PolicyWorks is collaborating with others to develop and fund several on-going initiatives. These collaborative Initiatives include:
Replication and Dissemination of the outstanding “Professional Development and Disability” curriculum. Developed by Paul Hippolitus, this curriculum guides students with disabilities through the process of looking for career path employment. The University of California/ Berkeley (UCB) also has a partnership with California Department of Rehabilitation (DOR) to provide internships. PolicyWorks and San Diego State University are partnering with UCB and Paul to gain acceptance of this course and this approach on all university campuses throughout California.
Mentoring within the Independent Living Community. PolicyWorks is working with the National Council on Independent Living’s (NCIL) subcommittee on Employment- Social Security to encourage the use of mentoring and peer mentoring as strategies to support individuals with disabilities in their efforts to connect to jobs and careers. The Committee and PolicyWorks have partnered and will present a session on this topic at the national NCIL conference in July 2013.
Work on Social Security and Disability Employment Issues. PolicyWorks is partnering with the World Institute on Disability (WID) to explore both the policy issues related to Social Security Disability programs and employment and are also working to identify best practices in employment. Through WID’s leadership on the NCIL Employment and Social Security subcommittee, we worked together to develop a half day pre-conference session for the NCIL Annual Conference. The session entitled: Employment Policy and Practice: The Challenge for NCIL’s Next Generation had over 200 attendees and focused on an innovative pilot project that WID developed and NCIL is supporting. This project initiative is called ACCESS: Adult Coaching, Counseling and Educations Support Services and is designed to increase the employment of young people 18-30 who are receiving Supplemental Social Security income from SSA.
For more information about this initiative: Access Pilot Project