Outcomes is published three times a year by the Region VI CRP-RCEP located at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas. Linda Holloway Editor Dan O’Brien Assistant Editor Marcy Haag Project Coordinator Margaret J. Cortez Layout & Design For more information, story ideas or to request additional copies, contact: Linda Holloway University of North Texas Region VI CRP-RCEP PO Box 311456 Denton, TX 76203-1456 940/565-4000 Vol. 5 No. 3 Region VI CRP-RCEP Fall 2004 Outcomes Networking for Employment Outcomes You’re HIRED! U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao has selected “You’re Hired! Success Knows No Limitations!” as the official theme for this year’s National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM). According to Roy Grizzard, Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), the theme can help local governments, advocacy groups and business leaders plan events and programs that highlight the talents and skills of job seekers and workers who have disabilities. Throughout the month of October several states in region six will do just that! Every state in the region will host an awards presentation for people in the community who are actively involved in the employment and promotion of individuals with disabilities. Activities will include the Governor’s Commission on Disability in New Mexico giving a presentation on Disability Employment Issues to a local employer. In Texas, the Governor’s Committee on People with Disabilities produced a poster to commemorate National Disability Employment Awareness Month. Titled “Invitation to Wonder”, the poster was designed by Jean Riley of Arlington, Texas, using melted crayola and ink. Governor’s and Mayor’s Committees on People with Disabilities throughout the region rely heavily on community participation to plan and carry out activities commemorating this month or other events that promote the employment of individuals with disabilities. If you have ever wondered how you can get involved, here is a list of websites you might find helpful in organizing a local committee in your community: • In Texas - http://www.governor.state.tx.us/divisions/ disabilities • In New Mexico - http://www.dvrgetsjobs.com/index/ Index.asp • In Oklahoma - http://www.state.ok.us/~okddc/ employ.html • In Arkansas - http://www.arsinfo.org/employment.html • In Louisiana - http://www.dss.state.la.us/departments/lrs/ Vocational_Rehabilitation.html Sarah Skorpil is the latest addition to the Region VI CRPRCEP training staff. Sarah brings with her a variety of talents, including a background in training and Assistive Technology. Before working in the Rehabilitation field, Sarah began her career as a corporate technical trainer with a Fortune 500 company. At that time, she also began volunteering with a local non-profit agency, The Arc of Dallas. After several years, Sarah decided to merge her training background, technical know-how and her desire to make the world a better place, by accepting a position as the Director of Assistive Technology for The Arc of Dallas. There, she created and ran a successful AT Program for several years. At the Region VI CRP-RCEP, Sarah is responsible for all assistive technology and accommodation-related materials. In addition, she is hard at work on our new WebCT project, which will allow us to offer many of our training classes online. You can contact Sarah via email at sskorpil@scs.unt.edu or call her at (940) 565-4000. Meet Sarah Skorpil Visit our Website! www.crp.unt.edu CRP F E A T U R E D Community Rehabilitation Program JOBLINK Putting Values to Work at the Betty Hardwick Center This month’s featured CRP, chosen for its consistently high percentage of successful employment outcomes, is JOBLINK in Abilene, Texas. JOBLINK has maintained an 80% + rate of competitive employment outcomes in spite of administrative challenges, staff turnover, poor job markets, governmental reorganization, and (well ... you name it!) These are not just “placements,” quickie jobs at highturn- over companies, or “internal employment,” such as road crews. And JOBLINK does not have traditionally easy-to-place clientele. Along with the 80% figure, JOBLINK clients uniformly report a high satisfaction standard for their job . . . and they stay with it! So, how does this happen? Ray Williams, employment coordinator, quickly relates that they owe it all to knowing their value system and staying with it, and to following the employment method taught at the Region VI CRPRCEP. “There is a culture here, that if the folks at UNT wouldn’t approve, we won’t do it. All of our employment specialists are UNT-trained, and what we learned there is passed on to new folks coming in. We believe firmly in the job match formula outlined by UNT,” Williams notes. By the way, did we mention that JOBLINK is part of a larger organization, the Betty Hardwick Center, formerly the Abilene Texas Regional Mental Health and Mental Retardation Center? “We, in effect, created a new organization within the Center, and we deal only with employment, a fact our clients are very aware of ,” laughs Williams. “They know when they see us that employment is all we’ll talk about. We tell them, and we believe it, that everyone is employable. It really helps them to be positive about their employment goals.” It is noteworthy that JOBLINK serves primarily a rural area. “We’ve all heard how difficult it is to serve our clients well in rural areas, but “. . . we deal only with employment, a fact our clients are very aware of.” “We tell them, and we believe it, that everyone is employable.” “ . . . our administration has seen the value of employment to the well-being of all our clients.” JOBLINK JOBLINK Ray Williams Employment Coord. 