Live.WORK.Achieve
A Listserv for the Mississippi Partnerships for Employment
for Youth and Young Adults with Developmental Disabilities
Including Intellectual Disabilities Project
March 2015
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) Disability Employment Partnerships Awareness Day at the Capitol – Mar. 17, Jackson
2) Mississippi Disability Employment Bill – HB 836
3) National Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month
4) Department of Labor Rolls Out Vision for Transforming Workforce System
5) White House Provides Resource Guide for Hiring People with Disabilities
6) White House Publishes Fact Sheet on Opportunities for People with Disabilities in 2016 Budget
7) Future Planning: It’s Possible and Necessary
8) New Resources Available about ABLE Accounts for People with Disabilities
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1) Disability Employment Partnerships Awareness Day at the Capitol – Mar. 17, Jackson
It’s time for improved employment outcomes for young Mississippians with intellectual and developmental disabilities. They should have the opportunity for competitive, meaningful employment and productive lives in their home communities. The Mississippi Partnerships for Employment Project (MSPE) wants to ensure that competitive employment in integrated setting is always the first priority option considered in providing employment services. Join MSPE for Disability Employment Partnerships Awareness Day at the Capitol on Tues., Mar. 17, from 6 a.m. until noon. For more information, email Dr. Jerry R. Alliston at jerry.alliston@usm.edu.
2) Mississippi Disability Employment Bill – House Bill 836
House Bill 836, the Mississippi Disability Employment Bill, would require state agencies that provide services and supports to people with disabilities to consider competitive employment in an integrated setting as their first option. The bill passed the House on Feb. 11, and was transmitted to the Senate where it was referred to the Public Health and Welfare Committee. For more information about the bill, visit http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2015/pdf/history/HB/HB0836.xml.
3) National Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month
March is National Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month, and this year, The Arc is calling on advocates across the country to join them in Revealing the Faces of Intellectual and Developmental Disability. The Arc is encouraging everyone to raise awareness about people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) by personalizing narrative. Visit The Arc’s website to see how you can celebrate and promote DD Awareness Month: http://www.thearc.org/what-we-do/resources/toolkits/dd-awareness?srctid=1&erid=6508465&trid=2c429c84-a63c-4acf-8ef2-87c7a84ca91e.
4) Department of Labor Rolls Out Vision for Transforming Workforce System
In a recent guidance letter, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) laid out its vision for revitalizing and transforming the nation’s workforce system as part of the implementation of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). Congress passed this bill with an overwhelming bipartisan majority, and President Obama signed the bill into law in July of last year. DOL’s vision lays out “three critical hallmarks of excellence” for WIOA implementation, which include the need for both business and workers to drive workforce solutions, for American Job Centers to provide excellent customer services to jobseekers and employers alike, and for the workforce system to support strong regional economies where businesses thrive and people want to live and work. To view the guidance letter, visit http://wdr.doleta.gov/directives/corr_doc.cfm?DOCN=7353.
5) White House Provides Resource Guide for Hiring People with Disabilities
The White House recently released, Recruiting, Hiring, Retaining and Promoting People with Disabilities, a resource guide available for employers to assist with hiring people with disabilities. This guide is a product of the Curb Cuts to the Middle Class Initiative, which includes participation by agencies across the federal government. The guide is divided into four sections. The first section highlights best practices for recruiting people with disabilities, as well as a description of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) regulations during the interview process. The second section focuses on respecting, promoting, and retaining employees with disabilities. The third section offers guidance to providing reasonable accommodations. The final section is an overview of key information employers should know regarding the legal frameworks of the ADA and Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act. For a copy of the guide, visit http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/employing_people_with_disabilities_toolkit_february_3_2015_v4.pdf.
For more information about the Curb Cuts Initiative, visit http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/interagency/curb_cuts.cfm.
6) White House Publishes Fact Sheet on Opportunities for People with Disabilities in 2016 Budget
The White House has released a fact sheet entitled, Middle Class Economics: Expanding Opportunities for People with Disabilities. The fact sheet discusses the ways in which the 2016 budget can ensure that Americans with disabilities have opportunities for economic prosperity. It focuses on encouraging innovation , strengthening job training, increasing support for the education of children with disabilities and providing improved housing, healthcare and independent living. For a copy of the fact sheet, visit http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/budget/fy2016/assets/fact_sheets/expanding-opportunities-for-people-with-disabilities.pdf.
7) Future Planning: It’s Possible and Necessary
Future planning is important for all families. Yet, thinking about the future can be challenging and emotional. Last year, The Arc launched the Center for Future Planning to encourage and support individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) and their families as they plan for the future. Having a plan is important, especially after the parent or caregiver can no longer provide support. The Arc’s Center for Future Planning has launched a new website. Visit the site for the tools needed to begin planning for the future: https://futureplanning.thearc.org/.
8) New Resources Available About ABLE Accounts for People with Disabilities
Thanks to advocates and champions in Congress, The Stephen Beck, Jr., Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act was signed into law on December 19, 2014, after many years of advocacy and bipartisan work in both the House and Senate. The Arc has released two fact sheets about the new law—a summary and a more in-depth look at the law—to educate the disability community about how this law will work. These are the first of several materials that will be produced by The Arc as federal regulations are released and accounts are set up in states. The law allows eligible individuals with disabilities the ability to establish “ABLE accounts” for qualified beneficiaries that resemble the qualified tuition programs, often called “529 accounts,” that have been established under that section of the tax code since 1996. The new ABLE accounts will allow more individual choice and control over spending on qualified disability expenses and limited investment decisions, while protecting eligibility for Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income and other important federal benefits for people with disabilities. To view the two-page summary fact sheet, go to http://www.thearc.org/document.doc?id=5008&erid=6508465. The more in-depth information is available at http://www.thearc.org/document.doc?id=5009&erid=6508465.
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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).
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