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Disability
and Employment - Vocational Rehabilitation: Where Partners Create
Careers - Strategies provided on the following topic:
Strategy: Recruiting
and Retaining Valuable Employees at Colleges and Universities: The
Partnership Approach
Presenters: Debbie Clemons, Employer
Development Coordinator, Alabama Division of Rehabilitation Services;
Richard D. Hellings, Disability Employment Specialist, RAVE Program,
HRM Employee Relations, University of
Alabama; Peggy Anderson, Coordinator of Employer Services, Alabama
Division of Rehabilitation Services
Contact: 236 Goodwin Crest Drive,
Homewood, AL 35219
Phone: (205) 290 4452
Fax: (205) 290 0486
dclemons@rehab.state.al.us
Facilitator: Janette Shell
Since the late 1970’s the Alabama
Department of Rehabilitation Services (ADRS) has had an ongoing
partnership with the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), which is
the largest single-site employer in the state of Alabama. That
partnership has evolved from many ADRS counselors contacting many
department heads and “personnel”…. To a single account rep making
referral of consumers… to many diverse employment initiative. UAB also
serves on the ADRS Board and is helping to spearhead the development of
a budding Business Leadership Network (BLN) in Alabama, with ADRS
servicing as the behind-the scenes partner. This unique partnership
includes the following innovative programs and services:
Single Account Representative:
Early on, UAB and ADRS established a single point of contact at ADRS, to
coordinate and streamline the process of referrals and exchange of
information.
Delivery of Full Scope of Customized
Employer Services: ADRS cultivated their reputation of providing a
wide scope of disability employment services, including: recruiting,
technical assistance, accessibility reviews, & disability management.
See Program: The SEE Program
(Short-Term Employment Experiences) is a formal agreement between UAB
and ADRS for pre-hire job exploration and training. This program allows
both the employer and the consumer the opportunity to learn more about
each other prior to hire.
Shared Position (Disability
Specialist): In the past year, UAB and ADRS jointly funded a unique
position in the Human Resources Management department UAB to coordinate
all of the joint programs. The position serves as an in-house,
disability specialist for UAB and full service, vocational
rehabilitation counselor for ADRS.
RAVE Program: The RAVE (Retaining
A Valued Employee) Program, through timely and aggressive intervention,
assists university employees whose job is affected by physical or mental
impairments. The advantage of an on-site coordinator, is the ability to
quickly and appropriately resolve the job retention issues both the
employer and employee/consumer.
Transitional Return to Work
Opportunities: This service provides the employee/consumer with an
opportunity to return to work, in a short-term transitional assignment
until they are able to return to their original position. The employer
benefits by having the consumer return to work in a more structured
assignment than traditional, light duty. The consumer can receive wage
supplements through ADRS to help offset any difference in their
temporary income.
Practice Effectiveness: At the
present rate, UAB recruits more than two hundred, job-ready ADRS
consumers per year and almost one quarter of these recruits find some
form of competitive employment. Occupational areas in which ADRS
consumers have been successfully placed include: healthcare
professionals, clerical, maintenance/service, and administration. Their
disabilities include: sensory impairment, developmental disabilities,
CP, TBI, MS, DM, drug/alcohol dependence, and various types of mental
illness. The SEE Program has been effective in providing extensive,
pre-employment, training opportunities. As colleges and universities
embrace business-style practices, creative disability management becomes
increasingly more attractive.
Documented Impact on All Partners:
Consumers directly benefit from job exploration and job training of the
SEE Program. The RAVE Program helps consumers retain their job through
timely intervention by ADRS & UAB. By coordinating the work of the
single account rep. And the disability specialist position gives the
employer a cost effective tool to prescreen recruits, a resource for
disability management, and augments affirmation action.
Replicability: Institutes
of higher learning are a unique type of employer, and are found in every
Vocational Rehabilitation region. By developing a partnership, including
acknowledging employers’ needs and offering a full scope of customized
services, agencies can easily and effectively replicate these with
colleges and universities in their home area.
Next
Strategy : The
Manpower - VR Partnership: A Bridge to Successful Employment |