October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month, and Central Minnesota Jobs & Training Services (CMJTS) is helping people with disabilities find employment.

 

In 2015, CMJTS was awarded a  $670,000 Adult Disability Employment Initiative (DEI) Grant, which came to a close March 31 of this year.

 

CMJTS was also awarded a $450,000 Youth DEI Grant that runs until March 31, 2020.

 

“The grant focuses on serving youth with disabilities and helping improve employment opportunities for them,” says Tera Brooks, DEI Resource Coordinator with CMJTS. “The emphasis is on youth 14 to 24 years of age with physical or non-physical disabilities, chronic health conditions and youth of diverse populations.”

 

At CMJTS, youth first go through an application process and are enrolled into the youth program. The Disability Education Initiative services are an enhancement within that program.

 

Brooks says under the grant, youth are evaluated using Guideposts for Success, a way to identify what types of school experiences and work-based experiences they have and where they may need additional assistance.

 

One unique part of the process in an integrated resource team meeting. 

 

“It’s a participant-driven meeting. They decide who should be at the meeting, and they talk about the goals they want to achieve,” says Brooks. “Sometimes when other people are conducting a meeting, that person’s needs or goals aren’t always being heard.”

 

CMJTS works with employers to find job opportunities based on the skills and experience of the youth.

 

“We want to focus on each individual. They’re a person first. We’re not trying to focus only on their disability,” says Brooks. “We want to develop an employment plan based on the person’s strengths.”

 

She says there is a lot of growth and demand for workers in healthcare, retail, manufacturing, accommodation and food services. And CMJTS already has a long history of working with employers for placement.

 

In the case of finding a job for youth with disabilities, Brooks says it’s the same way they would with any other person.

 

“We approach businesses like we would for anyone else. It’s not my place to disclose that someone necessarily has a disability,”she says. “I would tell them what the individual’s strengths are, and we try to make the connection where it would a good fit for the participant to gain work skills.”

 

For the most part, employers have been pretty receptive.

 

“There are still employers out there who don’t necessarily have the time or resources to work with youth,” she says.

 

But there are plenty of success stories about placing youth in work experiences. They recently placed a youth in a local business.

 

“It’s a really nice work environment. The supervisor provides a lot of support and the youth is really excelling there,” says Brooks.

 

CMJTS is also working with Parent Advocacy Coalition for Educational Rights (PACER), an organization that helps support parents of children with disabilities.

They provide education and resources for parents,” says Brooks.

 

For more information about the DEI Program,  contact Brooks at 763-710-0999 or by email tbrooks@cmjts.org.

 

To learn more about National Disability Employment Awareness Month, check the NDEAM website.

 

Brooks also wants to remind everyone about PACER’s Unity Day, Oct. 24. It’s a day set aside to unite against bullying. Organizations and schools have joined in the fight. Everyone who participates will be wearing orange to show they believe all youth should be safe from bullying.