2626 S Clack Street Abilene, TX 79606 (325)690-5182 all of us at JOBLINK stay with the philosophy of serving one client at a time . . . and that keeps us focused and on-track. Actually, we do very well in very rural areas,” says Williams. JOBLINK’s success has always hinged on the support it receives from the management of the Betty Hardwick Center. “We are so fortunate,” relates Williams. “From the beginning, our administration has seen the value of employment to the well-being of all our clients.” JOBLINK staff are competitively paid and there are incentives, financial and others, offered to them. For example, the new employment consultant at JOBLINK is encouraged to seek out training to become even better at their job. “Of course,” says Williams, “it is expected that they show us that certificate from the RCEP at UNT!” The RCEP often refers other CRPs to JOBLINK to show what can happen with a welltrained staff and an administration who solidly values employment efforts. “It’s helpful to us as well,” Williams says, “we learn from each other and hopefully, we both get better.” JOBLINK has maintained an 80%-plus rate of competitive employment outcomes. Here’s how they say they keep their employment rates consistently high. P E O P L E & E V E N T S R E G I O N V I Needs Assessment A Needs Assessment Survey is now available to our Region VI CRP-RCEP customers online. The survey aims to determine not just how we’re doing in the region, but how our current training strategies are meeting the needs of our customer-base. We are hopeful between now and October 31st many of our readers will assist us in this effort. For example, we want to know what challenges CRPs are facing in the next year or two; if they find our current training format too costly or too long; and how rapidly-changing technology is affecting CRP service delivery in the region. Our goal, as always, is to structure our products and services to enhance employment and independent living outcomes for individuals with disabilities. The survey is available online at http:// www.crp.unt.edu, click on the GO TO SURVEY button and follow the instructions. Hard copies are also available by request to crp-rcep@unt.edu, or by calling our office at (940) 565-4000. Mental Health & Employment: evidencebased practices at work The Region VI CRP-RCEP is planning a conference on the use of evidence-based practices (EBPs) in mental health and employment. The conference is scheduled for June 15-16, 2005 and will be held at the Sheraton Old Town Hotel in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The need for evidence-based practices in the employment of individuals with mental illness has been well-established over the past two decades by educators and researchers at some of the country’s leading academic institutions. They have defined six major areas supported by research that work well in supporting recovery for individuals with mental illness. Supported employment is one of those practices. The conference will address the supported employment aspect of EBPs in detail with presentations by nationally recognized leaders in the field and a series of workshops on specific implementation practices. Look for more on Mental Health & Employment soon on our website, in our upcoming newsletters and via email from our offices! The Association of Community Rehabilitation Educators (ACRE) has launched a website, and with it, a new way of thinking about continuing education for community rehabilitation providers. Based on competencies developed by educators, ACRE has defined, in detail, the information CRPs should be getting from their training providers. Training and development standards are currently required of State Vocational Rehabilitation Agencies, but not CRPs. At least not yet. A discussion about ACRE, the new training competencies, how training programs get certified, and, most importantly, how all of this affects community rehabilitation providers, is the subject of our next CRP Brief. That issue, due out in December, will explain, in depth, what ACRE is, does, and how it all comes together to enhance employment and independent living outcomes for individuals with disabilities. For more information go to: www.interwork.sdsu.edu/acre We are delighted to report that the University of North Texas (UNT) and the Department of Rehabilitation, Social Work, & Addictions (RSWA) were nominated for and and have been selected as recipients of the 2004 RSA Commissioner’s Award for Excellence in Education and Training. The award will be presented at the National Council on Rehabilitation Education Conference, Tuesday, October 26, 2004 in Washington, DC. Two programs in the department, the Region VI CRP-RCEP and the Consortium for Distance Education in Rehabilitation, (CDER), were singled out by the commissioners for their “dedication to the public rehabilitation program and the innovative and effective efforts made on it’s behalf.” Also receiving the award • The Rehabilitation Counseling Program, Boston University, and • The University of Memphis, and Tennessee Division of Rehabilitation Services. Quoting Commissioner Joanne Wilson: “The award is well deserved. Thank you for your continuing, outstanding efforts on behalf of the public rehabilitation program.” Dr. Linda Holloway, Director of the Region VI CRP-RCEP and UNT faculty member, will accept the award on behalf of UNT and RSWA. If you haven’t yet, start making tracks to TRAN 2004 starting on October 31 at the Doral Tesoro Hotel & Golf Club located across from the Texas Motor Speedway in Ft. Worth, Texas. In addition to outstanding breakout sessions and professional speakers, you’ll get good food, great music, fabulous golf, a silent auction and even an excursion to Sundance Square in the heart of Ft. Worth. For online registration & details, go to www.thetranweb.org ACRE . . . and the award goes to . . . PO Box 311456 Denton, TX 76203-1456 Acct 71954 This project is in part supported under a grant from the Department of Education. However, the contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education and endorsement by the Federal Government should not be assumed. 2004 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS Region VI CRP-RCEP If you have news for Outcomes, e-mail margaret@unt.edu Meeting the continuing education needs of community rehabilitation providers • October 24-26 - NCRE/RSA/ CSAVR Conference, Washington, DC. Visit the website for more information at http:// www.rehabeducators.org/ events/fall04conf.htm • October 31-November 2 - TRAN Conference, Ft. Worth, Texas. For more information, www.thetranweb.org • January 19-21 & February 23-25 - Certificate in Employment Services, Austin, TX. Call (940) 565-4000 for more information. Address Service Requested November S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 December S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 January - 2005 S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 February S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28