 Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities (OOD) Executive Director Kevin Miller testified in support of Governor Kasich’s 2018-2019 Executive Budget proposal this past Wednesday. Presenting before the Ohio House Finance Subcommittee of Health and Human Services, Director Miller highlighted the many areas of success the agency has achieved since 2011.
Among these accomplishments are:
- the elimination of the wait list for vocational rehabilitation (VR) services that impacted more than 17,000 individuals with disabilities. For the first time since 1991, OOD is serving all individuals with disabilities including those currently working but at-risk of losing their job due to the onset of a disability;
- addressed the outstanding state and federal compliance issues the agency was facing at that time;
- established accountability metrics for ourselves, as well as our local partners;
- created a fee schedule for VR services.
While OOD has much to celebrate, we still have more to do. As proposed, this budget request will allow OOD to build upon those successes and face the challenges ahead to effectively serve more Ohioans with disabilities in their pursuit of employment and independence. For more information about OOD, visit http://ood.ohio.gov/.
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As part of National Disability Employment Awareness Month
(NDEAM) last October, OOD hosted a series of job fairs that matched 759 job
seekers with 176 employers. Every month OOD generates a report that shows the
status of the participants of the NDEAM job fairs and shows the individuals
with disabilities that are in employed or closed rehab status, who they are employed by, their
hourly wage, and the amount of hours they work per week. Last month, we hit an
important milestone when 17% of the participants were identified as working 90
days after the fair - the typical job fair standard is 16%. This month’s report
shows that 21% of our job fair participants are working at an average hourly
wage of $10.98 an hour ($2.83 above minimum wage) and 28 hours per week. OOD is
looking forward to the job fairs scheduled for this May in Dayton and Akron/Canton
and to seeing more positive outcomes.
Our commitment to job seekers does not end when the job
fairs close. OOD continues to work with employers and job-ready
candidates to find good matches for competitive employment.
OOD
partners with Ohio AgrAbility to provide consumers interested in careers in
agriculture with the tools and assessments they need to achieve their goals.
Ohio AgrAbility’s goals are to enhance quality of life for farmers, ranchers
and other agricultural workers with disabilities.
AgrAbility
came into existence through the 1990 Farm Bill, and has been a leader in
assisting individuals with disabilities to find and obtain employment in
agricultural related employment. Agriculture consistently ranks as one of the
nation’s most dangerous occupations. Each year, workers in Ohio experience
injuries that may limit their ability to perform essential tasks. Late onset
disability issues are also a concern as farmers age.
Ohio
AgrAbility is a partnership between The Ohio State University and Easter Seals. Together with
OOD’s Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) program, assessments and other
assistance is provided to individuals who are interested in pursuing a job in agriculture.
AgrAbility offers peer support, secondary injury prevention, information, materials
and educational training sessions.
For more
information about Ohio AgrAbility, visit http://agrability.osu.edu/about/services.
For more
information about OOD’s VR program, visit http://oodworks.com/.
Ohio AgrAbility offers
informational resources such as fact sheets that provide useful information
that can be helpful for Ohio’s farmers and farm families coping with a
disability or long-term health conditions. For more information, visit http://agrability.osu.edu/resources/factsheets#main-content.
Vocational Rehabilitation
Current
FFY2017
Individuals in Job Ready
Status: 3,172 2,869
For county level
information
& map, visit our website.
Individuals Employed:
1,984
2,350
Employed, not yet
successfully closed
Successful Closures:
2,644
Employed for over 90
days,
case closed successfully
Disability Determination
(FFY
2017 as of 2/24/2017 – Week 21)
Applications Received: 70,494
Determinations: 75,834
Productivity Per Work
Year (PPWY) 353.4
Total number of cases
processed divided
by
the number of work years funded
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