[nfbmi-talk] Why Not michigan? FW: Fw: Press Release: US Labor Department awards more than $21 million in Disability Employment Initiative funding to 7 states

Tue Sep 27 20:14:04 UTC 2011

Why didn't Michigan get 1 of these grants?  It can't be because we already
are getting lots of jobs for blind people.  mary and I were just listening
to the job announcements on Newsline.  There are jobs out there.  All work
is respectable, but the more wages and benefits earned the better in most
cases.  The jobs fall roughly into 2 general categories.  1. there are jobs
for waitresses, selling or telemarketing which are not real promising in
terms of benefits and pay.  2.  There are professional level jobs which take
college training.  These are jobs in computers, analysis, engineering and so
on.  Judging by the way many of our college students are being treated, it
is no wonder our placement rate is so low.  We should be pulling out all the
stops, being creative and acquiring these kinds of grants for special
programs to help get good jobs for blind people.  Instead we are making
students jump through meaningless hoops and then closing their cases after
they have graduated even though they don't have jobs or good jobs.  What is
happening here?  Why are we not doing better?  Why not set a goal of 300
placements and work for it rather than lowering our goal and not even
reaching the lower goal?  The point is not to see how many hoops college
students can jump through, it is seeing that blind people get educations in
areas of job demand and then working as hard as it takes to help them get a
job and a good-paying job to boot.  Why keep a college trained person out of
BEP even though there are sighted people running facilities?  Is a review of
priorities in order?

MCB has all the necessary resources.  The laws are very good.  The staff is
highly educated.  The facilities and work environment is very nice.  As Dick
Carlson used to say, it takes "Gottawanna."

-----Original Message-----
From: nfbmi-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfbmi-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org]
On Behalf Of joe harcz Comcast
Sent: Tuesday, September 27, 2011 3:15 PM
To: nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org
Subject: [nfbmi-talk] Fw: Press Release: US Labor Department awards more
than $21 million in Disability Employment Initiative funding to 7 states

US Labor Department awards more than $21 million in Disability Employment
Initiative funding to 7 states
----- Original Message ----- 
From: Robin Jones 
To: GREATLAKES at LISTSERV.UIC.EDU 
Sent: Tuesday, September 27, 2011 3:04 PM
Subject: Press Release: US Labor Department awards more than $21 million in
Disability Employment Initiative funding to 7 states

The following press release is forwarded to you by the DBTAC-Great Lakes ADA
Center (www.adagreatlakes.org) for your information:

US Labor Department awards more than $21 million in Disability Employment
Initiative funding to 7 states

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Labor today announced $21,166,560 for
seven states under the Disability Employment Initiative to improve
education, training, and employment opportunities and outcomes for youth and
adults who are unemployed, underemployed and/or receiving Social Security
disability benefits. The initiative is jointly funded and administered by
the department's Employment and Training Administration and its Office of
Disability Employment Policy.

"During these difficult economic times, it is important to ensure that all
workers, including those with disabilities - who as a group face employment
barriers even during times of prosperity - are able to benefit from the
Labor Department's employment and retraining services," said Secretary of
Labor Hilda L. Solis.  "These federal grants will help to provide services
and support to individuals with disabilities in seven additional states, and
put them on the path to permanent and secure jobs."

This round of funding is the second under the Disability Employment
Initiative, which now supports 16 state projects. The new grants are part of
cooperative agreements with California, Hawaii, Ohio, South Dakota,
Tennessee, Washington and Wisconsin to implement exemplary employment
services for individuals with disabilities in the public workforce system.
The states with continuing grants under the initiative are Alaska, Arkansas,
Delaware, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, New Jersey, New York and Virginia.

All projects under this initiative build upon the department's Disability
Program Navigator Initiative by hiring staff with expertise in disability
and workforce issues. The grants also support extensive collaboration across
multiple workforce and disability service systems in each state, including
vocational rehabilitation services, mental health and developmental
disability agencies, Medicaid Infrastructure Grant-supported activities,
independent living centers, business leadership networks, and other
community and nonprofit organizations. 

"Our priority is to provide individuals with disabilities the foundation of
education, job training, and employment and support services to achieve
economic stability," said ETA Assistant Secretary Jane Oates.  

The Disability Employment Initiative also expands the workforce development
system's participation in the Social Security Administration's Ticket to
Work Program by requiring participating state workforce agencies or local
workforce investment boards to become employment networks. Many Supplemental
Security Income and Social Security Disability Insurance beneficiaries use
the mainstream workforce system to seek employment opportunities.  By
serving as employment networks, grantees will expand the capacity of the
department's One-Stop Career Centers to serve Social Security beneficiaries
with disabilities.

"Access to high-quality employment and training services is vital to moving
youth and adults with disabilities into the workforce and preparing them for
good jobs in high-growth, high-demand industries," said ODEP Assistant
Secretary Kathy Martinez.

The department's priority is to serve individuals with disabilities and
those who are receiving Social Security disability benefits, and it is
working on early intervention strategies to assist people with disabilities
before they become Social Security disability beneficiaries. States will
work closely with the Social Security Administration's Work Incentive
Planning and Assistance Program and its Community Work Incentive
Coordinators to expand services to beneficiaries. 

Editor's note: A chart listing the grant recipients follows this release. 

# # #

      Disability Employment Initiative Grants Recipients
        Amount

      California Employment Development Department
     $6,000,000

      Hawaii Department of Labor and Industrial Relations
     $2,923,674

      Ohio Department of Job and Family Services
     $2,944,036

      South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation
     $1,997,747

      Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development
     $2,916,400

      Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development
     $2,550,695

      Washington State Employment Security Department
     $1,834,008

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