Live.WORK.Achieve
A Listserv for the Mississippi Partnerships for Employment
for Youth and Young Adults with Developmental Disabilities
Including Intellectual Disabilities Project
July 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) Mississippi Partnerships for Employment Awareness Sessions – July 9, 16, 23
2) Free Webinar: Promoting Employment – July 31, 3 p.m.
3) New Study Finds that Volunteering Increases the Likelihood of Finding a Job
4) Trends in Employment Outcomes of Young Adults with Developmental Disabilities
5) Employee Disability Survey Findings Released
6) ADA 23rd Anniversary – July 26
7) July Employment Data Show Difficult Month for People with Disabilities
1) Mississippi Partnerships for Employment Awareness Sessions – July 9, 16, 23
Employment First is a philosophy that having employment in the community should be the expected goal for working-age adults with developmental disabilities. This goal should be the first priority of agencies providing employment services for adults with developmental disabilities. The Mississippi Partnerships for Employment (MSPE) for Young Adults with Developmental Disabilities project is holding awareness sessions across the state during July to review MSPE activities and provide information about Employment First.
Awareness sessions will be held in the following locations:
· Greenville - July 9 - William Alexander Percy Memorial Library, 341 Main Street - 5:30–6:30 p.m.,
· Long Beach - July 16 - Technology Learning Center on The University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Park campus, 730 East Beach Boulevard – 5:30-6:30 p.m., and
· Starkville - July 23 - Greater Starkville Development Partnership offices, 203 East Main Street – 5:30-6:30 p.m.
For more information about the awareness sessions and Employment First, email Dr. Jerry R. Alliston at jerry.alliston@usm.edu.
2) Free Webinar: Promoting Employment – July 31, 3 p.m.
The free webinar “Promoting Employment – Discovering Your Potential: Using Discovery to Identify Your Employment Goals” will provide information on how to use discovery, an alternative assessment tool proven to identify the strengths of job seekers with and without disabilities. Discovery also helps jobseekers identify personal employment goals. Webinar participants will gain an understanding of discovery, how to use discovery components individually or in preparation from group discovery and the potential outcomes. The webinar targets individuals with disabilities, workforce development professionals and related stakeholders. To register, visit https://leadcenter.webex.com/mw0307l/mywebex/default.do?nomenu=true&siteurl=leadcenter&service=6&rnd=0.6559371449554158&main_url=https%3A%2F%2Fleadcenter.webex.com%2Fec0606l%2Feventcenter%2Fevent%2FeventAction.do%3FtheAction%3Ddetail%26confViewID%3D1003969449%26%26%26%26siteurl%3Dleadcenter.
3) New Study Finds Volunteering Increases Likelihood of Finding a Job
A groundbreaking new report from the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) provides the most compelling evidence to date establishing an association between volunteering and employment. The study, “Volunteering as a Pathway to Employment: Does Volunteering Increase Odds of Finding a Job for the Out of Work?” finds that unemployed individuals who volunteer have 27% higher odds of finding a job than non-volunteers. The relationship between volunteering and employment holds stable regardless of a person’s gender, age, ethnicity, geographical area, or job market conditions. To view the article, visit http://www.nationalservice.gov/impact-our-nation/research-and-reports/volunteering-pathway-employment-report.
To find volunteer opportunities in your area, visit http://www.serve.gov/.
4) Trends in Employment Outcomes of Young Adults with Developmental Disabilities
A new research report, “Trends in Employment Outcomes of Young Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, in Eight States, 2004-2011,” has been prepared by the Institute for Community Inclusion in association with the State Data Info and Partnerships in Employment Transition Systems Change projects. The report provides project and state agency leaders with an in-depth understanding of the patterns of employment of youth over the past several years. It is also a tool for communicating the transition and employment message with other important stakeholders such as youth and young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, family members and legislators. This report is featured on the MSPE website on the Working Documents page. To obtain a copy of the report, visit http://www.mspeidd.org/docs/Sulewski2013.pdf.
5) Employee Disability Survey Findings Released
The results of a five-year survey of nearly 850,000 employees were released by the National Organization on Disability (NOD) and Sirota Consulting. The survey was developed to better understand the experiences of employees with disabilities by capturing, assessing, and understanding their workplace experiences compared to the experiences of their colleagues without disabilities. The largest differences were found in the strength of the relationship between the employee and the company, and in the amount of encouragement and opportunity employees received to achieve in their position. For more information, visit https://disability.workforce3one.org/command/view.aspx?look=National_Organization_on_Disability_NOD_and_Sirota
6) ADA 23rd Anniversary – July 26
Celebrate the 23rd anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act on July 26 and the progress made through implementation of the ADA in your workplaces, schools and communities. The ADA Anniversary 2013 Toolkit was released July 3. Explore and share information by visiting the Southeast ADA Center at http://adasoutheast.org/solutions.php.
7) July Employment Data Show Difficult Month for People with Disabilities
Bureau of Labor Statistics indicators released July 5, suggest June 2013, was a difficult month for people with disabilities in comparison with June 2012. The labor force participation rate for people with disabilities decreased from 31.9% in June 2012 to 31.4% in June 2013 (down 1.6%). The labor force participation rate is the percentage of people who are working or actively looking for work. The labor force participation rate among people without disabilities in June 2013 was 77.1%, down only 0.1% from 77.2% in June 2012. These latest statistics indicate weak employment results for people with disabilities across the board according to the Trends in Disability Employment-National Update (TIDE) released by the University of New Hampshire’s Institute on Disability (IOD) and the Kessler Foundation. “This is evidence that people with disabilities are less engaged in the labor force,” said John O’Neill, PhD, Kessler Foundation’s Director of Employment and Disability Research. For more information, visit http://iod.unh.edu/About/News/13-07-08/July_Employment_Data_Show_Difficult_Month_for_People_with_Disabilities.aspx.
***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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~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).
***********************************
SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE
***********************************
TO SUBSCRIBE
If this mailing was forwarded to you and you are not already subscribed to the Live.WORK.Achieve listserv, here’s how you can become a subscriber:
Sign up online at https://mailman.usm.edu/mailman/listinfo/mspe.
TO UNSUBSCRIBE
Unsubscribe online at https://mailman.usm.edu/mailman/listinfo/mspe and login with your email address and your password. If you do not have a password (they are emailed to members at the beginning of every month), contact one of the administrators listed below.
****************************************
Please visit the IDS Calendar of Events at http://www.usm.edu/ids/calevents/.
Questions may be addressed to
Alma.Ellis@usm.edu
OR
Jerry.Alliston@usm.edu
_______________________________________________
MSPE Live.WORK.Acheive mailing list
mspe@usm.edu
https://mailman.usm.edu/mailman/listinfo/mspe
