Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act

Treva Roanhorse and Paula Seanez from the Navajo Nation Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services Program will present on the Navajo VR program’s involvement with the ICI Learning Collaborative, and their work on using Motivational Interviewing techniques with clients. MI incorporates strong beliefs, values and practices of Native people by forming partnership with clients. A foundation of Navajo culture includes not only the individual but the family and community.

This ExploreVR webinar will focus on how Missouri has developed a collaborative partnership between vocational rehabilitation and workforce development. Yvonne Wright, the director of business outreach and workforce development at Missouri Vocational Rehabilitation, will discuss how the partnership was established, how it has evolved, and the positive effects it has had in serving the dual customer.

In Part 2 of this ExploreVR webinar, Mark Harniss and Maria Kelley from the University of Washington Center for Technology and Disability Studies will provide an overview of the types of assistive technologies available to support adults with learning disabilities in reading and writing. 

In Part 1 of this ExploreVR webinar, Mark Harniss and Maria Kelley from the University of Washington Center for Technology and Disability Studies will describe the demographics of learning disabilities in the U.S. and will provide information about using assistive technology (AT) as an accommodation for adults with learning disabilities.

This ExploreVR webinar will provide information about sector strategies and how they can assist VR agencies—including leaders, administrators, and counselors—in building resources for demand-driven employment opportunities for their job seekers. A sector strategy approach is a partnership of multiple employers within a critical industry that brings together education, economic development, workforce system, and community organizations to identify and collaboratively meet the workforce needs of that industry within a regional labor market. 

This ExploreVR webinar will provide an overview of business engagement competencies outlined in the ExploreVR Business Engagement Toolkit. Presenters will discuss three key competencies of VR business engagement:

1. Labor market needs
2. Communication strategies
3. Internal management strategies

This ExploreVR webinar is for current and future VR leaders who want to discuss leadership-level engagement in the VR agencies' use of Labor Market Information (LMI). This topic is increasingly important given the passage of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA).

Topics include:

Vocational rehabilitation counselors (VRCs) play an essential role in facilitating reasonable accommodation outcomes between job-seekers/employees and employers. In individual cases, the VRC can help build the job-seeker/employee’s confidence in requesting reasonable accommodation. For employers making commitments toward more diverse and inclusive workplaces, the VRC can serve as a collaborative partner to meet those goals. 

Vocational rehabilitation counselors (VRCs) play an essential role in facilitating reasonable accommodation outcomes between job-seekers/employees and employers. In individual cases, the VRC can help build the job-seeker/employee’s confidence in requesting reasonable accommodation. For employers making commitments toward more diverse and inclusive workplaces, the VRC can serve as a collaborative partner to meet those goals. 

This webinar will feature two presenters, Kathy Powers, Vice-President of Services at ORION Industries in Auburn, WA, and and Kelly Walling, Partner Resources Associate Sr. at the Carson Valley Roasting Plant & Distribution Center, one of Starbucks Coffee Company’s largest plants in Carson City, NV.