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Learning Opportunities: Montana and Online
Job Development Strategies for Individuals with Criminal Justice Involvement
April 10, 2013
12:00-1:00 PM MT
Cost: $50 APSE Members/$100 Non-Members
This presentation will provide proven strategies to assisting people with criminal justice involvement to find work. Topics include: criminal justice in the U.S. today and its impact on employment, the principle of negligent hiring, Title VII protections for people with "histories", the concept of employment at will, and record expungement.
Ticket to Work: Support for People with Disabilities on the Journey to Financial Independence Part 1
April 10, 2013
1:00-2:30 PM MT
The April webinar series will present tips, tools, and resources that help beneficiaries learn how to save what they earn; understand tax benefits that may apply to their situation; and gain basic financial knowledge such as budgeting and expense tracking.
Providing Quality Training
April 10-23, 2013
Cost: $159
The course covers all the basics for good skill instruction. Also, it will feature more advanced information on error correction, data collection, and training strategies for difficult tasks.
Improving Evidence-Based Supported Employment Fidelity Through the Use of Customized Employment Tools and Strategies
April 11, 2013
1:00 to 3:00 PM MT
Cost: $25 if outside Minnesota
Evidence-Based Supported Employment and Customized Employment still largely remain divided along disability labels; that is, EBP SE for those with mental illness and CE for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities. This segregation of approaches fails to realize the similarities between the two, and produces unnecessary divisions that weaken the opportunities to arrive at an integrated, best-practices approach. Participants in this session will learn how the two approaches are similar; and in addition, the two CE tools (The 30 Placement Plan, and The Discovery and Vocational Profile) will be highlighted as they connect to the Principles of Rapid Job Placement and Consumer Preferences in the EBP SE approach. Participants will also learn how these two CE tools can improve fidelity in the EBP SE approach. Finally, a review of the recommendations contained in the federal report will be reviewed so participants can take action in their respective states.
"Picture Perfect" Interventions: Using Video Modeling to Support People with Autism
April 13, 2013
8:30 AM- 3:30 PM MT
Cost: $35-75 by March 1st; $50-90 after March 1st
Missoula, MT
Presenters will use a high-powered lens to develop evidence-based strategies to support people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Strategies will include the highly effective video modeling and video self-modeling strategies as well as story-based interventions, self-regulation, promoting, special-interest supports and Role Playing. Participants will engage in hands-on learning using Flip Cams and other technology with a comprehensive planning system. Register on the Montana Professional Development Portal, Course ID 2883. Send payment to Western MT CSPD,Attn Nancy Marks, 215 South 6th St West, Missoula, MT 59801, or fax purchase orders to 406-728-2417.
Post-Secondary Options for Students with ASD: Three Programs and a Parent Perspective
April 15, 2013
12:00-1:30 PM MT
Cathryn Weir, M.Ed., will discuss how Think College works with programs for students with autism who are not likely to matriculate, how they work with programs around the country, and resources they have available. Barbara Becker-Cottrill, Ed.D., and Marc Ellision, Ed.D., will provide details on how The College Program for Students with Asperger's Syndrome at Marshall University supports students in the program, including strategies for working with professors, residence advisors and others involved in the life of the student; details will also be provided about a summer college experience for high school students. Cathy Pratt, Ph.D., BCBA-D, will share information about Students on the Spectrum at Indiana University, a student-directed club facilitated by the Indiana Resource Center for Autism.
Extracurricular Athletic Opportunities for Students with Disabilities: Understanding the Issues
April 16, 2013
12:00-1:30 PM MT
This webinar is being offered in collaboration with the Inclusive Fitness Coalition in response to the recent guidance provided by the Office for Civil Rights clarifying public elementary and secondary schools obligations under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to provide extracurricular athletic opportunities for students with disabilities.
Ticket to Work: Support for People with Disabilities on the Journey to Financial Independence Part 2
April 24, 2013
1:00-2:30 PM MT
The April webinar series will present tips, tools, and resources that help beneficiaries learn how to save what they earn; understand tax benefits that may apply to their situation; and gain basic financial knowledge such as budgeting and expense tracking.
