Monday, July 30, 2012

July 2012


July 2012

Welcome to Live.WORK.Achieve, a monthly e-newsletter targeting anyone interested in and supportive of employment for youth and young adults with intellectual/developmental disabilities.  Live.WORK.Achieve is offered through the Institute for Disability Studies in collaboration with the Mississippi  Council on Developmental  Disabilities and Disability Rights Mississippi and includes resources and information on employment and career development.

Inside this issue:
1) Introduction to Live.WORK. Achieve Listserv
The Consortium for the Mississippi Partnerships for Employment (MSPE) project was established in June 2011. The Consortium developed and received a federal grant to direct a state-level collaborative approach to improve employment outcomes for Mississippi youth and young adults with intellectual/developmental disabilities. Managing partners are the Mississippi Council on Developmental Disabilities (MS CDD), Disability Rights Mississippi (DRMS) and The University of Southern Mississippi Institute for Disability Studies (IDS), Mississippi’s federally funded Developmental Disabilities Network. The goal of the MSPE project is to build capacity across existing state services for sustainable systems change that improve outcomes for youth and young adults with intellectual/developmental disabilities seeking competitive employment in integrated settings.

Over the next five years, MSPE will work to: 1) develop and implement policies that support competitive employment outcomes for youth and young adults with intellectual/developmental disabilities seeking competitive employment in integrated settings; 2) develop innovative strategies to remove systemic barriers to competitive employment in integrated settings; 3) identify and implement strategies and best practices that improve employment outcomes for youth and young adults with intellectual/developmental disabilities; 4) enhance statewide collaborations that can facilitate the transition process from secondary and post-secondary schools or other pre-vocational training settings to competitive employment in integrated settings; and 5) develop and implement evaluation measures to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of the project in meeting its goal and objectives.

You are receiving the initial issue of the new Live.WORK.Achieve listserv because of your interest and involvement in employment issues for youth and young adults with intellectual/developmental disabilities. This listserv will include information for self-advocates, families and professionals and will evolve with the project, providing not only project information but employment information. Please forward this email to others you know who may be interested. Contact information is provided below. If you have resources or information you want to share with others, please reply to this e-mail or contact Alma Ellis at aellis@ihl.state.ms.us
 


***PLEASE NOTE: If you are unable to access any of the links in Live.WORK.Achieve, please make sure the entire link is highlighted.  If a link is not highlighted, please copy and paste the entire link into your Web browser.

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Live.WORK.Achieve is sponsored by the Mississippi Partnerships for Employment (MSPE) for Youth and Young Adults with Developmental Disabilities, Including Intellectual Disabilities project. MSPE is funded by the Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and is managed by the Mississippi Council on Developmental Disabilities (MS CDD), Disability Rights Mississippi (DRMS) and The University of Southern Mississippi Institute for Disability Studies (IDS).