Law, Health Policy & Disability Center
University of Iowa College of Law
http://disability.law.uiowa.edu/dpn/
and
The Burton Blatt Institute
Syracuse University
http://bbi.syr.edu
One–Stop Toolkit
Resources of the Week Technical Assistance Project E–Mail listserv
6 April 2007
Good morning everyone,
Below please find the web site and publication of the week, as well as other resources that we hope will be useful as you work on systems change activities to help improve employment opportunities for persons with disabilities.
To subscribe and / or view past resources of the week archives, access: www.onestoptoolkit.org and click on the link to "Resources of the Week" on the right hand side of the home page.
To view an indexed list of the resources of the week by subject matter, visit the L.P.H.D.C. web site at http://disability.law.uiowa.edu/lhpdc/resources/wig/default.asp. It currently includes 20 categories, covering over 300 annotated references. Each category opens to a new window with each Resource of the Week which covered material in that area.
Have a good day and weekend!
Laura Farah
Program Associate
Law, Health Policy & Disability Center
University of Iowa College of Law
P: 617–489–0086
F: 617–489–1374
[ E–mail Lgleneck@mail.law.uiowa.edu ]
[ E–mail LFarah8@aol.com ]
[ http://www.onestoptoolkit.org ]
[The full announcements are located under the section heading ‘Upcoming Events of Interest’ AND ‘Websites of Interest.’]
Disability Navigators have made it a priority to pass on essential information about work incentives to people who receive SSI and/or SSDI. Along with providing this valuable information, many also educate people about the asset limits associated with SSI, Medicaid, and other programs. While all of this information is imperative for people to understand when considering and entering into employment, there is also a significant need to provide more financial education to people with disabilities, including tax counseling and asset-building tools and resources. People with disabilities need to know more about how to accumulate assets, including having greater access to financial institutions, receiving tax counseling on the Earned Income Tax Credit, and learning about asset-building tools and resources, such as Individual Development Accounts and micro-enterprise. To learn more about how to help increase financial literacy and knowledge on tax credits and asset development strategies for people with disabilities, participate in this upcoming Workforce 3One webinar that will describe how the workforce investment system and the U.S. Department of Labor is working with local coalitions that link Earned Income Tax Credit outreach, free tax preparation, and asset building opportunities for persons with disabilities. The webinar will also provide an introduction to the 2007 Real Economic Impact Tour that is a national public/private initiative bringing tax and financial education and services to working Americans with disabilities in 54 cities. Don't miss the opportunity to learn if the Tour is in your city and how you can get involved.
[The news release is included below in its entirety.]
The U.S. Department of Labor has made available to employers nationwide a free database of approximately 2,000 new job candidates with disabilities seeking work in a wide variety of fields. For the first time, federal employers now can tap into this ongoing recruitment resource online at WRP.gov, and private sector and other government employers can request unlimited searches by calling (866) 327-6669.
"American employers often express that while they want to include people with disabilities in their recruitment efforts, they do not know where to find qualified candidates," said W. Roy Grizzard, assistant secretary of labor for disability employment policy. "The Workforce Recruitment Program bridges this divide by bringing pre-screened job seekers — with varied education and experience — directly to employers."
The Workforce Recruitment Program for College Students with Disabilities, co-sponsored by the Labor Department's Office of Disability Employment Policy and the U.S. Department of Defense, compiled the database by sending recruiters to more than 250 college campuses to interview eligible undergraduate and post-graduate students. Many of the students are seeking summer internship opportunities, while others have graduated and are looking for permanent employment.
In using the database, an employer sets the criteria for each candidate search by specifying location, degree program, position type and length of appointment. Job seekers represent many high-demand fields of study, including accounting, administration, business, communications, computers, criminal justice, education, engineering, human resources/equal employment opportunity, health care, law, the social sciences and the sciences.
Hiring officials at federal agencies can access the Workforce Recruitment Program database and conduct independent searches on the Internet by obtaining a password at WRP.gov. Employers in the private sector, and state and local government agencies, should contact the Labor Department's Employer Assistance and Recruiting Network at (866) 327-6669 to access the database.
