NTAC e.News — February 1, 2008

Asian/Pacific Islander Words of Wisdom


“Fai ln ia, ua lelei le matagi ” - Make sail, the wind is fair - Samoan phrase.
Explanation: Take action when conditions favor success.
Source: http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-PraDict-c4-5.html

Announcements: NTAC


NEW! Earn 10 CEUs Online

The eighth offering of the “Introduction to Disability/Rehabilitation with Asian/Pacific Islander Americans” is currently underway, and the ninth and tenth offerings are planned. For a nominal tuition payment of $20, you can complete this popular course while earning 10 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 be placed on the mailing list for that course, please send an email to James D. Brightman, NTAC-AAPI Vocational Rehabilitation Coordinator, at jamesdb@hawaii.edu.

NEW! Register for PacRim 2008

Register now to join us for the 24th Annual Pacific Rim Conference on Disabilities to be held April 14th and 15th of this year at the spectacular Sheraton Waikiki in Honolulu, Hawaii. Please go to http://www.pacrim.hawaii.edu/registration/ to register.


Announcements: National and International


U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao Calls for 2008 New Freedom Initiative Award Nominations

U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao has called upon nonprofit organizations, small businesses, corporations and individuals that have demonstrated exemplary and innovative efforts in advancing the employment and workplace environment of people with disabilities to submit entries for the 2008 Secretary of Labor's New Freedom Initiative Award. Criteria for the award and details for the submission of entries are available in the February 29, 2008 issue of the Federal Register

National Council on Disability: More Students with Disabilities Graduating with Diplomas and Certificates

The National Council on Disability (NCD) just released a report analyzing the progress of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) that says students with disabilities are no longer ignored. To that end, NCLB and IDEA have had a significant, positive impact. The report states, "students with disabilities appear to be doing better academically, and they also appear to be graduating with diplomas and certificates at higher rates than in prior years. Data suggests, however, that there is still cause for concern about the dropout levels of students with disabilities nationwide. Here is a link to the reports.


Positions Available


Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) Senior Director for Public Policy

The Senior Director for Public Policy, under the direction of the Associate Executive Director for Policy and Advocacy Services, is responsible for providing leadership and direction for the Association's governmental relations activities, including maintaining a network of units and members for advancing public policy. Resume and cover letter to: Human Resources Manager, Council for Exceptional Children. Click here for more information.

APAICS - Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies

Contact: RGMoy at (202)296-9200 The deadlines for APAICS' internships and fellowships are quickly approaching. The 2008-2009 APAICS Fellowship deadline is February 28th. To talented college graduates and students pursuing post-graduate study, APAICS offers six fellowships. These Fellows are placed in Congress, federal agencies or non-profit organizations. Such fellowships give opportunities for particularly talented APA youth to more fully experience a longer duration of working in the public policy process. Also, these fellowships provide their recipients with a great support network and valuable experience. Those interested in applying should checkwww.apaics.org for details and application requirements.

White House Internship - Summer 2008

A White House Internship is an opportunity for current students and recent graduates to experience everyday life at the White House while Beyond experiencing the day-to-day operations of the White House, interns participate in a speaker series, tours, community service projects, and various White House events. For more information please visit this link.
Applications should be submitted to intern_application@whitehouse.gov on or before February 26, 2008 for the Summer 2008 Internship.


Recent Products


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


Resources


ETA Announces Grant Funds to Support Regional Approaches to Meet Workforce Challenges in Energy Sector and Address Shortage of Construction and Trade Workers

Under the President's High Growth Job Training Initiative (HGJTI), the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) has announced the availability of approximately $10 million in grant funds for high-impact regional approaches to meet the workforce challenges of the energy industry and/or address the shortage of construction and skilled trade workers needed to maintain and expand the energy industry infrastructure. Applicants may be public, private for-profit, or private non-profit organizations. It is anticipated that average individual awards will fall within the range of $500,000 to $1 million. The closing date for receipt of applications is March 25, 2008.

A Webinar for prospective applicants will be held for this grant competition on February 1, 2008. Access information for the Webinar will be available onWorkforce3one.com.

The January 23rd Federal Register provides full background, outlines the eight parts of the Solicitation, presents the application requirements and evaluation critera and furnishes instruction for the submission of the application.


