NTAC e.News — June 1, 2008

Asian/Pacific Islander Words of Wisdom

“No one is hurt by doing the right thing”
- Hawaiian proverb.
Source: http://www.worldofquotes.com/proverb/Hawaiian/1/index.html

Announcements: NTAC

NEW! Earn 10 CEUs online

The tenth offering of the online course, "Introduction to Disability/Rehabilitation with Asian/Pacific Islander Americans," will begin in August. Unfortunately, we must increase the tuition for this offering to $100. However, for this still-reasonable tuition payment, you can complete this popular course while earning 10 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) to apply to your CRC. To provide this offering, we must have a minimum enrollment of a dozen professionals, so tell all your colleagues to register with you.

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 website: http://www.ntac.hawaii.edu/AAPIcourse/. To get on the mailing list for the course, please send an email to James D. Brightman, NTAC-AAPI Vocational Rehabilitation Coordinator, at jamesdb@hawaii.edu.

Announcements: National and International

Spanish language College Navigator

The U.S. Department of Education announces the release of a new Spanish language version of its college search tool, College Navigator.
College Navigator is a free consumer information tool designed to help students, parents, high school counselors, and others get information about nearly 7,000 postsecondary institutions in the United States. It provides a wide range of information -- such as programs offered, retention and graduation rates, prices, aid available, degrees awarded, campus safety, athletics, and accreditation -- in a user-friendly tool. The College Navigator was developed by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) within the Institute of Education Sciences. To learn more about the Spanish language College Navigator click here.

Social Security Announces Improvements to the Ticket to Work Program

The Social Security Administration issued final rules designed to improve the Ticket to Work program. The changes will improve the effectiveness of the Ticket program in helping beneficiaries with disabilities who want to return to work. The press release can be found here.

Positions Available

Inclusion Of People With Disabilities In National Service

The Association of University Centers on Disabilities has an opening for a Program Specialist to work as part of a team to increase the involvement of people with disabilities in national service. The job posting can be found here.

Vice-President, TheArcLink Incorporated

This key position has responsibility for TheArcLink's marketing and communications activities as well as new product development. Send all resumes and inquiries to vicepresident@thearclink.org.

Paid Summer Internships for Science, Tech, Engineering, and Math Student with Disabilities

Through a program called Entrypoint!, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) offers paid summer internship opportunities for college students with disabilities who are pursuing degrees in science, engineering, mathematics, computer science, and some fields of business. Through partnerships with IBM, NASA, Merck, NOAA, Google, Lockheed Martin, CVS, NAVAIR, and university science laboratories, AAAS identifies and screens fulltime undergraduate and graduate students with disabilities, with at least a B average to place them in paid summer internships in both the private industry and government agencies. Interested students are encouraged to apply asap. http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previous_issues/articles/2008_12_12/caredit.a0800181

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

Resources

Advancing Your Career (ETA)

A list of programs, resources and online tools from U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration on training and career advancement can be found here.

Community Employment Research Reports

These research reports on community employment for people with disabilities from the Institute for Community Inclusion at UMass Boston.

Edward Byrne Memorial Competitive Grant Program: National Initiatives FY 2008 Grant Announcement

The U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Assistance is pleased to announce that it is seeking applications for funding under the Edward Byrne Memorial Competitive Grant Program: National Initiatives. This program furthers the Department's mission by assisting state and local jurisdictions in improving the criminal justice system and assisting communities in preventing drug abuse and crime. Click here to learn more about this opportunity.

ETA Announces Grants to Improve Academic, Social, and Career Pathway Outcomes

The grants are intended for specific school districts that have been identified as "persistently dangerous" by the State Educational Agencies under section 9532 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The goal of the grants is to support mentoring, educational, employment, and other such prevention programs which seek to reduce violence in the schools. Both schools and faith and community-based organizations in partnership with the given school districts will be eligible to apply for the grant competition. To see a full copy of the grant announcement, please go to www.grants.gov. A list of the eligible schools is available on the full copy of the grant announcement.

ETA Grants Announced: Demonstration Projects Targeting Dislocated Workers

Recently announced grants from the Employment and Training Administration are intended for organizations who offer retraining and job placement services to dislocated workers. The grants are intended for State Workforce Agencies, including those in the territories of Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa. To see a full copy of the grant announcement, please click here

Institutes / Conferences

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

Thriving Through Networking

Utilizing Community & Faith-Based Partners to Expand Your Workforce System's Reach, Results & Resources. July 14, 9am-4:30pm and July 15th, 9-11:30 am at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, 900 Convention Center Boulevard, New Orleans, LA 70130.

Reinventing Quality Conference

The conference is being held on the beautiful Baltimore waterfront, August 10-12 this year. This conference features leading edge programs and practices in quality services for persons with developmental disabilities. For the conference brochure, list of speakers, schedule, hotel and registration information, visit their web site at: http://www.reinventingquality.org

International Conference on Diverse Abilities & Innovative supports 2008

Join your peers, colleagues and friends as they explore topics such as: Dual Diagnosis, Direct Support Worker Issues & Solutions, Supervision & Management, Clinical Issues, International Best Practices, Self-Advocacy/Independent Living, Autism/Aspergers, Employment, and Caregiving. The conference will be held August 11-13, 2008 at the Dole Ballrooms in Honolulu HI.

Research / Publications

State of the States in Developmental Disabilities (2008)

A detailed investigation on public spending, revenues, and programmatic trends of intellectual and developmental programs and services within the United States from 1977-2006. Click here to learn more about this book

Social Inclusion at Work

A practical reference that tells practitioners how to socially integrate people with developmental disabilities into employment settings. Click here to learn more about this book

Positive Behavior Support Training Curriculum (Second edition).

The Positive Behavior Support Training Curriculum teaches direct support staff and supervisors the principles of positive behavior support while interacting with people with intellectual disabilities in service settings. Click here to learn more about this book

Quality of Life: Applications Across Individuals, Organizations, Communities, and Systems

Stressing the need to reframe the concept of quality of life and the fundamentals of the quality movement, the authors propose a quality assessment and improvement methodology grounded in person-centered needs and outcomes. Click here to learn more about this book

Community Resources for Small Business Development

A fact sheet for individuals with disabilities who want to start a business can find assistance and support from a number of different local agencies. These generic resources usually are funded by taxpayer dollars and are available to anyone including people with disabilities. Some of them include Small Business Development Centers (SBDC), the Service Core of Retired Executives (SCORE), One-Stop Career Centers, Business Leadership Networks (BLN), and others described in this Q&A.

NCWD/Youth Newly Published Entrepreneurship Guide

This Guide promotes the benefits of entrepreneurship education and self-employment for all youth, including youth with disabilities. It provides tools for those providing services to youth with disabilities to use entrepreneurship as a means to attaining independence and self-sufficiency. It also provides guidance to those who have been providing entrepreneurship programming on how to effectively include youth with disabilities in their programs.