The Workforce Recruitment Program has assisted employers in identifying job candidates with disabilities who meet their recruitment needs since 1995.
On April 12th beginning at 2:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time, Workforce 3One will be hosting a webinar that will outline the roles of the workforce investment system and the U.S. Department of Labor in working with existing and emerging local coalitions that link Earned Income Tax Credit Outreach, Free Tax Preparation, and Asset Building Opportunities for persons with disabilities. Alexandra Kielty, Program Manager, Older Worker/Disability Unit, Division of Adult Services, Employment and Training Administration, will serve as the moderator and presenters include:
This Webinar will provide an introduction to the 2007 Real Economic Impact Tour that is a national public/private initiative bringing tax and financial education and services to working Americans with disabilities in 54 cities. Don't miss the opportunity to learn if the Tour is in your city and how you can get involved. The Webinar will provide:
This Webinar will also provide insight into the nature of the Tour and share information and effective approaches being implemented around the country that are promoting economic self-sufficiency for the 21st century workforce with disabilities.
Registration for this Webinar is limited and seating is on
a first-come, first-served basis. Please click the link below
to login to Workforce3 One and register today! To register,
access the following URL:
[ http://www.workforce3one.org/public/skillbuilding/webinar_info.cfm?id=183 ]
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Note, you must be logged in to sign-up for a Webinar. You can sign up by accessing the website and scrolling to the link at the bottom of the page that reads: Don't have a login? Register now!
If you are deaf, hard-of-hearing, or have speech disabilities
and captioning would facilitate your participation in this
Webinar, access the following URL:
http://www.workforce3one.org/public/skillbuilding/relay_service.cfm.
The Employer Focused Sessions begin April 19! All Webinars are held 2pm-3pm Eastern Time. Registration Fee is $159 per log in ($99 for BLN Chapter members and sponsors).
Attendees will be informed of the business benefits of operating with an inclusive environment, steps toward becoming more inclusive and using in-house processes to achieve objectives.
To register for this Webinar: https://www.123signup.com/register?id=xgzyd
The presenter will discuss the statistics of unemployment and the scope of disability on college campuses in order to provide a framework of why career employment for college students with disabilities is so important. Additionally, the presenter will focus on research with employers and higher education and outline specific solutions for the recruitment of college graduates with disabilities, including Career Gateway.
To Register for this Webinar: https://www.123signup.com/register?id=xfjfv
Winner of the 2004 New Freedom Initiative and the 2004 Ohio Governor's Employment Award, Project SEARCH is a unique collaboration between business, a community rehabilitation partner, and vocational rehabilitation. Rather than focus on the traditional "easy" jobs such as food or environmental services, Project SEARCH targets nontraditional "complex but systematic" jobs that allow people with significant disabilities to maximize their potential in independent work settings.
Participants will learn how to:
To Register for this Webinar: https://www.123signup.com/register?id=xfjqg
The presenter will discuss answers to the following questions and ways to create an enabling infrastructure to expedite accommodations and inform innovative outreach strategies for persons with disabilities:
To Register for this Webinar: https://www.123signup.com/register?id=xfjqb
Choosing AT can be a daunting task for employers who are not familiar with technology. Fortunately, there are a number of knowledgeable individuals, and public and private agencies that can help with the evaluation and selection process. JAN encourages employers to take advantage of these resources. Access the URL to read the full article.
Many people get confused when trying to understand the accessibility requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). At first glance, the requirements may seem straightforward: the ADA has a set of Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG) that tells you how to make a building accessible and you just follow that, right? Here’s where the confusion comes in: whether you have to follow the ADAAG depends on the situation. The ADA has different requirements under its various sections (titles), different requirements depending on whether the building in question existed before the ADA went into effect, and different requirements for new construction versus renovation.
