 Pictured above is the new Business Enterprise northbound rest area on Interstate 75 in Wood County.
After being closed since
September 1, 2015, the northbound rest area on Interstate 75 (I-75) in Wood
County reopened on January 24th. Opportunities for Ohioans with
Disabilities’ (OOD) Business Enterprise Program (BEP) worked with the Ohio
Department of Transportation (ODOT) on this project to return the displaced vending
machine operator to work. BEP enables Ohioans who are legally blind to have
entrepreneurial careers in food service management. The renovation project was
completed as a part of ODOT’s I -75 highway update.
The new facility will attract
hundreds, if not thousands of travelers and give the operator an opportunity to
return to profitable employment. The rest area is located two miles south of
Bowling Green.
OOD's BEP
has more than 100 self-employed licensed operators managing business in food
service and vending throughout Ohio. Opportunities include cafeterias, convenience stores, snack bars and vending machines in state,
federal and interstate highway rest areas. These licensed operators have exclusive
rights under the Randolph Sheppard Act and Ohio Revised Code. BEP also has
businesses at state universities, colleges, county buildings and other private
locations. For more information about the program, visit http://ood.ohio.gov/Programs/Business-Enterprise.
 Pictured above left to right are OOD’s Division of Disability Determination Disability Claims Supervisor Justin Helinski, Deputy Director Erik Williamson and Area Manager Fred Schindler.
OOD continues to be a leader among Ohio’s state agencies in
weaving Lean into its culture. Through the partnership with LeanOhio, OOD has
increased its knowledge and skills in Lean Six-Sigma methodology through the
successful training of three black belts, 19 green belts, 11 camo belts and 121
yellow belts (which includes the senior leadership team and supervisors). In
addition, hundreds of OOD staff have utilized Lean tools and concepts through
participation in numerous Lean projects that have resulted in significant
measurable process improvements and improved outcomes for OOD job seekers,
partners and employers.
The mission of LeanOhio is to make government services in
Ohio simpler, faster, better and less costly. Using the improvement methods of
Lean and Six Sigma, OOD is cutting red tape, removing inefficiencies, improving
customer service and achieving sustainable results. For more information about
LeanOhio, visit http://lean.ohio.gov/.
 Pictured above are OOD’s Vocational Rehabilitation staff, Division of Disability Determination staff and a representative from the Ohio Supreme Court.
OOD’s
Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) program will soon have a new Fast Track process
that was developed at a LeanOhio Kaizen event. The current VR process can be time
consuming for individuals with disabilities who are job-ready and for those who
have jobs but are experiencing work-related difficulties because of their
disability.
The Kaizen team mapped out the current process from referral to employment and proposed a new process. The new process shows:
- Reductions in the steps involved went from 114 to 56 – a 51% reduction
- Reductions in internal decision points went from 29 to 8 – a 72% decrease
- Reductions in handoffs went from 31 to 7 – a 77% reduction
The Fast Track process will be piloted in several areas throughout the state later this spring. The goal will be to decrease the time an individual with a disability is referred for services to employment from 15.5 months to three months. This improvement will result in individuals with disabilities who are employed or who are job-ready to retain or gain employment 80% faster. Kudos to our Kaizen team! For more information about OOD, visit http://ood.ohio.gov/.
Applications are now being accepted for OOD’s Youth
Leadership Forum (YLF). Ohio YLF is a five-day leadership training program for
11th and 12th grade students with disabilities who are interested in developing
their leadership ability. It will be held in Columbus from July 30th
through August 3rd.
At YLF, student delegates from all over the state learn
about choosing a career, the history of disability as a culture, available
technology and resources, and self and systems advocacy. Students are
introduced to professionals with disabilities and have an opportunity to
develop their own Personal Leadership Plan to reach goals in their education,
employment and community development.
Students who are not already working with OOD will need to apply for VR services. Interested students must mail a completed application
packet to OOD no later than March 31st. To complete the application
and for additional information, visit http://www.ood.ohio.gov/Programs/Youth-Leadership-Forum.
Google has recently added information about wheelchair
accessibility to Google Maps. This popular app will now tell you whether
locations are suitable for people with access needs. This feature helps people
in wheelchairs, mothers with pushchairs and people reliant on canes. The
information will be available under the amenities heading for locations around
the United States. For more information, visit http://www.theverge.com/2016/12/15/13968054/google-maps-twenty-percent-wheelchair-accessible.
A new free online course called An Introduction to
Technology Accessibility in the Workplace has been added to the National
Technical Assistance Center (NTAC) website. Featured are different types of
technology that are traditionally inaccessible, including additions and
modifications that can be made to improve access for someone with a visual
impairment. Screen readers and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phones are
evaluated and continuing education credits are available. See this and
additional courses from NTAC-Mississippi State University at http://www.ntac.blind.msstate.edu/courses/.
Under
a new federal law individuals with disabilities can create a special needs
trust for themselves rather than relying on others to do so. For more
information, visit https://www.disabilityscoop.com/2016/12/16/new-access-special-needs-trusts/23140/.
Vocational Rehabilitation
Current FFY 2017
Individuals in Job Ready Status: 3,033 2,126
For county level information
& map, visit our website.
Individuals Employed: 1,996 1,749
Employed, not yet
successfully closed
Successful Closures: 2,076
Employed for over 90 days,
case closed successfully
Disability Determination
(FFY 2017 as of 1/20/2017 – Week 16)
Applications Received: 53,249
Determinations: 57,651
Productivity Per Work Year (PPWY) 350.8
Total number of cases processed divided
by the number of work years funded
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