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Project WIN: A Systems Change Project to Expand Employment Opportunities for Individuals with Mental and/or Physical Disabilities Who Receive Public SupportProject WIN is a five-year systems change project funded through the United States Department of Education, Rehabilitation Services Administration in 1998 to JFK Partners/UCHSC (University of Colorado Health Sciences Center) and a Consortium of Colorado state agencies in partnership with individuals with disabilities. This Project works to expand employment opportunities for individuals with mental or physical disabilities, or both, who receive public assistance. The Project supports two pilot sites utilizing a Consumer Navigator concept as well as three other innovative and collaborative strategies to achieve the project outcomes of increasing employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities and creating positive systems change through examining work disincentives written into policies, practices and procedures at Federal, State and local levels. Throughout all of these activities, people with disabilities are actively involved. The Stakeholders' Policy Forum (SPF) is the first strategy and is composed of administrative decision-makers from a consortium of six state agencies and individuals with disabilities. The Project is looking at including or expanding the SPF to include SSA, Colorado Developmental Disabilities Planning Council, Colorado's Office of Workforce Development and others as appropriate. The policy forum has identified six major themes of employment barriers. They have identified outcomes for these barriers and have proposed activities to address these barriers in the Colorado Project WIN: Stakeholders' Policy Forum Work Plan 5-11-01. This Work Plan has undergone several revisions and refinements. The Stakeholders' Policy Forum has also spawned several smaller Work Groups that have met to examine specific barriers within systems and to address some of the proposed outcomes and proposed activities identified within the Work Plan. The Consumer Navigator strategy currently involves two pilot sites at two Workforce Centers in Colorado. These employment positions assist individuals with disabilities seeking employment in navigating various systems that provide the services and supports needed to obtain and maintain employment. Navigators are also valuable members of the Stakeholders Policy Forum as they provide an important field level perspective on current barriers to employment. In the spring of 2001, Project WIN, in collaboration with the Colorado Developmental Disabilities Planning Council, awarded two new pilot sites for Community Navigators (based on the Consumer Navigator concept) for transitioning youth in Colorado. The third strategy, creating a Cross-Training /Information Clearinghouse has resulted in a web site. This site has recently undergone a revision to better align the site with Project strategies and activities, with a significant increase in traffic to the site. Other functions in the Information Clearinghouse include: several listservs geared to various Project constituencies, a 1-800 number, quarterly newsletters, and an updated Resource Guide (May 2001, PDF file) to national, state and local resources for individuals with disabilities. In addition to these activities, Project WIN has collaborated with other organizations in Colorado to beam teleconferences from Virginia Commonwealth University and the State Partnership Initiative into distant parts of the state of Colorado. The goal of all of these and future activities is to deliver accurate and timely information to individuals with disabilities, families, employers, providers and agencies. The Project has continued to partner with both state and federal agencies to provide continuing training and information dissemination for front-line office staff at those agencies on topics such as the ADA, the Ticket to Work legislation and how to better serve individuals with disabilities. Staffing Policy Demonstration projects is the final Project WIN strategy. This strategy involves funding specific programs or projects, which work to remove specific barriers to employment. The current demonstration project was briefly mentioned in the Consumer Navigator section and is a collaborative effort with the Colorado Developmental Disabilities Planning Council for two pilot sites utilizing Community Navigators, which are based upon the Consumer Navigator concept. Prior to this, the Project collaborated with Health Care Policy & Financing and other interested individuals/agencies in supporting a Medicaid Buy-In Program and Colorado successfully passed legislation in May 2001 in support of a Medicaid Buy-In. A third demonstration project is a Universal Access project involving several state agency partners. This project is starting in the Pikes Peak (Colorado Springs) Workforce Center and will be replicated at the Mesa County (Grand Junction) Workforce Center and focuses on accessibility of programs, services and technology for individuals with disabilities. Participants in Project WIN are people with disabilities, Colorado Department of Education, Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, Colorado Department of Health and Human Services ( Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, Office of Self-Sufficiency) , Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, and JFK Partners/UCHSC. Major Goals:
Funding Source:Project WIN is supported by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services, Rehabilitation Services Administration, Grant No. H989A980018-00-A. Contact person: Judith Emery, MA Staff: Cordelia Robinson, Ph.D., RN, Principal Investigator
JFK Partners University of Colorado Denver 13121 E. 17th Ave, C234 Aurora, CO 80045
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