Virginia Commonwealth University receives $8.8 million for
research into employment of individuals with disabilities
and nearly half of employees fear
requesting disability accommodations in the workplace.
This and more on this episode of the disability news report
is the disability news report with host Arthur Aston
VC
is awarded $8.8 million for research
into employment of individuals with disabilities.
Virginia Commonwealth University
VC was recently awarded $8.8 million in federal grants.
The university's Rehabilitation Research and Training Center received
these grants to support research on employment.
The grants were awarded by the National
Institute on disability independent living and rehabilitation Research
in the Department of Health and Human Services.
The grants will support research led by Wendy
parent Johnson phd and Paul Wayman phd.
The grants will be distributed over a fiveyear period.
The rehabilitation Research and training center was established at VCU in 1983
and it provides resources for professionals,
individuals with disabilities and their families.
The center's team of researchers is
committed to developing and advancing evidence-based
practices to increase the hiring and
retention for individuals with disabilities.
The first grant is titled Transition to Employment
for youth with disabilities.
It provides real work for real pay, research and training
for highly marginalized and underserved youth with disabilities.
This includes those with disabilities in the
Native American populations across the United States
and those Children and youth with disabilities that are in the foster care system.
This also includes youth with significant
autism in large school systems in Virginia
and those who are at high risk of justice involvement.
The second award is titled Employment of
Persons with Intellectual and developmental disabilities.
This grant will focus on research and training
to help individuals with ID D gain competitive employment
in multiple states. Nationwide.
Researchers will work directly with job seekers with ID D,
employment, supportive services providers,
community colleges, families, and the business community.
The BC UR RT C will collaborate with researchers at other
colleges including Michigan State University and the University of Illinois,
as well as Vanderbilt University, the University of Kansas
and the University of Wisconsin.
We look forward to the research that is being done
as a result of these grants being provided to VCU
and we are anticipating what the research will show
and hopefully this will encourage more people with disabilities to apply for jobs
and to become part of the workforce.
Our next story is disability advocates emphasize
the importance of proper financial planning.
Living with a disability can be very expensive
as a child with a disability.
Those expenses are often covered by the
parents or the caregivers with their insurance.
Parents are often unsure of how their child will
become financially secure as they enter into adulthood.
Last month,
Easter Seals Midwest held the Missouri Disability Financial Summit for
families and caregivers of loved ones with developmental disabilities.
This was the first time the summit has been
done in this area.
The primary focus of the summit was long term financial planning.
Easter Seals is the largest nonprofit provider for
services of people with disabilities in the Midwest,
specializing in assisting communities with roadblocks related
to educational therapeutic and employment needs.
The plan list for this summit were financial advisors
who also are mothers of Children with developmental disabilities.
During the summit,
guests were reminded that there are a few options when planning for financial
stability for your disabled family member as
they transition from childhood into adulthood.
One option that was discussed during the summit
was setting up a special needs trust.
This type of trust holds assets for a
beneficiary's future care while also maintaining their government benefits
if they qualify for the benefits in the first place.
Here are some helpful tips mentioned during the
summit when creating a special needs trust.
First,
it is important to consult with
professionals because everyone's situation is different.
The trustee who is the person that will
be responsible for how the money is distributed
within the trust needs to be familiar with
the day to day life of this specific beneficiary
like what expenses that person has
the trustee must also be familiar with the special needs trust rules.
One rule is that the funds within the
trust cannot be given directly to the beneficiary,
but they must be used to pay for specific things like medical expenses, service,
animals, assistive technology,
housing costs,
and supplemental health insurance and a handful of other disability
related expenses.
It is also important to know that these funds
must be paid directly to the third party.
When planning for a special needs trust,
it is encouraged to make sure you are up to date with the state and federal laws.
Assets in a special needs trust are exempt from being counted toward
limits set for determining public benefits
like Medicaid and supplemental security income.
Just as important as a special needs trust.
It is equally as valuable to have the proper legal documents in place
like power of attorney and health care directives in place as well.
Our next story is Un D's Just Ask.
Conference starts a conversation on disability inclusion.
Last month,
the University of North Dakota's campus accessibility working group hosted a
conference on campus that focused on making disability inclusion a priority.
This two day conference was held purposely during the month
of October which is National Disability Employment Awareness Month.
The conference was titled Just Ask and it was aimed
to highlight key issues to give attendees a greater understanding of
an allyship with individuals with disabilities.
Beth Valentine,
who is the chairperson of the
working group assisted with developing the conversation
because of a perceived need for more open
conversations about disability inclusion at UN D.
She is quoted as saying,
one of the things we observed on campus is that sometimes people want to help,
they want to be an ally,
but they just don't know how
and then they are hesitant or afraid to ask.
The conference included panelists and keynote speakers that included UN D
faculty and staff and nationally recognized authorities on disability advocacy.
The conference offered panels on people's experience with disabilities
and informational sessions on resources available on campus.
The first keynote speaker was Haley Ross Florida's first autistic attorney.
Having disabled people involved in all aspects of the conference is a big deal
from planning to having disabled speakers and showing a
film by a professor who is a wheelchair user,
sharing her experience and story of how she navigates around the campus.
All panels and keynotes.
With the exception of an asynchronous keynote were available both
in person and online and included a sl interpreters,
human generated closed captions and audio descriptions of the event.
Valentine said that plans for a just ask 2025 are already in motion
with an emphasis on expanding participation and accessibility.
Valentine hopes conferences just as just ask will
continue to open doors for accessibility and solidarity
with people with disabilities in the future.
Our last story is nearly half
of employees fear requesting disability accommodations
in 2023 22.5% of people with a disability were employed.
This is the highest rate since data began being collected in 2008.
Inclusively is an online hiring platform that empowers companies
to improve productivity
and retention. While fostering inclusive workplaces,
they help employers adopt a universal approach to
accommodations that easily integrate into existing operations.
In a recent survey, inclusively surveyed 9000 employees and job seekers.
544 people responded to this survey
while the Americans With Disabilities
Act prevents discrimination based on disability
and allows for reasonable accommodations to be made for disabled employees.
While in the workplace,
this survey revealed that 43% of disabled employees do
not feel safe asking for accommodations in the workplace.
The survey showed that half 55% of job seekers cited mental
health conditions as a top reason for needing accommodations at work.
49% identified as having a
learning disability like a DH D
or other neurodiversity.
Nearly 60% of respondents cited accommodations as critical to workplace success.
Yet more than half 56% do not disclose their requirements.
77% said they would like to be able to assess what
might be available to them through using an anonymous tool.
Some suggestions were given as the result of this survey.
One and perhaps most important is that employers need to be
more open and transparent about what the actual job responsibilities are.
For example, if you're not required to do any lifting on the job.
Something like being required to lift 25 pounds
just should not be listed in the job description
or if you are required to do some lifting on the job.
The statement can be edited to say something to the
effect of required to lift 25 pounds with assistance.
This can show a potential job seeker who may have a disability
that prevents them from lifting, that they will not have to lift on their own.
They can receive some assistance.
Another common phrase on job applications is required
to stand for a certain period of time.
The way that statement is written does not say that you can sit.
It says that you have to stand, you're required to stand
if the job does require staying in one location for a certain period of time,
that phrase can be written to say something like required to stand
or sit in one location for an extended period of time.
Surveys like this are so important and must
continue to be done on even larger scales.
Having this feedback is valuable to companies and employers as it can
inform them of how they can improve their workplaces to be more
inclusive and to be a safe space where their disabled employees feel
comfortable voicing their need for accommodations
that will improve their job performance.
This has been the disability news report. Thanks for watching
is the disability news report with host Arthur Aston.