Private employers need to know that they may be covered by both title I (employment) and title III (public accommodations and commercial facilities) of the ADA, and each title has different accessibility requirements. But the requirements are not as confusing as they appear to be if employers start with a few general rules:
Rule 1: New construction: All newly constructed places of public accommodation and commercial facilities (which include most places of employment) must be built in strict compliance with the ADAAG. So if you are building a new facility, even if it will only house employees, you will probably have to follow the ADAAG.
Rule 2: Renovation: All renovation in places of public accommodation and commercial facilities (which include most places of employment) must comply with the ADAAG to the maximum extent feasible. So if you are renovating a facility, even if it only houses employees, you will probably have to follow the ADAAG (unless technically infeasible to do so).
Rule 3: Reasonable accommodations for employees with disabilities: Use the ADAAG as a starting point, but an employer’s obligation is to meet the individual employee’s needs. Sometimes that means going beyond the requirements of the ADAAG. For example, if you have an employee parking lot with 50 parking spaces, the ADAAG requires that two of those spaces be accessible. However, if an employer has three employees who use wheelchairs and need accessible parking spaces, the employer has to consider adding another accessible space.
For a more detailed discussion, see Accessibility under the
Americans with Disabilities Act at http://www.jan.wvu.edu/media/accessibilityfact.doc.
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For more information about reasonable accommodation, see Employer's Practical Guide to Reasonable Accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) at http://www.jan.wvu.edu/Erguide.
This fact sheet provides an overview of the Medicaid program, the populations that it serves, and the services that it covers.
The Real Economic Impact Tour (REI Tour) is a national initiative delivering free tax preparation and filing assistance, along with other asset building strategies to modest income persons with disabilities. The REI Tour is a public-private collaboration designed to provide Americans with disabilities with insight, tools and resources to improve their lives through financial education, training and counseling. The REI Tour is designed to promote:
This ground-breaking effort has been the gateway for many to explore opportunities connecting them to financial independence. This is accomplished through community partnerships in more than 50 cities throughout the country linking consumers to non-profit organizations, federal agencies and private-sector companies.
The tangible outcomes of the 2007 REI Tour are program outreach and implementation projected to reach 25,000 new tax filers with disabilities who will receive $21 million dollars in refunds! In many cases, that additional income will play a significant role to lay a firm foundation for thousands towards financial independence. The assets obtained from the financial educational courses are improving the lives of persons with disabilities, their families and communities across the country.
Access the website and see if you are in one of—or close to—an REI Tour city at: http://www.realeconomicimpact.org/cities/. Access the REI Tour Resource Library (http://www.realeconomicimpact.org/resourcelib/) to find more information including a list of FAQs for businesses and community organizations, and for individuals with disabilities and their families, as well as a 2007 Disability Toolkit, which provides an outline of major steps for organizing a disability initiative in conjunction with an existing community based partnership
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) conducted a study examining long-term outcomes for SSA beneficiaries who participate in VR, on (1) the extent to which SSA disability beneficiaries who exit VR programs engage in work at the substantial gainful activity (SGA) level and ultimately reduce or replace their benefits with earned income, (2) whether there are certain disability beneficiary characteristics associated with positive employment outcomes, and (3) whether some VR agencies have particular policies and approaches that can be associated with positive employment outcomes. This report formally conveys the information provided during a Congressional briefing.
The annual Manpower "2007 Global Talent Shortage Survey" of 36,629 employers in 27 countries and territories released March 29, 2007, found that 41%, are having a difficult time staffing positions due to lack of suitable workers, with sales representative, teacher, and mechanic topping the list of the jobs most difficult to fill.
In the United States of 2,407 employers who responded, 41% indicated difficulty in filling positions, as reported by U.S. employers, the 10 most difficult to fill jobs, in order:
The information in this pamphlet explains the rights and responsibilities of students with disabilities who are preparing to attend postsecondary schools. This pamphlet also explains the obligations of a postsecondary school to provide academic adjustments, including auxiliary aids and services, to ensure the school does not discriminate on the basis of disability.