Rhode Island Human Resource Investment Council

Background

The Rhode Island Human Resources Investment Council (RIHRIC) is a statewide WIG project that works in conjunction with a wide variety of partners, including the two local workforce investment boards, the state vocational rehabilitation and adult education programs, the Governor’s Commission on Disabilities and both state Independent Living Centers.

Back to Top

Goals and Methods

The focus of the project is to accelerate the pace of systems change and to improve employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities through Rhode Island’s One-stop system, netWORKri. The project will:

• Provide a forum for individuals with disabilities to give input into workforce development programs;
• Place Disability Resource Specialists at netWORKri centers;
• Provide center staff with training on disability-related issues;
• Develop on-the-job training and apprenticeship opportunities;
• Market netWORKri as the focal point for information about disability-related issues, particularly in the area of employment and training; and
• Make netWORKri more accessible to individuals with disabilities.

Specifically, the project will:

Ensure that One-stop center staff and Resource Specialists understand the network of services for people with disabilities by:

• Training Resource Specialists in income and benefits support programs, housing, transportation, community resources, and employment and training programs;
• Coordinating with outside agencies to provide annual training to all One-stop center staff and employers on ADA and disability issues such as reasonable accommodation, psychoeducational assessment, specific disabilities and classes of disabilities (e.g., learning disabilities, hearing impairment and mental disabilities), and substance abuse and treatment resources; and
• Providing training on issues related to employee retention.

Ensure that people with disabilities can use netWORKri facilities by:

• Assigning a Disability Resource Specialist to each netWORKri center;
• Making all partner websites accessible ("Bobby" approved);
• Improving services to hearing-impaired individuals at One-stop centers by connecting with qualified interpreters through video conferencing technology; and
• Providing adaptive technology in the One-stop center’s resource centers, including CCTV, TTY, JAWS and Magic software, scanners, in-line amplifiers, pocket talkers and tape recorders.

Ensure that people with disabilities are aware of One-stop services by:

• Reaching out to community based organizations such as Independent Living Centers, the Multiple Sclerosis Society, the RI Association of the Deaf, and the RI Parents Information Network;
• Working with school guidance counselors and transition coordinators; and
• Offering tours of One-stop centers and presentations on netWORKri programs and services to community based organizations and schools that work with adults and students with disabilities.

Back to Top

Partners

Department of Labor and Training (DLT) DLT operates the One-stop system and oversees the WIG grant. DLT’s Employer Service Representatives facilitate the Employer Service Networks. The DLT also has hired Disability Resource Specialists and assigned them to netWORKri centers.

Office of Rehabilitation Services’ Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) With the Governor’s Commission on Disabilities, VR looked at the physical accessibility of One-stop centers and made recommendations to ensure that each center is in compliance with the law. The Adaptive Technology Access Partnership, part of the VR, purchased video conferencing technology for distance interpreting. The video conference facilities will be housed in the Commission on the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and one of the two One-stop centers.

Governor’s Commission on Disabilities The commission is Rhode Island’s affiliate to the regional ADA Technical Assistance Center. It offers annual presentations to One-stop staff and employers on the ADA and disability issues.

Commission on the Deaf and Hard of Hearing The commission offers annual presentations to One-stop staff on the continuum of hearing loss, and access and accommodation issues. The commission provides, at no cost, access to their consultant interpreter up to one day per week for distance interpreting using the video conferencing technology.

Back to Top

Innovation

Disability Resource Specialists. Disability Resource Specialists (DRS) assist individuals with disabilities in making career decisions. They develop a strategy with the client to access appropriate services and agencies among the wide array available. The specialists are trained in income and benefit support programs, housing, transportation, community resources, and employment and training programs. In addition to working with clients with disabilities, the Resource Specialists inform the community and the local workforce investment board about netWORKri activities. There is a Resource Specialist assigned to each One-stop center.

Employer Service Network (ESN). Part of netWORKri, the ESN is a group of workforce development organizations and individuals that provide a variety of services to employers. ESN members act as liaisons to specific employers, becoming familiar with employer needs and making employers aware of available services that match those needs.

Specific services available through the ESN include:

• Recruitment, both individual, such as job matching, and group, such as job fairs;
• Referrals to programs that conduct or fund training, including on-the-job training and customized training;
• Needs assessment;
• Assistance in accessing an array of economic development services;
• Assistance with tax and other hiring incentives;
• Job analysis; and
• Consultation on rehabilitation engineering, accommodations for individuals with disabilities, related tax credits, job coaching services, Americans with Disabilities Act requirements and disability awareness seminars for co-workers of individuals with disabilities.

ESN members make every effort to match qualified individuals with disabilities (individuals are considered qualified if they can perform the essential functions of a job, with reasonable accommodation if necessary) with suitable openings from employers with which they are in contact. ESN members are encouraged to undertake additional training on the needs of job seekers with disabilities, and the current benefits system.