VCU Article "Saving for Post-Secondary Education: Strategies for Individuals with Disabilities

Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University have published an article in the Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation entitled, “Saving for Post-Secondary Education: Strategies for Individuals with Disabilities.” Citing misconceptions among individuals with disabilities, family members, and the disability services provider community, the article clarifies and details saving opportunities for students with disabilities that are in line with the Social Security disability benefit program rules. The provisions covered include: ? Plan for Achieving Self-Support, a Social Security work incentive that allows individuals to set aside income or resources needed to achieve a stated occupational goal; ? Educational Savings Accounts or 529 Plans, which allow individuals to (1) prepay tuition at a qualified educational institution at today’s tuition rates or (2) save money in a tax-deferred account (earnings only) to be used to pay for education at future tuition rates; ? Coverdell Accounts, which enable families to put away $2,000 per beneficiary, per year and use the money—tax-free—to pay for college expenses; ? Educational grants, loans or scholarships, including Pell grants, Federal Educational Loans (Federal PLUS Loans, Perkins Loans, Stafford Loans, Ford Loans, etc.), Upward Bound, and Work-Study programs; and ? Individual Development Accounts, a provision where earnings deposited by an individual are matched at a particular rate, usually between $2 and $4 for every dollar deposited, by a combination of government and private-sector funds. To learn more about these provisions as well as others, read the full article at: http://www.worksupport.com/research/view Content.cfm/847.

Contracting Strategies that Facilitate Serving Youth Most In Need

On February 16, 2010, DOL/ETA issued Training and Guidance Letter (TEGL) No. 13-09, Contracting Strategies That Facilitate Serving the Youth Most In Need." In November and December 2008, ETA held a series of focus groups with WIBs, local youth service providers,and state youth staff to discuss challenges local programs face in developing contracts that promote service to the neediest of youth (including youth with disabilities). The focus groups provided input around several areas of program contracting and management,as follows: 1) local workforce area procurement guidelines; 2) innovative strategies and processes that have produced contracts that encourage services to the youth most in need; and 3) procedures and practices that may inhibit program collaboration for serving these youth. TEGL No. 13-09 provides guidance to states, workforce investment boards, Workforce Investment Act youth service providers on contracting strategies that facilitate service providers to serve the youth most in need while still achieving performance goals.

English Language Learners-Identifying Learning Disabilities

The National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance just issued a Report entitled, "Process and challenges in identifying learning disabilities among students who are English language learners in three NYS districts." The Report identifies several challenges to the identification of learning disabilities in English language learner students, including difficulties with policy guidelines; different stakeholder views about timing for referral of English language learner students; insufficient knowledge among personnel involved in identification; and difficulties providing consistent, adequate services to English language learner students. The Report is available on the Regional Education Laboratory Web site at: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/ed;abs

Equal Access: Universal Design of Instruction

DO-IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology) serves to increase the participation of individuals with disabilities in challenging academic programs and careers, including STEM education and careers. It is funded by the National Science Foundation to promote persons with disabilties becoming trained for STEM career opportunitues. The home Web page is: http://www.washington.edu/doit/ Its Web site has many videos, information on universal design, acessible distance learning, and learning strategies.

Partnerships with Job Corps

Job Corps is a free education and training program that helps young people learn a career, earn a high school diploma or GED, and find and keep a good job. For eligible youth at least 16 years of age, Job Corps provides the all-around skills needed to succeed in a career and in life. The Job Corps is a very important partner for the workforce system to promote employment opportunities of youth with disabilities. In this spotlight, we share information about the Job Corps program along with links to resources you can access for more information. The spotlight begins with a brief overview of the Job Corps Program. The Job Corps (http://jobcorps.doleta.gov/), a program of the U.S. Department of Labor, was established in 1964 under the Economic Opportunity Act, but it is currently authorized under the Workforce Investment Act. Job Corps receives an annual appropriation of about $1.5 billion with approximately 62,000 youth trained annually through this program. The Job Corps provides eligible youth with academic, career technical and social skills needed to become employable and independent and to help place them in employment, the military or continuing education. There are currently 123 Centers in 50 states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

