Monday, May 13, 2013

[Mspe] MSPE Live.WORK.Achieve Listserv - May 2013

Live.WORK.Achieve

A Listserv for the Mississippi Partnerships for Employment

for Youth and Young Adults with Developmental Disabilities

Including Intellectual Disabilities Project

 

May 2013

 

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 edition:

 

1) NCWD/Youth Releases Youth in Action! Tip Sheets for Young People

2) “Finding Meaningful Employment a Challenge for Those with Developmental Disabilities”

3)  “Lowe's Ramps Up Disability Inclusion”

4) Census Releases Publications on Employment/Government Assistance for People with Disabilities

5) Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics Releases Data on People with Disabilities

6) Mississippi disAbility MegaConference – June 20-21, Jackson

 

1) NCWD/Youth Releases Youth in Action! Tip Sheets for Young People

 

There are a variety of actions that youth can take to promote their personal growth and develop personal and leadership skills needed in today’s workplace.  In conjunction with the Office of Disability Employment Policy at the U.S. Department of Labor, NCWD/Youth has developed a series of Youth in Action! Tip Sheets identifying some activities that can help youth learn and think about important transition issues including: Becoming a Stronger Self-Advocate; Leading Your Transition Planning; Learning Disability History; Getting Involved in Volunteering; Serving on Decision-Making Boards; and Participating in Internships and Work-Based Experiences. While these tip sheets are designed for youth to read and use, they are also helpful tools for family members, educators, and youth service professionals to use in discussions with youth. See a list of all the Youth in Action! Tip Sheets on NCWD/Youth's Youth Development webpage under Publications at http://www.ncwd-youth.info/youth-development.

 

2) “Finding Meaningful Employment a Challenge for Those with Developmental Disabilities”

 

While many individuals with developmental disabilities find sub-minimum wage work in very structured workshop settings, that shouldn't be the goal. The focus should be on employment in a job setting where those with developmental disabilities work alongside those without disabilities. This April 29 article by Shaun Hittle from the Lawrence Journal-World in Lawrence, Kansas, tells of one individual, who with his family’s support, has owned and operated his own business for more than 10 years. To read this interesting article, visit http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2013/apr/29/finding-meaningful-employment-challenge-those-deve/.

 

3) “Lowe's Ramps Up Disability Inclusion”

 

This web-based article from Forbes written by staffing company owner Judy Owen on Apr. 22, 2013, discusses employment in the community and commends Lowe’s North Carolina Regional Distribution Center for following Walgreen’s initiative to include people with disabilities in the workplace. Owen is the mother of a son with Down syndrome who started Opportunity Works, a full service staffing and recruiting company focused on recruiting people with disabilities into the community workforce. “Kudos to Lowe’s for putting this effort into your distribution operation. And, thank you, for sharing the efforts with me. Efforts like this will improve companies’ bottom lines, but more importantly, will change the world,” writes Owen. To read the article, go to http://www.forbes.com/sites/judyowen/2013/04/22/lowes-ramps-up-disability-inclusion/.

 

4) Census Releases Publications on Employment/Government Assistance for People with Disabilities

 

Two recently released publications from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey give greater insight into characteristics of people with disabilities in America. Disability Characteristics of Income-Based Government Assistance Recipients in the United States: 2011 examines the disability characteristics of the 46 million adults in the United States receiving government assistance, such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI), SNAP benefits (formerly known as food stamps) or Medicaid. In addition, the Disability Employment Tabulation, a joint effort with the U.S. Department of Labor, provides a detailed look at the labor market characteristics for people by disability status, sex, race and Hispanic origin. Both use data from the American Community Survey, which is one of the only sources for estimates about the disability status of people in the United States. The survey defines disability using six questions about difficulty hearing, seeing, walking/climbing stairs, remembering/concentrating/making decisions, dressing/bathing or doing errands. For more information, visit https://usodep.blogs.govdelivery.com/2013/04/22/census-bureau/.

 

5) Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics Releases Data on People with Disabilities

 

The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics released a report entitled "Persons with a Disability: Barriers to Employment, Types of Assistance, and Other Labor-Related Issues — May 2012," which indicates that in May 2012, half of all individuals with a disability who were not working reported some type of barrier to employment. Lack of education or training, lack of transportation, the need for special features at the job, and a person's own disability were among the barriers reported. Among individuals with a disability who were employed, over half had some difficulty completing their work duties because of their disability. These findings were obtained from a supplement to the May 2012 Current Population Survey (CPS), sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy. The CPS is a monthly survey of about 60,000 households that obtains information on national employment and unemployment for the civilian no institutional population age 16 and over, including information on persons with a disability. For more information, read the accompanying press release with links to tables at http://www.bls.gov/news.release/dissup.nr0.htm

 

6) Mississippi disAbility MegaConference – June 20-21, Jackson

 

Mark your calendars now for the second annual Mississippi disAbility MegaConference scheduled for June 20-21, at the Marriott Jackson. Keynote speakers are Christine Ha and Serena Lowe. Christine Ha is winner of Season 3 of MasterChef, the first ever contestant who is blind, and the author of an upcoming cookbook. Serena Lowe is senior policy advisor for the Office of Disability Employment at the U.S. Department of Labor. She will address employment trends in her session “Rising to the Occasion—Thinking Big About Employment and Socioeconomic Advancement of Citizens with Disabilities.” Interested in attending? Expect informative breakout session speakers, exhibits of products and services, opportunities for networking plus fun and friends. Family stipends are available. For more information or to register, visit http://msmegaconference.org/

 

 

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Live.WORK.Achieve~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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).   

 

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