Hello Job Placement Service Providers!

This newsletter contains professional development training, news, and resource updates!   Please share this newsletter and this newsletter signup link with others in your agency.

Where Should I Send My Invoices?

You can find the bill payers for each DVR office here to see as accurately as possible where to submit your invoices and reports.

Participate in the 2023 National Survey on Health and Disability (NSHD)

The University of Kansas Institute for Health & Disability Policy Studies is recruiting participants for the National Survey on Health and Disability (NSHD), and we need YOUR help to get the word out!  NSHD gives voice to the concerns of people with disabilities, and documents their experiences with a variety of issues. Those include access to health care, insurance coverage, housing, transportation, Long Covid, employment and more. It also explores aspects of people's sense of belonging and how they matter.

Please share widely and with the people we serve!

Link to take the NSHD: https://kuhealthsurvey.org 

A short recruitment video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e88n22ZL8Yg 

Invitation to Participate - Interagency Collaboration Study

From Vocational Rehabilitation Technical Assistance Center for Quality Employment (VRTAC-QE)

Are you an individual working for an organization that is a partner in serving individuals with disabilities? If your answer is yes, we are seeking your participation in an Interagency Collaboration study!

Findings from this study have potential to add new knowledge about interagency collaboration that can be used by disability service partner organizations and practitioners.

Take Survey

Questions? Contact researchers:

John F. Kosciulek, Ph.D. or Bryan S. Austin, Ph.D.

(217) 244-3386 or (217) 333-2654

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Partners of VRTAC-QE

MEETS SB18-145 Supported Employment Certification Requirements!

ACRE Approved Supported Employment Online Course

From VCU RRTC Rehabilitation Research & Training Center

• January 8 – April 1, 2024 | 5:30 – 6:30 PM MT | Virtual 

• Register Here (registration ends January 2, 2024)

This course provides an extensive overview of supported employment and how to facilitate competitive jobs for individuals with significant disabilities. Topics include: federal policy; customer profile; job development; job-site training; long-term supports; and funding. 

The College Disability Services System: Accommodations and Students’ Responsibilities and Rights

From the National Center for College Students with Disabilities

• December 5, 2023 | 5:30 – 6:30 PM MT | Virtual 

• Learn More and Register Here

A close look at shifting laws, how the system works at college (i.e., what students must do if they want accommodations and what their rights are), and what documentation they might need.

Colorado Disability Benefits 101 (DB 101) Training

• Zoom Recording of DB 101 training 

  • Passcode: 3y=0*iiC

• Slide Deck

We appreciate your feedback. Please complete the short training evaluation in this google form: DB 101 Training Evaluation.

Seeing the Ability: Strategies for Navigating Difficult Consumer Relations

From UW-Stout Vocational Rehabilitation Institute

Access Training Here

Gain knowledge of the essential elements of dignity and the inherent value of all people. You will explore barriers that may arise in interactions with others and how to recognize those barriers when they occur, as well as get practical tools to use when faced with difficult consumer interactions. 

Engaging the Private Sector: Strategies for Achieving Better Employment Outcomes

From the Center for Innovative Training in Vocational Rehabilitation (CIT-VR)

Access Training Here

Join John C. Walsh, Project Director of CIT-VR and Gary E. Horton, Founder and President of Vanward Consulting Services, LLC as they explore ways for State VR agencies to improve their strategies for engaging private sector businesses. 

Predicting Employment After Vocational Rehabilitation Using Observable Customer Characteristics

From Mathematica

Access Research Publication Here

Explore how customer characteristics and VR services predict the outcomes of eligible VR customers who exit without ever receiving services or without employment after receiving services. 

Financial Literacy for Workers with Disabilities

Access Here

Changing work trends in recent years have resulted in an unprecedented increase in competitive, integrated jobs for people who live with disability. Increased remote work opportunities, a skilled labor shortage, and a strong push for diversity in the workforce have all combined to create new opportunities for people with disabilities.

Along with these opportunities comes increased income and additional financial security. The people you serve who are experiencing this increase in income may have questions about how to best manage their money.

Demystifying Accommodations for People with Hidden Disabilities

From SHRM

Access Resource Here

Help your employer partners understand how they can support their employees with disabilities.

Navigating Medicare open enrollment? These expert tips can help.

From the Colorado Sun

In case you missed last week’s free, virtual event on Medicare open enrollment, health reporter John Ingold compiled the advice from the event’s three experts on how to pick the best plan or plans for you. You can read the highlights of their discussion or watch the recorded hourlong panel designed to help navigate the very confusing world of Medicare.

Check back later! You can also access our current employment opportunities here.