Governor Kaine Announces Grant to Promote Hiring of Individuals with Disabilities
– Initiative will encourage employment, partnerships –
RICHMOND – Governor Timothy M. Kaine today announced a two-year, $244,000 grant to Virginia Commonwealth University’s Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (VCU-RRTC) to promote public-private partnerships that will result in the employment of at least 20 individuals with disabilities by state government. The initiative, approved by the Virginia Board for People with Disabilities (VBPD), also includes training for rehabilitation professionals to develop more effective partnerships with private-sector staffing organizations that will increase employment opportunities for people with disabilities.
The Board authorized a $244,000 grant comprised of federal funding from the U.S. Health and Human Services Department, and VCU-RRTC will provide an additional $82,000 in matching cash and in-kind support. The project will include training for approximately 400 rehabilitation professionals in community-based programs, employment agencies, and staffing companies in the greater Richmond area to identify appropriate job opportunities, develop referral procedures, recruit applicants with disabilities, and place those applicants in temporary jobs with potential to become permanent. Training in working with qualified on-site employment coaches, disability awareness, communications issues, and other job accommodations will also be provided.
“Improved employment opportunities for our citizens with disabilities can have a profound impact not only for these individuals and their families and caregivers, but also for those who work alongside them,” Governor Kaine said. “We should encourage additional state hiring of employees with disabilities not just because it is the right thing to do, but also because state government can serve as a role model for other public and private employers.”
Governor Kaine’s Special Advisor on Disability Issues, Ed Turner – a training associate with VCU-RRTC and the 2005 recipient of the Board’s Jackie Crews Award for Excellence in Leadership – will play a principal role in the project’s implementation.
For more information about the Virginia Board for People with Disabilities, its grant-funding, and other activities, please visit the Board’s website at www.vaboard.org, or contact the Board at info@vbpd.virginia.gov, 1-800-846-4464 (Toll-free, Voice/TDD), 804-786-1118 (Fax), or write to 202 N. 9th Street, 9th Floor, Richmond, VA 23219.
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