Creation of a Personal Profile- Advocates and Job Seekers

Jennifer White, Karen Lee and Tricia Jones-Parkin

Participants in this track will spend the day working through steps to complete a positive personal profile. A profile can be used as a worksheet to help prepare for interviews, or developing goals in Individual Plan for Employment, annual person-centered plan or just as a personal tool to advocate for yourself.  The plan can also assist you in making sure the people supporting you have a clear picture of what your interests, contributions are as well as the support and accommodations you may need.

 

 

Professional Track

 

Jennifer White

Real work for real pay is a goal for most adults. In this session, Jennifer will share examples of how people who were deemed unemployable have become valuable contributing employees as they learned to use technology tools that produce clear concrete visuals to gain awareness of earning/spending choices and reporting about work performance directly to their employer. These same visual tools can be used at home and in the community for higher independence.

 

Rick McAllister

Hawaii is a recipient of the National Expansion of Employment Opportunities Network (NEON) from the US Department of Labor, Office of Disability Employment Policy. The NEON grant aims to increase the state and provider capacity to provide competitive integrated employment supports for people with disabilities. This year, Rick McAllister will be leading a community of practice partnering subject matter experts with providers from Hawaii to build capacity to provide these supports. This session will describe the process Rick will use and lead to helping providers identify if they would like to participate in the community of practice. 

 

 

 

Karen Lee, 

This session will identify how providers of service can use multiple funding sources and services to assist people with disabilities in their journey to competitive integrated employment. Providers, advocates and case managers learn how to use community engagement and employment supports on a trajectory to employment, using short- and long-term strategies and funding mechanisms. 

 

 

 

Tricia Jones-Parkin

Customized employment is a strategy used to identify an employer’s needs and support people with disabilities to discover how their contributions and skills can fill that need.  This session will include stories of successful customized employment journeys and how the staff were trained and mentored to dig deeper to support people to connect with businesses where it made sense and where each person could have opportunities to grow and be at their best.