NTAC e.News — November 1, 2007

Asian/Pacific Islander Words of Wisdom

Inconspicuous virtue brings conspicuous reward.
Source: http://www.ikedaquotes.org/contents/buddhist_quotes/cause_effect.html

Announcements: Local

NEW! Brightman and Subedi publish Hawaiian Culture Brief

Lilette Subedi, a Native Hawaiian Curriculum Specialist with the Curriculum Resource & Develop Group at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, provided invaluable assistance and insight as she co-authored a new Hawaiian Culture Brief with James Brightman, Vocational Rehabilitation Coordinator for the NTAC-AAPI. The brief can be found here: http://www.ntac.hawaii.edu/downloads/products/briefs/culture/pdf/ACB-Vol2-Iss7-Hawaii.pdf

NEW! Earn 10 CEUs online

The eighth offering of the “Introduction to Disability/Rehabilitation with Asian/Pacific Islander Americans” online course is tentatively set to begin on January 14th, 2008. For a nominal tuition payment of $20, you can earn ten Continuing Education Units (CEUs) to apply to your CRC.

Each offering of this month-long course has been facilitated by NTAC-AAPI, with Paul Leung, Professor and Director of the Department of Rehabilitation, Social Work, and Addictions at the University of North Texas, and Nan Zhang Hampton, Associate Professor of the Department of Administration, Rehabilitation, and Postsecondary Education at San Diego State University serving as professors.

For more information, or to preview the required readings before the next course begins, please go to the following Web site: http://www.ntac.hawaii.edu/AAPIcourse/. To get on the mailing list for that course, please send an email to James D. Brightman, NTAC-AAPI’s Vocational Rehabilitation Coordinator, at jamesdb@hawaii.edu.

NEW! DVD Available

After a gala premiere at the Honolulu Design Center on October 17th commemorating October as Disability Employment Awareness Month, the DVD entitled “Abilities at Work” is now ready for purchase. The DVD features compelling stories of four Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders with disabilities with successful lives and careers. If you have any questions, please email James D. Brightman at jamesdb@hawaii.edu. You can use the order form to order a copy of the DVD.

Announcements: National and International

Adult Basic Education Career Connections Sites Selected

On October 15, 2007, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Vocational and Adult Education announced the selected Adult Basic Education (ABE) Career Connections sites. The ABE Career Connections Project seeks to encourage new solutions for assisting adult basic education students to successfully transition to postsecondary programs and begin careers in high-demand fields. Each of the five selected sites will receive $75,000 over an 18-month period. Selected sites will also receive training and technical assistance. Technical assistance will feature customized support services provided by a team of national experts with practical knowledge of how to plan, implement, and manage career pathway programs.

National Disability Employment Awareness Month “Workers with Disabilities: Talent for a Winning Team”

Throughout October, which is National Disability Employment Awareness Month, the Office of Disability Employment Policy will profile on its Web site individuals who have personally benefited from agency-sponsored programs aimed at eliminating the chronic underemployment of people with disabilities, as well as employers and organizations that have successfully implemented strategies to hire, support, empower and otherwise value employees with disabilities. http://www.dol.gov/odep/talent/10312007.htm

Secretary of Labor’s New Freedom Initiative Award

Established in 2002, the Secretary of Labor’s New Freedom Initiative Award annually recognizes non-profits, small businesses, corporations and individuals that have demonstrated exemplary and innovative efforts in furthering the employment and workplace environment for people with disabilities, a goal of President Bush’s New Freedom Initiative. On October 24, at the Sixth Annual New Freedom Initiative Awards ceremony, Secretary Elaine L. Chao presented awards to six winners. The occasion also marked the second annual presentation of the Secretary’s SPIRIT Award.

U.S. Department of Labor forms alliance with CVS Caremark to promote employment of workers with disabilities nationwide

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) and CVS Caremark today established an alliance to encourage and promote the employment of people with disabilities through training and education, outreach and communication, technical assistance and other efforts. http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/odep/odep20071653.htm

Recent Products

Finding a Workplace Personal Assistant

People with disabilities believe Personal Assistance Services (PAS) are services that are only used in the home to assist individuals to remain independent. Over the past 20 years people with severe disabilities have discovered they can use PAS services in the workplace as a reasonable job accommodation and consider a workplace PAS a necessary to perform the essential job functions. Read the PAS Fact sheet

Start-UP-USA Online Seminar—Quick-Launch Business Plan

This seminar is targeted to providers or other individuals who support people with disabilities in developing a business plan. The presentation is divided into eight segments, giving participants time to incorporate the lessons they learn in each segment into the business plan they are developing. View the Online Seminar

For a complete list of NTAC products, please visit the Products section of our Web site.

Resources

MIG-RATS Website

The Medicaid Infrastructure Grant Research Assistance to States (MIG-RATS) Center launched a website to provide resources and support to states implementing MIGs. The Web site is designed to help staff find research reports and resources, learn about MIG-RATS activities and initiatives, and connect with MIG researchers. The website includes info on topics such as Medicaid Buy-In programs, outreach and marketing, and youth in transition and also provides links to tools and a calendar of events. http://www.migrats.org

The Music Within

This is the story of Richard Pimentel, who returned from Vietnam with a disability, and his college friend with cerebral palsy and how the two of them together changed the world around them. It is about disability and life, the ADA, and employment. The movie tells the disability story to the world that we all try to tell every day.

