Connecticut Selected to participate in the FY 2016 “Employment First State Leadership Mentoring Program”.
Connecticut has been selected as one of four states in the country to participate in the fiscal year 2016 Employment First State Leadership Mentoring Program offered through the National Office of Disability Employment Policy. Six of Connecticut’s state agencies will partner on coordinating and streamlining efforts in Employer Engagement to increase integrated employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities, with a focus on youth in transition. The six Connecticut State Government Agency partners include: Dept. of Developmental Services; Dept. of Labor; Dept. of Mental Health and Addiction Services; Dept. of Social Services; Dept. of Education; Dept. of Rehabilitation Services, and the CT DD Council.
Morna Murray, Commissioner of the Department of Developmental Services and Jonathon Slifka, Governor’s Liaison to the Disability Community, have accepted the role of Core State Sponsors in Connecticut for this nationally recognized award offering a substantial amount of technical assistance and travel funding.
State of Connecticut agency partnerships will collaborate on established goals, activities, and projected milestones through the creation of two Core State Implementation Team work groups and one “Vision Quest” group dedicated to policy development. These work groups have been assembled with guidance by Connecticut Commissioners, key decision makers and the Governor’s Commission for Employment of People with Disabilities.
As a requirement to accepting the many benefits of the Employment First State Leadership Mentoring Program, Connecticut will also support the Office of Disability Employment Policy’s Employment First Community of Practice network. The national “Employment First Community of Practice” was designed to promote competitive and integrated employment for individuals with disabilities through a virtual workspace where participants can collaborate on related policy initiatives. The Employment First COP is open to all community stakeholders, and enrollment will provide valuable disability employment information, training opportunities, and monthly webinars to various internal and external stakeholders. To subscribe, please visit: http://www.econsys.com/efslmp/?subscribe.
For more information about the 2016 Employment First State Leadership Mentoring Program, please contact the Connecticut Core State Coordinator via email at amy.blazawski@ct.gov.
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
ODEP News Release:
09/14/2016
News Release
Six states receive nearly $15M in grants to expand employment opportunities for people with disabilities
WASHINGTON – Despite their ability to occupy a variety of jobs, people with disabilities only account for 19.8 percent of the workforce, have more than double the unemployment rate compared to the general population and continue to face barriers finding work. To improve employment opportunities for adults and youth with disabilities, the U.S. Department of Labor today announced grants totaling $14.9 million as part of the Disability Employment Initiative to six states.
“America works best when we field a full team, and that means making sure that everyone has access to opportunity in our dynamic economy,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez. “The grants we are awarding today will help to strengthen partnerships that ensure employers know that it is what people with disabilities CAN do that matters most.”
This is the seventh round of DEI funding. Since 2010, the department has awarded grants of more than $123 million through the initiative to 49 projects in 28 states to improve education, training, and employment outcomes of youth and adults with disabilities. More information on the DEI is available here.
DEI funds help refine and expand workforce strategies proven to be successful, and enhance inclusive service delivery through the public workforce system. Improvements include increasing the accessibility of American Job Centers, training front-line AJC and partner staff, and increasing partnerships and collaboration across numerous systems critical for assisting youth and adults with disabilities in securing meaningful employment.
Grantees of this year’s awards will use the funds to:
• Improve employment outcomes and increase the number of individuals with disabilities who earn credentials.
• Provide more and diversified job-driven training opportunities.
• Facilitate academic and employment transition among youth.
• Incorporate flexible approaches to designing and providing training and supportive services, including customized employment strategies to help jobseekers with significant disabilities.
• Build effective community partnerships and collaborations across multiple service delivery systems and the effective blending and braiding of resources.
• Promote more active engagement with the business sector.
The grants align closely with the Obama administration’s job-driven training principles by requiring multiple workforce and disability service providers, educational institutions and businesses in each state to collaborate extensively to promote the employment of persons with disabilities in career pathways.