ODEP News Brief - February 8, 2019

February 8, 2019

HIRE Vets Medallion Applications

The application period is open for job creators to apply for the U.S. Department of Labor's HIRE Vets Medallion Award. This program recognizes small businesses, non-profit organizations, and large companies for their leadership in recruiting, employing, and retaining America's veterans. Applicants are evaluated based on a range of criteria including veteran hiring and retention rates, and the availability of veteran-specific resources, leadership programs, dedicated human resources, and compensation and tuition assistance programs. The deadline to apply is April 30, 2019.

• Learn about the HIRE Vets Medallion Award

SAW/RTW Webinar — February 15 from 10:00-11:00 AM ET

The Council of State Governments (CSG), in collaboration with ODEP's State Exchange on Employment & Disability (SEED), will host the “Stay-At-Work/ Return-to-Work (SAW/RTW) Webinar.” The webinar will discuss why SAW/RTW issues are important at the individual and state levels, and how policymakers can use CSG's SAW/RTW Toolkit as a resource to develop state policy frameworks that assist workers in transitioning back to or staying at work following disability or injury incurred on the job. Panelists will include policymakers from Kentucky, Maryland, Tennessee, and Washington, D.C., as well as participants from ODEP.

• Register for the SAW/RTW webinar
• Read the CSG SAW/RTW Toolkit

Inclusive Career Pathways Roadmap Webinar — February 20 from 3:00-4:30 PM ET

ODEP's LEAD Center will mark the official release of its new “Inclusive Career Pathways Roadmap” during this webinar. LEAD Center staff will walk attendees through the online tool, which draws together a collection of information from multiple states, including strategies collected nationally from Disability Employment Initiative (DEI) projects and LEAD's work on the “Promising Practices in Achieving Nondiscrimination and Equal Opportunity: A Section 188 Disability Reference Guide.” LEAD Center staff, Federal partners, and state leaders will highlight ways to use the Roadmap to strengthen Career Pathways programs and partnerships, making services more inclusive for youth and adults with disabilities and others who experience barriers to employment.

• Register for the “Inclusive Career Pathways Roadmap” webinar

Disability Employment Training Center

The Employer Assistance and Resource Network on Disability Inclusion (EARN) created the Dinah Cohen Training Center for Disability Employment & Inclusion, a one-stop resource for comprehensive multi-media training on disability inclusion. The Center offers employers and others interested in disability employment strategies access to a variety of training on strategies, policies, and practices for advancing inclusion of people with disabilities in the workplace. It features a wide range of tools and resources for live workshops on disability-inclusion best practices, including PowerPoint presentations with accompanying speaker notes, videos on a variety of disability inclusion topics, online trainings, and archived webinars.

• Visit the Dinah Cohen Training Center for Disability Employment & Inclusion

CDE Special Olympics blog

The Campaign for Disability Employment (CDE) features a guest post on its blog from Ben Collins, called “My Life Being Visually Impaired.” Collins, who works at Special Olympics International, describes his job, including the assistive technologies that he uses. He also outlines his daily commute on public transportation in the Washington, D.C. area. Cardin, a Special Olympics athlete for 38 years, goes on to recount his experiences at the Special Olympics USA National Games in Seattle, Washington, where he won two silver medals and a bronze medal in bocce. “I wish that I could talk to everyone who just learned they have Retina Pigmentosa or other visual impairments to let them know that life's an obstacle course, but you can get around the obstacle course,” says Collins. “It's hard to be patient, but I have a good, full life, and you can do anything when you put your mind to it!”

• Read Ben Collins's blog post