The U.S. Department of Labor released the Employer Resource Guide for Hiring and Retaining Persons with Disabilities. The guide provides relevant federal, state and local level information around employers' legal obligations, along with resources that can assist in identifying, paying for, and implementing effective accommodation strategies.

Disability.Blog, the official blog of Disability.gov, recently featured What Questions Are Illegal for Employers to Ask during Job Interviews? The author provides examples of illegal questions (about age, disability, etc.) and possible responses an applicant might give.

Leveling the Playing Field: Attracting, Engaging, and Advancing People with Disabilities examines the business case for employing people with disabilities and details the steps companies can take to encourage the hiring and engagement of employees with disabilities. The Executive Summary addresses a number of myths and misconceptions that can make it difficult for organizations to hire and support people with disabilities.

The Maternal and Child Health Library at Georgetown University offers the Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Knowledge Path, which directs readers to a selection of current, high-quality resources about preventing, identifying, and eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health.

Funding Health-Related VR Services: The Potential Impact of the Affordable Care Act on the Use of Private Health Insurance and Medicaid to Pay for Health-Related VR Services analyzes the potential impact of the Affordable Care Act on the payment for certain health-related VR services, including physical and mental restoration services, assistive technology devices and services, and personal assistance services.

Informed Consent for Healthcare offers a variety of resources for individuals with intellectual disabilities, their families, medical providers and support staff.

The Health Care Notebook [PDF], developed by the Parent to Parent of NYS Family to Family Health Care Information and Education Center, provides a central location for information regarding an individual's health care needs. The American Academy of Pediatrics has developed a similar tool called Building Your Care Notebook. These notebooks can be invaluable...and empowering...to youth as they transition from pediatric to adult health care. 

On February 26^th, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a hearing on "State Leadership and Innovation in Disability Employment." The testimony from witnesses Gov. Jack Markell, D-DE; Jane Boone, consultant, Washington State Employment Leadership Network, Seattle, WA; Mike O'Brien, executive director, Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services, Oklahoma City; and Don Uchida, executive director, Utah State Office of Rehabilitation, Salt Lake City, can be accessed on the Committee's web site.

The Achieving a Better Life Experience Act of 2013 (ABLE Act; S. 313, H.R. 647) was introduced by Senators Robert Casey, Jr., (D-PA) and Richard Burr (R-NC) in the Senate, and Representatives Ander Crenshaw (R-FL), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), and Pete Sessions (R-TX) in the House of Representatives. The Act would create ABLE savings accounts to allow people with disabilities to save for expenses such as education, community-based supports, housing, assistive technology and transportation. These accounts would be disregarded when determining eligibility for Medicaid, SSI, and other means-tested programs.

TEAM Act Reintroduced:

U.S. Rep. Gregg Harper (R-Miss.) reintroduced the Transition toward Excellence, Achievement and Mobility (TEAM Act), three bills designed to promoting meaningful post-secondary educational and employment opportunities for young adults with intellectual disabilities. The legislation is intended to:

� streamline federal programs and services that support youth with significant disabilities from youth to adulthood, and

� rebalance funding to focus on improved outcomes in post-secondary education and integrated employment

These three bills (known separately as the TEAM-Education Act, the TEAM-Empowerment Act, and the TEAM-Employment Act) all collectively seek to promote meaningful post-secondary educational and employment opportunities, with an emphasis on the eventual outcome leading to sustained, full-time employment in an integrated setting at a livable wage, long-term career development and growth, and inclusion in the community setting through independent living and social engagement.

The National Federation of the Blind is offering thirty national scholarships worth from $3,000 to $12,000 to blind college students in the United States and Puerto Rico. Applications are due March 31, 2013.

Colleges Realign Programs to Meet Employers' Needs describes some of the ways in which two-year colleges are better aligning educational programs with the local labor market, strengthening student advising services, and creating flexible programs to help students successfully and rapidly enter the labor market.

Policy Research Brief: A Taxonomy for Postsecondary Education Programs for Students with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities [PDF] from the Research and Training Center on Community Living presents the current state of the Taxonomy for Postsecondary Education Programs for Students with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, along with examples of how it can be used. The taxonomy is intended to provide a basis for comparing the features of postsecondary education programs designed to serve students with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and to lay the groundwork for further study and comparison of their outcomes.

