Weekly Focus - May 27, 2016

An update and information report for doctors who provide consultative exams for OOD’s Division of Disability Determination
Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities

Kevin L. Miller, Executive Director

May 27, 2016

The mission of the Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities Agency is to ensure individuals with disabilities achieve quality employment, independence and disability determination outcomes.

What's Inside:

Mentor Helps Pave Road to Success

While Katie Marino was just in her second month living in Columbus, her BSVI counselor Albert Pauley remembers a little girl growing up in Newark who wanted to drive a bus … a truck ... maybe fly an airplane!  That earlier collaboration arose through the former vocational development specialists program of the Bureau of Services for the Visually Impaired (BSVI), that paired OOD counselors with children as young as pre-school.  “She’s flowered,” Al said.  

 

Katie has only vague childhood memories of “Mr. Pauley,” but she does vividly recall the time she realized that driving might not be the greatest career for a person born blind.  She also recalls discovering technology in the 1990’s and the excitement it brought her way.  “He was really good, I’ll tell you that,” she says of their early vocational development collaboration.

 

Katie taught herself to use JAWS, a powerful, complex screen-reading program, and moved from there to the IPhone.  Fascination with Apple started early with a silent IPod and then a talking Nano.  She recalls counting the clicks to get to the right adjustment on her not so accessible IPod Classic.

Katie Marino w guide dog

 

After graduating from the Ohio State School for the Blind in 2011, Katie participated in BSVI’s Work and Learn program for the next two summers, exposing her to activities as diverse as “Science on a Cart” at COSI, helping with food pantry appointments, and data entry.  “That’s when I really found my niche and fell in love with technology,” Katie recalls.

 

A friend working for Red Roof Inn got her interested in a position where she could work from home by phone.  The employment process required two interviews, including situational role playing.  Last October, Katie [pictured with her guide dog] got an entry-level reservationist position, at 25 hours a week.  

  

After her first three months, she read about a $1-per-hour higher position in VIP reservations, 40 hours a week that would involve trouble-shooting and using math and other skills to deal with loyal customers.  Those technology skills first promoted by Albert Pauley in childhood, combined with the training, natural talent and some technology adjustments like scripting to make everything accessible, allowed for this rapid promotion. 

 

“I’m going to wait a while for something else,” Katie comments.  For now, with steady paychecks, she’s happy to be learning the ropes of living in the big city.


Employers Praise OOD Job Fairs

Verizon Akron Job fair 05182016
Verizon associates at the May 18th Akron job fair

 

We continue to receive positive feedback from employers participating in our regional job fairs.

 

“This job fair [Akron, May 18] has had a fantastic turnout!  It has been, by far, the best turnout of a job fair I have attended.  Candidates are fully engaged and seeking opportunities.  We talked with about 100 candidates at this event which surpasses the number of candidates we have met at other job fairs.  We have encouraged people to apply at the Verizon web site, but we have also been reviewing resumes at the job fair as we’re currently looking to hire for local retail sales.  Many employees start in sales and they can move to other positions from there based on job vacancies and candidate’s skills and interest."

-- Scott Mapus, Human Resources Recruiter/Talent Acquisition Team, Verizon.

 

 “We were pleased to see so many Dayton area employers actively participating in this.  Likewise, it was wonderful seeing such a large volume of job-ready individuals attending [Dayton, May 12] eager and excited to make connections.  We really enjoyed being here and would like to thank OOD and WSU for collaborating to host such a professional and successful event.”

-- Samantha Boutaam, EEO Specialist, Crown Equipment Corporation

 

“We have met more than 50 job seekers at today’s event [Akron, May 18].  The candidates have been really well-prepared and this has been an overall excellent experience for our company. We may have had a match for one of our open positions and we look forward to recruiting at a similar event in the future.”

-- Michele Thompson and Michelle Skoletsky, Human Resources Representatives, Land O’ Lakes, Inc.


Did you know? Disability History and Awareness Month

Legislation designating October as "Disability History and Awareness Month” in Ohio passed the General Assembly this week and is headed to Governor John Kasich’s desk for signature.  Introduced as Senate Bill 130 by Representative Lou Gentile, the language was amended into House Bill 483, and passed by the House and Senate on Wednesday evening.  The legislation states that “During this month, schools in this state are encouraged to provide instruction and events focused on disability history, people with disabilities, and the disability rights movement.”

 


OOD by the Numbers

Vocational Rehabilitation

                                                               Current                     FFY2016

 

Individuals in Job Ready Status:            3,325                    4,476

(For county level information

& map visit our website)

 

Individuals Employed:                             1,943                     4,264

(Employed, not yet

successfully closed)

 

Successful Closures:                                                             4,371

(Employed for over 90 days,

case closed successfully)

 

Disability Determination

(FFY2016 as of 05/20/2016 – Week 34)

 

Applications Received:                                                            130,162

 

Determinations:                                                                        131,945

 

Productivity Per Work Year (PPWY)                                       376.4

(Total number of cases processed divided

by the number of work years funded)


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