Across Virginia’s workforce system, partner agencies are engaged in operationalizing several workforce initiatives stemming from grants obtained from the federal government for specific workforce innovations. These grants include:
- The Disability Employment Initiative Grants (The Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services, the Virginia Employment Commission, Virginia’s Community College System, and five Local Workforce Development Boards)
- The Veterans’ Demonstration Grant (Virginia’s Community College System, the Virginia Employment Commission, and the Department of Veterans’ Services)
- Local Apprenticeship Grants (Shenandoah Valley Workforce Region, the Department of Labor and Industry, and Virginia’s Community College System)
- The Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services and the Department of the Blind and Vision Impaired jointly received a RSA funded CPID grant The grant collaborates with multiple workforce partners including adult education and two local workforce boards, other DOL grants and the Virginia Manufacturers Association to enhance employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities. project goals include helping individuals with disabilities acquire marketable skills and credentials that enable them to secure competitive integrated employment in high-demand, high-quality occupations; enhancing the capacity of existing career pathways programs in Virginia to effectively serve individuals with disabilities; (Page 88)
Manufacturers Association to enhance employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities. project goals include helping individuals with disabilities acquire marketable skills and credentials that enable them to secure competitive integrated employment in high-demand, high-quality occupations; enhancing the capacity of existing career pathways programs in Virginia to effectively serve individuals with disabilities; enhancing access to and use of existing career pathways in selected occupational clusters (including advanced manufacturing) by individuals with disabilities. (Page 98)
- The Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services and the Department of the Blind and Vision Impaired jointly received a RSA funded CPID grant The grant collaborates with multiple workforce partners including adult education and two local workforce boards, other DOL grants and the Virginia Manufacturers Association to enhance employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities. project goals include helping individuals with disabilities acquire marketable skills and credentials that enable them to secure competitive integrated employment in high-demand, high-quality occupations; enhancing the capacity of existing career pathways programs in Virginia to effectively serve individuals with disabilities; enhancing access to and use of existing career pathways in selected occupational clusters (including advanced manufacturing) by individuals with disabilities. (Page 103)
DARS is actively engaged at both the state and local level in the Workforce Development System. DARS is represented on the state Career Pathways Workgroup which advises the Governor’s Office and Workforce Board on the Workforce System issues and participates on the WIOA implementation team. A memorandum of understanding is in place with each Local Workforce Development Board and DARS works closely with the American Job Centers to assure access to individuals with disabilities. The VR program currently is co–located as a One–Stop partner in Charlottesville, Roanoke, Martinsville, Danville and South Boston. DARS also has a physical presence in other Workforce Board AJC’s. DARS is directly involved with both the state Workforce partners and local AJC’s in the Department of Labor Disability Employment Initiative grant and is lead on an RSA Career Pathways for Individuals with Disabilities grant. In the coming year, DARS will support training on career counseling, motivational interviewing as well as Customized Employment for our workforce partners. (Page 272)
Provide training and implement seven (one per District) teams to pilot and implement Customized Employment across Virginia.
Educate our VR counselors, vocational evaluators, consumers, and their parents (as applicable) on the current and future labor market, the availability of competitively–waged jobs and the skills needed to obtain those jobs.
Implement the Career Pathways grant to include the use of motivational interviewing techniques with our VR consumers.
