Governor McDonnell Announces $400K in Grant Funding, $71K to CSS!
 On July 30th, Governor McDonnell announced that $400,000 in grant funding was awarded to six ESO's across the state of Virginia with local projects designed to increase employment of people with disabilities in areas with unemployment rates above 10%. This grant was made possible by DRS and will create more than 70 new jobs for people with disabilities.
Career Support Systems was awarded $71,247 in grant funding. This grant money will be used in Emporia (unemployment rate of 14.6%) to replicate the successful I-Work Project that is established in Petersburg VA. The goals of this project are to 1) Deliver an array of highly individualized and well coordinated employment services and supports to PD-19 and DRS customers with complex barriers to employment. 2) Stimulate expanded levels of best practice interagency coordination, team planning, and integration of systems and services. 3) Establish the infrastructure required to build long term and sustainable system of employment services and supports for our customers who reside in the Project's service area. 4) Create expanded community awareness about the value of hiring people with disabilities. It is expected that this portion of the grant will support the employment of up to 24 people over a 18 month period. |
Executive Order Made for Federal Government to Increase Employment of Individuals with Disabilities
"As the nation's largest employer, the Federal Government must become a model for the employment of individuals with disabilities," said President Obama on July 26, 2010 on the White House Lawn, gathered with people with disabilities, advocates, lawmakers and federal oficials as they celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
President Obama has issued an executive order to increase the employment and retention of people with disabilities within the Federal Government over the next five years. The order directs several agencies within the Federal Government to develop a model recruitment and hiring strategy, as well as to develop mandatory training programs for both human resources personnel and hiring managers on the employment of people with disabilities.
Executive Order 13163 was issued by President Clinton in 2000, calling for an additional 100,000 individuals to be hired by the Federal Government, but very little was done to implement the order. President Obama is "committed to increasing the number of individuals with disabilities in the Federal workforce through compliance with Executive Order 13163" as well as the new policies set forth for the recruitment and retention of these workers. |
