New Fact Sheet: Customized Employment Q and A: Self-Employment as a Customized Employment Outcome

Supporting individuals with significant disabilities to start their own businesses may seem like uncharted territory to Community Rehabilitation Providers (CRPs). Until recently, self-employment was viewed as an employment goal only for people with disabilities who had a business background and/or were thought capable of designing and implementing a business plan. For many individuals, particularly those who had cognitive disabilities, self-employment was not viewed as an attainable goal.

View this factsheet

Labor Department Awards Nearly $5 Million in Grants to Advance Self Employment Opportunities for Individuals with Disabilities

The grants include a cooperative agreement for $1,499,767 to Virginia Commonwealth University, which will be partnering with Griffin-Hammis Associates LLC, to establish a National Self-Employment Technical Assistance and Research initiative. This initiative will provide direct technical assistance to the Sub-National Projects of Systemic Innovation and Technical Assistance; develop and implement a comprehensive strategy for increasing the capacity of existing systems for providing self-employment services to people with disabilities through training, technical assistance, and research; conduct research and analysis of resources currently available to persons with disabilities for pursuit of entrepreneurship; and analyze structures currently in place that either promote or impede the expansion of business ownership in the disability community. The cooperative agreement will be funded for 36 months.

Watch for our new Self-Employment Technical Assistance, Resources, and Training (START-UP-USA) website. We will announce the web address in our next e-newsletter.

T-TAP Think Tank Meeting in Washington D.C.

The 2-day T-TAP meeting in DC on October 16-17 provided an opportunity for the Technical Assistance sites, Project Mentors, invited guests, and the ODEP and T-TAP staff to discuss the impact of customized employment on individuals and agencies over the past 4 years of the T-TAP project.

Discussion focused on individual and agency success stories and identifying the barriers to implementing integrated employment practices. Lessons learned were shared by the agencies to address some of the barriers that they experienced during the transition to customized employment.

The last part of the meeting focused on over-coming the challenges to expanding customized employment outcomes to State and Federal levels. A report of the group's recommendations will be provided soon and will be available on the T-TAP website.

Patience White

Thomas Gloss

Free Webcast Archive

What's Health got to do with Transition? EVERYTHING!

Youth with special health care needs want a full range of opportunities like everyone else and require a coordinated system of care. Lifelong health issues require lifespan skills. The challenge is to simultaneously improve the system that serves and prepares youth and their families with the knowledge and skills necessary to promote self-determination, wellness and successful transition to adulthood.

Success in the classroom, within the community, and on the job requires that young people with special health care needs stay healthy. View this free Webcast Archive

Free, Online Resources Help Businesses Understand the ADA and Other Disability-Related Laws

From the Americans with Disabilities Act to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, several disability-related Federal laws may apply to your business. For example, many employers are required to make reasonable accommodations for employees with a range of disabilities, both visible and non-visible. And if you’re a Federal contractor, you may need to take affirmative steps to hire, retain and promote qualified individuals with disabilities.

Thankfully, understanding your responsibilities under these and other employment laws doesn’t have to be difficult. There are a range of free tools and resources to help you navigate the road to compliance. For example, employers – and employees – can access the U.S. Department of Labor’s Job Accommodation Network at www.jan.wvu.edu or by calling 1-800-526-7234 V/TTY, or visit the “Employment” section of www.DisabilityInfo.gov, an award-winning Federal government web site, sponsored by U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), featuring links to a broad range of disability-related information. Assistance is also available from ODEP’s Web site at www.dol.gov/odep. For additional assistance with other Federal employment laws, such as the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) and others administered by the U.S. Department of Labor, access the elaws Advisors at www.dol.gov/elaws.