The movie needs to have a good reception in the original cities to obtain wide circulation in its future. Please check the Web site to see if it is going to be in your city. If it is not slated for your community yet, call the movie houses and ask for it! And, do not go alone. Take a group along. http://www.musicwithinmovie.com

A Resource Guide to State Medicaid Infrastructure Grant (MIG) Initiatives

Developed as a means to provide a framework for state-to-state communication, technical assistance, and for multi-state analysis of policy and program development activities this site is also intended as a resource to other public officials, analysts and advocates. The Guide has 6 sections which include 65 categories of states’ MIG comprehensive employment project activities. Within the 6 sections are subsections of summaries, recent activities and details and background. http://www.hcbs.org/moreInfo.php/nb/doc/2057

The Workforce Recruitment Program for College Students with Disabilities

The Workforce Recruitment Program for College Students with Disabilities (WRP) is a resource to connect public and private sector employers nationwide with highly motivated postsecondary students and recent graduates with disabilities who are eager to prove their abilities in the workforce. Employers seek to fill both temporary and permanent positions in a variety of fields. Download the flyer

Institutes / Conferences

For a complete list of conferences, please visit the Conferences section of our Web site.

White House Faith-Based and Community Initiatives National Summit on Prisoner Reentry

On Tuesday and Wednesday, November 27-28, the White House Faith-Based and Community Initiatives National Summit on Prisoner Reentry will be held. Each year more than 650,000 inmates are released from Federal and State prisons and return to their communities and families. According to the Department of Justice, more than two-thirds of inmates will be rearrested within three years of their release from prison. Addressing the tremendous human needs associated with recidivism requires that Federal, state, and local decision-makers partner with nongovernmental organizations—for-profit and nonprofit, faith-based and secular—to promote jobs, transitional housing, education, substance abuse treatment, positive mentoring relationships, and other valuable transitional services.

The summit is free, but pre-registration is required. Registration is on a first-come, first-serve basis. Visit www.fbci.gov to register online. Please register by Thursday, November 15th. If you must cancel your registration, please send an email to fbci@dtihq.com. For more information, call 202-456-6708, send an email to fbci@dtihq.com, or visit www.fbci.gov.

International Forum on Disability and Development: Caring, Participation, and Action

December 10-15 2007: Beijing, China
This year’s International Forum on Disability and Development, jointly sponsored by the China Disabled Persons’ Federation, Peking University, University of Southern California, and Griffith University, will take place in Beijing, December 10-15 2007. Representatives from the United Nations, World Bank, World Health Organization, the National Development and Reform Commission of China, the Ministries of Civil Affairs, Finance, Health, and Labor and Social Security, and both domestic and foreign well-known scholars are invited to attend the forum. View the announcement | Download the registration form

International Forum 2008: Securing the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

April 12 & 13, 2008: Sheraton Waikiki, Honolulu, Hawaii
Select speakers including experts with regional and UN experience, advocates and community leaders will present and participate in panels and lead discussions around the posed questions. The forum will also provide a space for dialogue and informal conversations. We invite you to host a dialogue session and to share your insights and expertise. Those interested in speaking and or participating at the Forum, please contact Robert A. Stodden at stodden@hawaii.edu

24th Annual Pacific Rim Conference on Disabilities

April 14 & 15, 2008: Honolulu, Hawai‘i
Even though it is not until next year, now is the time to start planning to attend PacRim. The 24th Annual Pacific Rim Conference on Disabilities will be held April 14 & 15, 2008 at the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel and Resort in Honolulu, Hawai‘i. For more information about Pac Rim, please see http://www.pacrim.hawaii.edu/.

2008 National ADA Symposium and EXPO

On May 12-14, 2008 at America’s Center in St. Louis, Missouri the National ADA Symposium and EXPO will be held. It is a comprehensive three-day conference on the Americans with Disabilities Act and related disability laws sponsored by the National Network of Disability and Busines Technical Assistance Centers. Visit http://www.adasymposium.org to find out why the National ADA Symposium has become the conference to attend on the ADA.

Research / Publications

Empowerment for Americans with Disabilities: Breaking Barriers to Careers and Full Employment

This NCD report has two broad aims: 1) to summarize the existing knowledge regarding the employment of people with disabilities in a series of short issue briefs, and 2) to present new information on the perspectives of employers, people with disabilities, and disability specialists on the key barriers to and facilitators of employment. http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/publications/2007/NCDEmployment_20071001.htm

Analysis of the District of Columbia’s Medicaid Buy-In

This report summarizes the status of the Medicaid Buy-In program in Washington, DC. It describes the role of the program and the estimated number of participants after four years. The report analysis enrollment estimates based heavily on the enrollment experiences in other state programs. http://www.hcbs.org/moreInfo.php/nb/doc/2054

As Tough Times Wane, States Act to Improve Medicaid Coverage and Quality: Results from a 50-State Medicaid Budget Survey for State Fiscal Years 2007 and 2008

The annual 50-state survey of state officials on Medicaid and state budget actions reports enrollment in Medicaid declined. This decline was driven primarily by two factors. States reported new citizenship documentation requirements were causing delays in processing applications, affecting individuals already eligible for the program. State officials also cited good economy and lower unemployment for reducing enrollment. 42 states expect to expand coverage to the uninsured in the next year. http://www.hcbs.org/moreInfo.php/nb/doc/2050