Using Work Incentives to Build Financial Stability
April 24, 2013
1:00-2:30 PM MT
Discover opportunities for individuals with disabilities to increase income through the use of Social Security (SSDI and SSI) work incentives that support savings above the $2,000 SSI asset limit.
Be Tech Savvy: Accessible Information and Communication Technology
April 25, 2013
12:00-1:00 PM MT
This webinar focuses on an action area that is central to the operation of 21st century business - the development, procurement, lease, maintenance, and use of information and communication technology. To fully participate in the workforce, applicants and employees with disabilities must have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to the access and use by applicants and employees without disabilities.
Marketing and Job Development: Developing Opportunities for Youth and Adults with Disabilities
May 5-18, 2013
Cost: $159
This 2-week course will cover the key principles and hands-on tools for finding jobs for people with disabilities and other high-unemployment groups.
Customized Supported Self-Employment
May 6-July 15, 2013
Cost: $250
This online course is being offered by Virginia Commonwealth University's Rehabilitation Research and Training Center in collaboration with Griffin-Hammis, Associates. Discussion groups will be led by nationally known experts in self-employment from Griffin-Hammis and Associates.
Allies in Self Advocacy Webinar: Transportation
May 7, 2013
2:00-3:30 PM MT
Helping people get transportation to and from where they want to go to, was a major theme that came out of the Self-Advocacy Summits' State Team follow-up, and it is still a big issue today. West Virginia, New Mexico and Maine have been working on transportation, since the summits. During this webinar presenters from these three states will talk about what they have been working on in the area of transportation. |
Learning Opportunities: Other States
2013 Disability Policy Seminar
April 15-17, 2013
Washington, D.C.
Two days of informative in-depth sessions from disability policy experts and opportunities to network with others from your state will culminate in a third day starting off with breakfast on Capitol Hill before you personally meet with your elected representatives and their staffs.
Employment First: Race to Success- Employment Comes in First
June 24-27, 2013
Indianapolis, Indiana
This year's conference will feature strands including State-of-the-Art Practices in Integrated Employment; Transition from School to Adult Life; Public Policy and Funding; Leadership and Personal Development; and Consumer, Family and Self-Advocacy. |
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Greetings!
Welcome to the latest edition of Transition Tidbits. We hope you find the news and resources in this issue useful as you support young Montanans with disabilities in their transition to adult lives. |
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Montana News
Are you on Facebook? If so, visit the Rural Institute Transition and Employment Projects page and the Montana Youth Transitions page..."like" and "share" what you see!
The Rural Institute Consumer Advisory Council (partially funded through a contract with the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, Children's Special Health Services) is recruiting representatives from the Montana Developmental Disabilities Program and the foster care system (especially youth/young adults who are or have been in foster care). We also seek Native Americans/American Indians with a disability and children and youth with special health care needs to serve on the council. For more information or an application, contact Kim Brown at brown@ruralinstitute.umt.edu or by calling 406-243-4852. |
Announcements
April is National Autism Awareness Month. What can you do this month to bring attention to the needs of people with autism spectrum disorder, a developmental disorder that affects as many as 1 in 50 children?
The call for proposals is now open for the 2013 TASH Conference, A Movement United, to be held December 11-14, 2013, in Chicago. Consider submitting a proposal to share your innovative ideas, programs and practices that lead to positive outcomes for people with significant disabilities. The deadline for proposals is May 8, 2013.
The Youth Mental Health Bill of Rights [PDF] is a one-page handout for young adults receiving mental health services and for those providing the services.
The Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration's Youth Team is hosting a live chat, Providing a Menu of Activities for Youth in WIA Programs: Challenges and Triumphs, on Wednesday, April 10, from 12:00-1:00 PM Mountain Time. The live chat will allow participants to share strategies, ask questions, and learn about the menu of services and activities including, but not limited to, recruiting and engaging youth, soft skills development, leadership training, and transportation issues. To join, log onto Workforce3One and enter the Youth Community of Practice.