Identifying Effective Components of a Collaborative Career Planning Model for Individuals with ASD in

Postsecondary Education [PDF], a Research to Practice Brief from the Autism Disability Rehabilitation Research Project, highlights some of the results from structured interviews with col­lege students on the autism spectrum. For example, when asked what career-related activities they thought would be most beneficial, informational interviews and career exploration were most often selected, followed by internships and work experience. Disclosure plans to use with employers and mentoring in their chosen career area were also identified as important.

Survey Data Recap: College Students with Disabilities [PDF], Virginia Commonwealth University's Project Empowerment latest topic sheet, presents a study that explores the issues that are known to negatively affect all college students in order to examine how these issues also affect college students with disabilities.

On February 12, 2013, the Systems Change Transition Projects Utilizing Direct and Indirect Service webinar  was held.  Tara Jordan, RSA Project Officer; Michael Kinney, Rehabilitation Program Specialist for Transition and Postsecondary Services, Ohio Rehabilitation Services Commission; and Clayton Rees, Youth Transition Services Coordinator/Project ACCESS Project Manager, Oregon Vocational Rehabilitation Services, shared information that has been useful in assisting state VR agencies in providing effective transition services. The archived PowerPoint slides, transcript and session recording are now available to download.

If you weren't able to attend the 2012 National Transition Conference: College and Careers for Youth with Disabilities, you can now access the online archives! The Institute for Community Inclusion established a website that provides an overview of the conference program, materials provided by presenters and captioned video of both the opening session and the keynote speaker, Ann Wilson Cramer of IBM. Breakout session materials have been organized by theme track.

Students w/ Disabilities and College/Career Readiness: 101 Documents  from the National Secondary Transition Technical Assistance Center synthesizes the research, policy, and discussion on topics pertinent to secondary special educators.

The IDEA Partnership at NASDE's Community of Practice on Transition has a workgroup focused on employment opportunities and career development for youth with disabilities. This workgroup is hosting a series of webinars in partnership with the National Post-School Outcomes Center and NSTTAC. "Get the Picture" was held on Wednesday, February 20th. Presenters shared the current national data and family perspectives regarding employment for youth and young adults. "Get in the Picture" will be held on Wednesday, March 27th from 12:00-1:30 PM MT, and will cover current national work including Employment First legislation and initiatives in states. Finally, "Change the Picture" will be offered on Wednesday, April 24th from 12:00-1:30 PM.

Iowa's State Department of Education website houses a Matrix for Transition Assessment that includes links to assessment methods and tools. The Matrix also provides a framework for gathering necessary transition planning information focusing on a student's interests and preferences, basic skills, attitudes, habits, self-awareness, and critical thinking and application skills.

MTV's documentary-style series "World of Jenks " features three young adults, one of whom has autism, navigating the ups and downs of the transition to adulthood.

Linking Youth Transition Support Services: Results from Two Demonstration Projects  presents an overview of two projects in the Social Security Administration's Youth Transition Demonstration: California's Bridges to Youth Self-Sufficiency and Mississippi's Model Youth Transition Innovation. Key outcomes are reported and the successful experiences of one youth in each project are highlighted.

NCWD/Youth recently released their updated Individualized Learning Plan guide, Promoting Quality Individualized Learning Plans: A "How-to Guide" Focused on the High School Years. This tool is designed for educators and other professionals who assist youth with college and career readiness and transition planning.

Work-Based Learning Opportunities for High School Students [PDF] describes the Year 5 work of the National Research Center for Career and Technical Education's Technical Assistance Academy. Recommendations based on the findings from the project include:

• Provide a clear purpose for work-based learning, emphasizing the learning component
• Offer resources and information about components of high-quality programs
• Provide professional development for teachers and coordinators to develop instructional strategies
• Convene meetings with employer associations and labor unions to achieve buy-in
• Provide resources and guidelines for employer mentor selection, training, and continued engagement
• Support teachers to work closely with coordinators and employer mentors to develop detailed student training plans
• Connect work-based learning to classroom learning
• Provide better guidelines for accountability for student learning
• Adequately fund coordinators
• Market work-based learning programs
• Ensure careful consideration of legal issues
• Use consistent definitions and terminology
• Examine ways to leverage various funding sources