[nfbmi-talk] Michigan Misses Out

[Fred Wurtzel]

Hello,

 

Well, I don't understand how the state with the second highest unemployment
rate in the nation failed to qualify for this grant program.

 

- The U.S. Department of Labor today announced an award of $21,276,575 to
nine states

under the Disability Employment Initiative to improve education, training,
and employment

opportunities and outcomes of youth and adults who are unemployed and/or
receiving

Social Security disability benefits. The Disability Employment 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, we want to make it possible for all
workers,

especially those with disabilities, to benefit from the Labor Department's
employment

and retraining services that have a proven success rate," said Secretary of
Labor

Hilda L. Solis. "Through this new grant, individuals with disabilities will
be able

to utilize the necessary tools to obtain permanent and secure jobs."

The Labor Department has entered into cooperative agreements with the
following states

to implement strategic approaches to support exemplary employment services
for individuals

with disabilities in the public workforce system: Alaska, Arkansas,
Delaware, Illinois,

Kansas, Maine, New Jersey, New York and Virginia. These projects build upon
the department's

Disability Program Navigator Initiative by hiring staff with expertise in
disability

and workforce issues. The grants also will support extensive partnerships,
collaboration

and services provided across multiple workforce and disability systems in
each state.

These involve state 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 provider

organizations.

Another critical component of the Disability Employment Initiative is
expanding the

workforce system's involvement with the Social Security Administration's
Ticket to

Work program. The Disability Employment Initiative requires a state
workforce agency

or local workforce investment boards participating in a cooperative
agreement to

become employment networks under the Ticket to Work Program. The department
recognizes

that many Supplemental Security Income and Social Security Disability
Insurance beneficiaries

utilize the mainstream workforce system to seek employment opportunities, as
shown

in the May 2010 Mathematica Policy Research Inc. report "Use of One-Stops by
Social

Security Disability Beneficiaries in Four States Implementing Disability
Program

Navigator Initiatives," which is available at

http://www.doleta.gov/disability/whatsnew.cfm

.

The department considers individuals with the most significant disabilities
to be

a major priority, with grant resources focused on their entry or return to
work.

States will be working closely with the Social Security Administration's
Work Incentive

Planning and Assistance Program and its Community Work Incentive
Coordinators to

conduct outreach and coordination to expand services to beneficiaries.

Grant Recipients

Disability Employment Initiative Grants

Amount

State of Alaska, Department of Labor and Workforce Development

$2,727,000

State of Arkansas Department of Workforce Services

$1,500,000

Delaware Department of Labor, Division of Vocational Rehabilitation

$1,490,409

Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity

$1,839,588

Kansas Department of Commerce

$1,879,459

State of Maine Department of Labor

$1,500,000

New Jersey Department of Labor, Workforce Division

$2,479,280

New York State Department of Labor

$4,945,060

Virginia Community College System

$2,915,779