Announcement of TANF Services to Assist Youth Get Support for Employment

ETA has issues a Training and Employment Notice(TEN)to encourage the public workforce system to partner with TANF agencies in their efforts to promote subsidized employment opportunities allowable under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s (ARRA) TANF Contingency funding for the creation and expansion of subsidized summer employment for low-income youth. It also encourages co-enrollment of youth in TANF and appropriate WIA programs so individuals can benefit from WIA services such as supportive services,occupational skills training,and other relevant services. The U.S. Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services have jointly identifies areas of collaboration that support training and employment opportunities for low-income families, particularly opportunities to place eligible TANF participants in subsidized employment in the summer of 2010. It is DOL's hope that this national partnership focused on subsidized employment will be modeled throughout state and local TANF and workforce agencies. The need for this partnership comes at a critical time-- overall teen employment rate has remained devastatingly low, reaching levels not seen in 60 years. Unfortunately, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the proportion of young people employed in July 2009 was 51.4 percent. This is the lowest July rate for the series, which began in 1948. While the WIA summer youth employment funding under ARRA has been nearly expended,significant TANF Emergency Contingency funding remains and TANF agencies can choose to commit some of those funds to subsidized employment programs for low-income youth. Individuals with disabilites and family members with disabilites comprise a disproportionately high percent of the population receiving TANF benefits.

Annual Disability Statistics Compendium 2009

The Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Disability Statistics and Demographics has recently issued its 2009 Annual Disability Statistics Compendium. It includes statistics from Federal surveys and sources on disability prevelance, population size, (including breakdowns by state and disability type, employment and earnings,education, health and health care coverage, rehabilitation, and participation in benefit programs (e.g., SSI, SSDI). This Report can be downloaded as a PDF.

Career-Focused Services for Students with Disabilites at Community Colleges

A report (March 2009), prepared by the National Collaborative on Workforce & Disability for Youth and the Workforce Strategy Center, examined the efforts of community colleges to meet the local workforce development needs of employers and promoting career opportunities for students with disabilities.

National Center for Service and Employment of Individuals with Disabilities

Volunteering and community service are proven avenues through which individuals with disabilities can gain skills, explore career paths, and develop the social networks necessary to gain meaningful employment or postsecondary education. The National Center, Institute for Community Inclusion, University of Massachusetts Boston, is a collaboration of several organizations. The National Center will identify and document effective practices in the areas of volunteerism, service, and employment, as well as postsecondary outcomes. For additional information, contact: Sheila Fesko, Institute for Community Inclusion, Sheila.fesko@umb.edu

GAO Report, October 2009, " Higher Education and Disability..."

The GAO recently issued a report on how education needs a coordinated approach to improve its technical assistance postsecondary schools in supporting students with disabilities. Students with disabilities represent approximately 11% of all postsecondary students in 2008. The proportion of students that reported having attention deficit disorder increased from 7 to 19%.

National Service and Youth Unemployment

The Center for American Progress has just issued a report on using national service programs to tackle high unemployment in the youth populations. Using DOL's YouthBuild Program and the AmeriCorps State/National, Vista, and Youth Corps Programs is an effective stratgies to promote job skills and employment of youth with disabilites.

"Inclusion: Creating an Inclusive Environment: A Handbook for the Inclusion of People with Disabilities in National and Community service Programs," National Service Inclusion Project, Corporation for National and Community Service.

This Handbook will assist program to fully and meaningfully include individuals with disabilities in national and community service programs. It includes specific resources to assist you in the areas of outreach, recruitment, selection, and retention of participants with disabilities in national and community service. Comments and questions can be directed to Jewel Bazilio at jbazilio@cns.gov, Corporation for National and Community Service.

Department of Education’s Amendments to the Pell Grants and Other Loan Provisions

On October 29, 2009, the Office of Postsecondary Education, Department of Education amended the regulations for Institutional Eligibility Under the Higher Education Act of 1965, the Student Assistance General Provisions, the Federal Work-Study (FWS) Programs, the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant Program, the Federal Pell Grant Program, and the Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership Program (LEAP) to implement various general and non-loan provisions of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA), as amended by the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 (HEOA) and other recently enacted legislation. These regulations are effective July 1, 2010 (Federal Register, Vol. 74, No. 208, Thursday, October 29, 2009, page numbers 55902-55969, 34 CFR Parts 600, 668, 675,686,690, and 692 Among the changes made were amendments to Sections 690.63(h), 690.64, and 690.67 to establish the conditions under which students may receive up to two federal Pell Grant scheduled awards during a single award year. In addition, there were amendments to subpart O, 34 CFR part 668, to specify the conditions under which students with intellectual disabilities may receive federal Pell Grants, FWS, and FSEOG Program funds. Questions related to all federal Pell Grant Program issues and the LEAP/GAP Program can be directed to Fred Sellers and Jacquelyn Butler at (202) 502-7502 and (202) 502-7890, respectively or by e-mail at: Fred.Sellers@ed.gov or Jacquelyn.Butler@ed.gov.