Implement the five year Career Pathways for Individuals with Disabilities (CPID) model demonstration program to create new career pathways and/or use existing career pathways in high–demand occupations. (Page 289)
WWRC has formalized its evolving partnership with the DARS Business Development Managers to connect classrooms to workplace standards and expectations and modify curriculum to increase the likelihood of successful placements for training graduates, with long–term retention opportunities. This has resulted in the development of several collaborative workforce initiatives with industry professional organizations and corporate networks directly benefitting VR consumer employment goals. The Hershey model is one example of this, with other corporate bodies expressing interest in replication within their organizations. The DARS partnership with the Hershey apprenticeship program offered individuals with disabilities a six–month work experience on the production line. During the apprenticeship, DARS clients could access any needed supports from WWRC to help them complete the program as long as they were able to perform the required duties at the end of the six months. During FFY 2015, an evolving partnership with CVS Health resulted in the set–up of a mock store within WWRC Materials Handling Training Program to prepare VR consumers for direct employment and career pathways within the CVS Health System across the Commonwealth of Virginia. CVS Health donated all supplies and equipment for the mock store and worked with WWRC Instructors to refine the curriculum and develop community internships to prepare students to work in the CVS Health System. (Page 298)
To enhance and facilitate job–readiness skills and career planning for students to make a successful transition from school to work and to greater independence, students will be referred to DBVI Workforce Specialists and to Community Rehabilitation Providers (CRPs) (also known in Virginia as Employment Services Organizations (ESOs)). Workforce Specialists will complement pre–employment transition services by delivering workplace readiness training to establish skills necessary for entry into career pathways, competitive integrated employment, and by coordinating with schools and networking with employers to establish paid and unpaid internships, including apprenticeships, specifically matched to the student’s needs, skills, interests, abilities, and informed choice. Transition services purchased from CRPs may also include On–The–Job support and extended support services for students and youth needing additional supports in the work experience setting or on the job. (Page 331)
DBVI will conduct a monthly training program designed to ensure that new and seasoned VRCs and Regional Managers have a 21st Century understanding of the evolving labor force and the needs of individuals with disabilities. To facilitate this learning, DBVI will continue its Video Teleconferencing– based program entitled, ”Making a Difference” (MAD), which is conducted on a monthly basis by trainers, internal and external to the agency. Topics include a broad range of subjects including, but not limited to, the use of vocational evaluations, job placement, rehabilitation technology, vocational counseling, the Business Enterprise program, Social Security and Ticket to Work program, Virginia Rehabilitation Center for the Blind and Vision Impaired changes and summer programs, update information regarding Workforce Development activities, utilization of Career Pathways, Medicaid Waivers, Supported Employment, review of the VR eligibility process, ethics, conflict management, self–employment, and the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014. During FFY 2016, (Page 339)
- Expanding and enhancing workforce development activities to develop and maintain effective working relationships with Virginia business and industry at the local, regional, and state level to develop partnerships that facilitate industry recognized credential attainment, skill development, and entry into career pathways for eligible individuals who are blind, vision impaired, or deafblind leading to competitive integrated employment. (Page 348)
Goals 1 and 2 of DBVI’s six goals identifies strategies and measures that apply to methods to be used to expand and improve services to individuals who are blind, vision impaired, or deafblind.
Goal 1. Expanding and enhancing workforce development activities to develop and maintain effective working relationships with Virginia business and industry at the local, regional, and state level to develop partnerships that facilitate industry recognized credential attainment, skill development, and entry into career pathways for eligible individuals who are blind, vision impaired, or deafblind leading to competitive integrated employment.
Strategy 1.1: To fully engage personnel and financial resources of DBVI’s newly established Workforce Unit to implement business support and outreach services. Personnel in the Workforce Unit include one Workforce Coordinator, four Regional Workforce Specialists, and one Director of Workforce/Vocational Rehabilitation. (Page 354)
Strategy 1.3: To establish and enhance entry into career pathways, DBVI will utilize personnel and funds associated Virginia’s Career Pathways for Individuals with Disabilities Grant which was jointly awarded DBVI and the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services (DARS) in 2015. DBVI will:
- Help individuals with disabilities acquire marketable skills and credentials that enable them to secure competitive integrated employment in high–demand, high–quality occupations;
- Enhance the capacity of existing career pathways programs in Virginia to effectively serve individuals with disabilities;
- Enhance access to and use of existing career pathways in selected occupational clusters (including advanced manufacturing) by individuals with disabilities; and
- Strengthen the alignment of Virginia’s VR programs with the other core programs authorized by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and other Federally–funded career pathways initiatives providing self–advocacy skills training that is critical to the achievement of individuals’ personal and vocational goals. (Page 355)
Strategy 1.3: To establish and enhance entry into career pathways, DBVI will utilize personnel and funds associated Virginia’s Career Pathways for Individuals with Disabilities Grant which was jointly awarded DBVI and the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services (DARS) in 2015. DBVI will:
- help individuals with disabilities acquire marketable skills and credentials that enable them to secure competitive integrated employment in high–demand, high–quality occupations;
- enhance the capacity of existing career pathways programs in Virginia to effectively serve individuals with disabilities;
- enhance access to and use of existing career pathways in selected occupational clusters (including advanced manufacturing) by individuals with disabilities; and
- strengthen the alignment of Virginia’s VR programs with the other core programs authorized by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and other Federally–funded career pathways initiatives providing self–advocacy skills training that is critical to the achievement of individuals’ personal and vocational goals.
Measures: Other first–year activities will include working with the George Washington University (GWU) Center for Rehabilitation Counseling to develop and implement career pathways–focused career counseling training for VR counselors and other workforce professionals that incorporates use of labor market information and motivational interviewing techniques. (Page 362)