Project VoiceScape: No Pity (A Documentary by Drew Morton Goldsmith) [Video] is a 15-minute video by a young man with autism about the fundraising efforts on behalf of people with autism. |
Employment
The Campaign for Disability Employment has released the "Because" Outreach Toolkit. The toolkit includes links to the "Because" public service announcement, a workplace discussion guide, and posters "challenging viewers to rethink how they perceive career prospects for youth with disabilities and to recognize that we all benefit when young people with disabilities are able to develop their skills and talents into successful careers." Are you interested in learning more about the disability status and diversity of the labor force and population 16 and over? If so, the Disability Employment Tabulation 2008-2010 is now available. It provides in-depth labor force characteristics of people with a disability, including details on occupation, education, and earnings. The Disability Employment Tabulation is sponsored by the Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy and Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. The LEAD Center, an ODEP-funded training and TA center, recently released its March e-newsletter. Highlights from this issue include a story about Kathy Martinez, Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Disability Employment Policy, and LEAD Center team members at the Cities for Financial Empowerment conference; a preview of the LEAD Center's webinar series; and a profile of LEAD Public Policy Team co-director Ari Ne'eman, president and founder of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN). In their article Group Discovery: A Cost-Effective Strategy for Guiding Employment Services, Mike Callahan and Abby Cooper provide an overview of Customized Employment and the Discovery process. They then describe how Group Discovery can be used to improve employment outcomes for job seekers with disabilities and other complexities while making efficient use of staff resources. Connecting At-Risk Youth to Promising Occupations [PDF] explores occupations that can provide youth with a speedy path to employment without extensive up-front education or training. In determining which occupations are considered "promising," researchers focused on four features: - Median earnings level
- Education and training prerequisites
- Projected growth in labor-market demand
- Potential for individual advancement
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Health
The Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services issued an Informational Bulletin [PDF] to inform states about resources available to help them meet the needs of children under EPSDT (Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic and Treatment), specifically with respect to mental health and substance use disorder services. According to the bulletin, "the EPSDT benefit is Medicaid's comprehensive preventive child health service designed to assure the availability and accessibility of health care services and to assist eligible individuals and their families to effectively use their health care resources. The EPSDT program assures that health problems, including mental health and substance use issues, are diagnosed and treated early before they become more complex and their treatment more costly. Under the EPSDT benefit, eligible individuals must be provided periodic screening (well child exams) as defined by statute. One required element of this screening is a comprehensive health and developmental history including assessment of physical and mental health development. Part of this assessment is an age appropriate mental health and substance use health screening." |
National News
Governors Promote Employment For People With Disabilities highlights policies and partnerships several states are implementing to increase the number of people with disabilities in the workforce. |
Post-Secondary Education
Are you a parent considering college options for your daughter or son, a professional starting or expanding a post-secondary program for students with intellectual disabilities, a student with questions about college, or a peer mentor who wants to share ideas with colleagues around the country? Subscribe to the Think College Listserv to share your knowledge and ask questions of others who are engaged in postsecondary education for students with intellectual disabilities. The Winter 2013 Think College newsletter is now available. Resources in this issue include links to two new Insight Briefs (Federal Financial Aid for Students with Intellectual Disabilities [PDF] and Postsecondary Education and Employment Outcomes for Transition-age Age Youth with and Without Disabilities: A Secondary Analysis of American Community Survey Data [PDF]), a scan of postsecondary education in the media, webinar announcements and more. The March 2013 Think College newsletter has also been released. It includes an article about Georgia's move toward offering inclusive postsecondary education options; grant information for students; and a link to YouTube videos about higher education for students with intellectual disabilities. |
Social Security
The Social Security Administration (SSA) recently published Linking Youth Transition Support Services: Results from Two Demonstration Projects. The article examines two projects in SSA's Youth Transition Demonstration, California's Bridges to Youth Self-Sufficiency and Mississippi's Model Youth Transition Innovation, and identifies lessons learned from the projects:
- Strong partnerships help to successfully serve youth in transition
- Intervention components must be clearly defined and linked to measurable (and monitored) outcomes
- Support services (e.g., case management, benefits counseling, self-determination) provided alongside employment services can produce successful employment outcomes
- Asset development accounts can be beneficial to low-income individuals
The Continuing Resolution passed by the House and Senate reinstated funding for the Work Incentives Planning and Assistance (WIPA) program and the Protection and Advocacy for Beneficiaries of Social Security (PABSS) program, both of which provide support to help Social Security and SSI disability beneficiaries attain self-sufficiency through work. |
Technology
Does your agency use social media to share information with the public? If so, you might be interested in the Improving the Accessibility of Social Media in Government Toolkit, developed by the Federal Social Media Community of Practice's Social Media Accessibility Working Group, led by the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy. The toolkit features guidelines and instructions for making Facebook posts, Twitter messages, and YouTube videos accessible for individuals with disabilities.