Toolkit and White Paper on Improving Transition Outcomes of Youth with Disabilities through Apprenticeship U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration Training and Employment Notice (TEN) No. 10-09, September 21st, 2009

This Training and Employment Notice (TEN) was sent from Assistant Secretary of the Employment and Training Administration, Jane Oates, on September 21st to all State Workforce Agencies, Workforce Liaisons, Apprenticeship Agency Directors and Field Technicians and state and regional Directors, Workforce Investment Boards and staff (both state and local). The purpose of this TEN is to disseminate a white paper and toolkit which focus on expanding apprenticeship opportunities for youth and young adults with disabilities. Access the URL to view and download this training and employment notice, which includes links to the following attachments: A: Improving Transition Outcomes of Youth with Disabilities by Increasing Access to Apprenticeship Opportunities B: Youth with Disabilities Entering the Workplace Through Apprenticeship: Introduction B1: Understanding Apprenticeship Basics B2: Preparing Youth and Young Adults for Apprenticeship Programs B3: Increasing the Participation of Young Adults with Disabilities in Apprenticeship Programs B4: Establishing New Apprenticeship Programs B5: What Apprenticeship Employers Need to Know About Working with Young Adults with Disabilities B6: Looking to Future Opportunities in Apprenticeship

Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation: Special Issue on Youth with Disabilities

The September 2009 issue of the Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation contains six (6) articles on youth with disabilities. The articles, by researchers from Mathematica Policy Research, TransCen Inc., and the Social Security Administration, explore challenges and policy facing youth receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI). The following highlights some of the findings: The public cost of child dependence on SSI is more than $400 million a month—in December 2007, approximately 721,000 youth ages 13 to 21 received SSI benefits. SSI youth are approximately equally divided into three disability categories: mental retardation, mental and behavioral disorders, and physical disabilities. Persons in these categories, largely have different outcomes. For example, 40% of the population with mental disabilities are involved with the juvenile justice system; At age 18, many SSI youth are not working and not in school. A major concern is that some of these youth, especially those with mental health disabilities might not be sufficiently prepared for work; Employment rates of former SSI youth after age 18 are low compared to other young adults; and Intervention strategies that emphasize the importance of work could potentially improve the outcomes of these youth and reduce long-term program dependency and lives of poverty.

Summer Youth Employment Programs Funded by ARRA

Workforce Recruitment Program

The Workforce Recruitment Program (WRP) for college students with disabilities is an on-line databank that matches employers with qualified postsecondary students and graduates with disabilities. The candidates are from all academic majors, and range from college freshmen to students in graduate and law school.

Advising Youth with Disabilities on Disclosure: Tips for Service Providers - U. S. Department of Labor Office of Disability Employment Policy

This resource, along with The 411 on disability disclosure: A workbook for youth with disabilities, from the National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth. (2005). Available at http://www.ncwd-youth.info/resources_&_Publications/411.html, is designed for youth and adults working with them to learn about disability disclosure. These resources help young people make informed decisions about whether or not to disclose their disability and understand how that decision may impact their education, employment, and social lives. While these resources are targeted for youth, they include pertinent information for all ages.

Disability Inquiries in the Workforce Development System - National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability/Youth

This publication is for those working in One-Stop Career Centers as well as youth and adult service providers who interact with individuals with disabilities. It is designed to help clarify what you can and cannot ask about someone’s disability.

Mental Health 30 Second Trainings

The month of May has been designated as Mental Heath Month and this package was developed as a means to provide tools to promote Mental Health Month. There are five Mental Health 30 Second Trainings (one for each Friday in May) and each 30 Second Training covers a specific topic. Mental Health Month PPT Compassion Fatigue/Secondary Trauma PPT Mental Health Awareness for Youth Veterans and PTSD Schizophrenia