities to take on their share of classroom chores and responsibilities along with their nondisabled peers. It is important to note, however, it is not helpful for students with disabilities to be assigned chores and work in place of academics, nor be assigned work and chores not typically assigned to non-disabled peers. All of this will lead to an expectation that meaningful work in an inclusive environment is possible and part of each student's future" (p.19).

 

The U.S. Business Leadership Network, a national business-to-business network, issued a statement calling for the end of subminimum wage by for-profit employers.

 

Social Security:

The Ticket to Work program can help Social Security disability beneficiaries (SSI/SSDI) ages 18 through 64 prepare for, find and maintain employment. Social Security's Find Help tool connects beneficiaries with organizations to help them achieve their work goals.

 

The August 23, 2012 issue of the DOL News Brief from the U.S. Department of Labor shares the story of one young woman who "Discovered Her Ticket to Work":  "The odds of finding a job were stacked against her, Jennifer Lortie acknowledged. 'I graduated from college during the recession, I had little experience and I used a wheelchair. I had a lot of strikes against me,' she said. But with a desire to find employment helping others, the 28-year-old began her search by looking for support from federal programs. Lortie qualified for Social Security disability insurance and sought career assistance from an eastern Connecticut job center designated as a 'Ticket to Work Employment Network.' That led to job resume preparation and employment placement by a counselor whose program was funded through the Workforce Investment Act. Lortie now works 22 hours a week as an assistant technology specialist. Eventually, Lortie said, she hopes to go back to school for an advanced degree in social work."

Technology:

A number of accessibility features are built into Apple products. For example, Text to Speech technology can read aloud a selection of text or an entire document, and VoiceOver allows users to hear a spoken description of what's onscreen and control their computer using only the keyboard (no mouse required). According to Apple, VoiceOver supports more than 40 different models of refreshable braille displays.

 

Microsoft also includes accessibility features in their products. Their website offers an Accessibility Guide for Educators, which includes information on types of impairments, disabilities, and specific accessibility solutions, as well as how to select assistive technology for students.

 

Dell products include accessibility features such as Text-to-Speech software, magnifying screens and touch screen monitors.

 

The Family Center on Technology and Disability and PACER Center have released a fully-captioned assistive technology awareness video series, AT in Action [Video]. In the first video, viewers meet Sam Graves, a young man with cerebral palsy who uses AT to succeed in college and as a blogger.

 

The Office of Disability Employment Policy is hosting and archiving a series of webcasts, webinars and podcasts on accessible technologies and employment for people with disabilities. Recent topics include Accessibility and Emerging Technology - Keys to Improving the Employment of People with Disabilities and Accessible Technology's Impact on the Employment of People with Cognitive and Developmental Disabilities

 

Web Sites:
The National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY) website features brief fact sheets in English and Spanish on specific disabilities. Each fact sheet defines the disability, describes its characteristics, offers tips for parents and teachers, and provides links to related information and resources.
 
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 [email protected]. 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 [email protected]

 


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 [email protected] 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