GoTasks is a free task management and list prioritization app.
It's My Future is an iPad app that helps adults with developmental disabilities to become more self-determined and take part in their planning meetings.
My Life! My Story! is an iPad app people with disabilities can use to create their own stories and tell others about their lives. |
Transition
George Washington University is offering Transition Special Education Distance Education Certificate and Master's Programs. Candidates are invited to apply for the summer and fall 2013 semester cohorts for the 12-credit Certificate Program and 39-credit Master's Program. A five-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education will support the online Master's program and will cover a large portion of student tuition costs. Applications and supporting documents for the summer semester are due April 19th. For more information, contact Dr. Michael Ward, Program Coordinator, at mjward@gwu.edu or Bridget Green at greenb@gwu.edu or (202) 994-1235.
Using Individualized Learning Plans to Produce College and Career Ready High School Graduates, a policy brief from the National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth, summarizes findings and recommendations from a research and demonstration project funded by the Office of Disability Employment Policy. With support from school counselors, teachers, and families, students can use the ILP document and process to define their career goals and postsecondary plans, which then informs their decisions about high school courses and activities. Additional information about the ILP Research & Demonstration Project is available on the NCWD/Youth website.
Universal Design for Learning: Strategies Principals Can Employ in Their Schools [PDF], a research brief from the National Association of Secondary School Principals co-written by NCWD/Youth, provides an overview of the universal design for learning model and suggests specific strategies to help students receive information and demonstrate their skills.
The National Center on Universal Design for Learning has introduced a free, online slideshow developed by the Ohio Center on Autism and Low Incidence in collaboration with the IDEA Partnership. The presentation provides an overview of UDL and how students with disabilities who need intensive supports can be served in an educational environment that follows the principles of UDL.
Southeast TACE hosted a webinar entitled Guideposts for Success: Innovative Strategies for Serving Youth. Presenters included Curtis Richards, Director of the Center for Workforce Development at The Institute for Educational Leadership and Laura Spears, Transition Specialist with the South Carolina Vocational Rehabilitation Department. Richards discussed The Guideposts for Success and how they can be used while Spears explained how South Carolina Vocational Rehabilitation has adopted them for statewide Vocational Rehabilitation youth transition services. The archived PowerPoint slides, transcript and session recording are available for download.
The Youth Transition Demonstration: Lifting Employment Barriers for Youth with Disabilities [PDF] presents interim evaluation findings for three Social Security Administration Youth Transition Demonstration projects. Evaluators learned that projects that provided more hours of services had a greater impact on the employment outcomes of youth during the year after they entered the evaluation.
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" was held on Wednesday, March 27th and covered current national work including Employment First legislation and initiatives in states. "Change the Picture" will be offered on Wednesday, April 24 from 12:00 - 1:30 PM MT. |
Web Sites
The LEAD Center launched its website on March 29th. The site houses resources, events and trainings to promote public policy, employment and economic advancement outcomes for all people across the spectrum of disability.
Georgia's Tools for Life AppFinder is asearchable database of apps for living, working, and playing. Visitors to the site can search for apps by category, price range, device type, and disability. All the apps have been tested or are currently being used by members of the Tools for Life team and peers in the assistive technology community across the country.
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