Community-Based Organizations
Ways to Strengthen Your Role
Posted below are activities and resources that can help you prepare for or strengthen your role as a Disability Resource Coordinator, case manager, or community specialist helping youth with disabilities find employment.
Resources, Tools & Tips
Professional Development on Social Security Administration Benefits
Learn about important topics related to public benefits. Relevant resources are posted below.
SSA Red Book | Resources to Assist Youth With the Transition to a Successful Adulthood | Social Security Administration
Overview of Social Security Work Incentive Programs and Rules | Social Security Administration
Disability Benefits and Transition Age Youth | Virginia Commonwealth University
SSI and SSDI, Public Health Insurance, and Other Public Benefits | New York State Education Department
Ticket to Work | Social Security Administration
Social Security Disability Insurance vs. Supplemental Security Income | Tom M. Berk, Esq.
Ticket to Work | Workforce GPS
Administrative Employment Network | Ticket to Work | New York State Employment Services System
Understanding WIOA
Explore these programs, partners, and resources.
Understanding WIOA | National Disability Institute
Disability Resources for WIOA Practitioners | WorkforceGPS
New York State Employment Services System (NYESS) | New York State
Communication and Courtesy for People with Disabilities
Learn appropriate and inclusive ways to talk to and about people with disabilities.
Use People-First Language | The Employer Assistance and Resource Network on Disability Inclusion (EARN)
Disability Etiquette: Tips on Interacting with People with Disabilities | United Spinal Association
30-Second Trainings that Address Job Center Access | Workforce GPS
Understanding Transitioning
Understanding youth development and what youth with disabilities need to transition to adulthood successfully.
Guideposts for Success | U.S. Department of Labor
Transition Planning and Services for Students with Disabilities | New York State Education Department
Transition Source | New York State Education Department
Community Mapping
Familiarize yourself with ideal partners to your organization.
Map My Community | Youth.gov
Disability Resources | Justice Center
Adult Career & Continuing Education Services-Vocational Rehabilitation (ACCES-VR) | New York State Education
National Disability Institute and Hands-on Banking Ten-Minute Training Series on Resource Mapping:
Networking
- Develop relationships with schools, workforce development organizations, social service agencies, and Vocational Rehabilitation centers.
- Attend conferences.
- Host partnership forums. These bring key decision-makers from multiple service systems together to collaborate on strategies to support the achievement of employment outcomes for job seekers with disabilities.
- Share peer-to-peer recommendations of helpful contacts.
Learning the Best Strategies to Braid Funds
Neither schools, nor workforce development programs, human service agencies, or any other single system alone can pay for and provide the array of services needed to effectively meet the often complex needs of youth with disabilities. When collectively pooled, however, these resources can produce positive outcomes for youth, well beyond the scope of what any single system can hope to mobilize on its own.
(National Governors’ Association, 2004)
Blending and Braiding Funds and Resources: The Intermediary as Facilitator | NCWD
Blended and Braided Funding: A Guide for Policy Makers and Practitioners | Association of Government Accountants Intergovernmental Partnership
Using Braided Funding Strategies to Advance Employer Hiring Initiatives that Include People with Disabilities | National Technical Assistance and Research Center to Promote Leadership for Increasing the Employment and Economic Independence of Adults with Disabilities