Institutes / Conferences


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

19th Annual National APSE Conference: "The Winners Cup...Everybody Works! Everybody Wins!"

TJuly 9-11, 2008; Louisville, Kentucky. The APSE conference is exclusively focused on employment of people with significant disabilities in the community, and is the forum for sharing knowledge and expertise on the latest developments and innovations in the field with APSE members from across the country. Conference tracks and call for presentation proposals are available online at www.apse.org. For more information, contact Celane McWhorter at celanem@yahoo.com

National ADA Symposium

May 12-14, 2008; St. Louis, MO. Hosted by the Network of DBTAC-ADA Centers, the ADA Symposium brings representatives from key federal agencies involved in implementing the ADA including the U.S. Dept. of Justice, the U.S. Access Board and the EEOC to provide comprehensive training and updates. http://www.adasymposium.org/.

The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) Jernigan Institute will host the first Jacobus tenBroek Disability Law Symposium, "Disability Law: From tenBroek to the Twenty-first Century"

The event will be held on April 10-11, 2008, at the Jernigan Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. The symposium will bring together many of the nation's top disability law scholars, practitioners, and advocates to examine the current status of both American and international disability law and will act as a forum in which to discuss future change in the disability law of the United States.

You are invited to attend this landmark symposium that will help to shape the future of disability law in the United States. For a brochure, agenda, and registration form and details, vist https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm08/bm0809/bm080904.htm

Community Rehabilitation Providers & Creative Funding for Self Employment

March 5, 2008: Community Rehabilitation Providers (CRPs) and board members serve millions of people with disabilities daily in communities across the country. CRPs are constantly engaged in financial successes and frustrations in accessing, developing, maintaining and creating funding to provide the best possible services and choices to each person they serve. Self-employment often requires unique creative funding skills, social capital leveraging, and leadership of CRP employees and board members. This webinar addresses the ongoing experiences, successes and frustrations of Allegan, a CRP that is an early adopter of self-employment as choice for individuals with disabilities. .

Webcast on Supported Employment & Mental Illness - Addressing the Secondary Issues

This webcast will be held at 2:00 p.m. on April 8, 2008. It will address secondary issues of mental illness that impact employment, and give specific strategies for providers to use to assist individuals in finding and keeping employment. Click here for more information.


Research / Publications


Increasing the Employment of People with Disabilities in the Federal Work Force

A comprehensive report addressing strategies to reverse the declining participation rate of federal employees with targeted disabilities. The entire report may be downloaded in .pdf format by clicking here.

Workforce Redesign

Business Woman Magazine published by BPW/USA [Business & Professional Women/USA], Fall 2007 issue, published an article on workplace flexibility and customized employment, as discussed by Linda Roundtree, Women Entrepreneurs, Inc.; Lisa Cuozzo, Montgomery County [MD] Workforce Investment Board's Montgomery Works!--one of ODEP's past customized employment-funded initiatives; and Michael Williams, Women's Bureau (DOL). Here is a ink to the article. (Posted with permission from Business Woman Magazine and the BPW/USA.)

Customized Employment--Employers and Workers:

Creating a Competitive Edge [PDF] [Word] - This report provides information and background on the 26 ODEP-funded demonstration projects and grant initiatives starting in 2001 and summarizes local, state, and federal recommendations generated as a result of this demonstration initiative.

Business Owners Share Strategies for Success with Workers with Disabilities

A report has been released on a Business Dialogue on Accessible Technology and Disability Employment held recently in Florida. Sponsored by the Assistive Technology Industry Association and the US Business Leadership Network, it included business leaders across a wide range of companies in size--from Fortune 500 to small family-owned businesses. The report can be found in the "news" section here.

NTAC-AAPI maintains an email list of persons in the disability-related fields that will remain private. This information has been sent as a courtesy. If you would like to make news contributions to the next issue (deadline: February 25, 2008), please contact the editor at david.baker@hawaii.edu. If you wish to stop receiving these messages, you may send an email to listserv@hawaii.edu with the subject line blank and signoff ntac-l@hawaii.edu in the body of your message.

Copyright 2008. National Technical Assistance Center (NTAC-AAPI).

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