Webinar sponsors: The Cornell University Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Employer Practices Related to the Employment Outcomes Among Individuals with Disabilities (Employer Practices RRTC) and Employer Assistance and Resource Network (EARN).

Click here to register.

At this webinar:

• Learn what more than 500 individuals with disabilities told us about the disclosure decision
• Explore inclusion best practices based on 2011 data collected through a partnership between the Employment and Disability Institute at Cornell University's ILR School and the American Association of People with Disabilities
• Understand disclosure's complexities and big-picture implications with Sarah von Schrader and Susanne Bruy;ère of Cornell's Employment and Disability Institute

helps creative people and businesses run their own subscription programs.

Start and run ‘of-the-month’ clubs, quarterly art projects and more!

Interesting model.

The Institute for Community Based Research Education and Evaluation (ICBREE) is an initiative of the Ann Arbor Center for Independent Living, whose overall objective is to make available to communities the vast knowledge generated by universities and by community members, in order to increase the quality of life for persons with disabilities, our families, and the communities in which we live.

Current Projects of the ICBREE include:

The Program for Investment in Micro Entrepreneurs (PRIME) Research:  Year 3

With our grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration our PRIME project for year three will focus on discovering, testing and evaluating sector-specific best practices that will help socially and economically disadvantaged entrepreneurs in the United States gain access to new markets that will result in new customers. Specifically, we will focus on the following sectors:

• Arts & crafts micro enterprises
• Home-based child care businesses
• Construction/lawn care businesses
• Specialty food production operations
• Jewelry/gifts micro enterprises

Typically product design is a corporate-dominated market, but Kickstarter products were made by real people we met in homemade videos. In project updates they shared the thrills of achievement and the headaches of learning-as-you-go. Backing a product was as much an experience as it was making a purchase. The process was part of the reward.

When product design was a hit, it was a hit — more than 30 product design projects raised six figures in 2011. Coffee lovers marveled at the Coffee Joulies. Filmmakers rallied around CineSkates. The Camera Capture Clip found support from thousands of photographers. The Revolights and TiGr were hits with bicyclists. The PadPivot landed in Best Buy. Windowfarms made anyone an urban farmer.

Designers with off-beat products also made an impact. There were wooden desktop trebuchets, a three-stringed guitar, and an annual clock. People backed jellyfish tanks, imaginary marching bands, physical GIFs, LPs lasercut into 3D dinosaur puzzles, and an alert system for the International Space Station. The Design category was anything but predictable.

The SSI Asset Limit Reform Coalition

The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Asset Limit Reform Coalition was established by CFED and the following national and state disability organizations:

World Institute on Disability (WID)

The National Council on Independent Living (NCIL)

The National Disability Institute (NDI)

The Center for Financial Independence & Innovation (CFII)

Maryland Coalition for Inclusive Education (MCIE)

We support legislation that would reform the asset test of the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. The current limit is $2,000 ($3,000 for couples) and has never been indexed for inflation, discouraging millions of SSI recipients working, opening bank accounts and/or building a nest egg and thus limiting their financial security.

Asset limit tests should be reformed to encourage recipients to work, build savings that help sustain a higher quality of life and save for emergencies and to pursue post‐secondary education, homeownership and retirement. Congress should reform the asset test in the SSI program:

• Raise the asset limit and index it for inflation;
• For individuals under 65, exclude $50,000 in retirement savings ($75,000 for a couple) from inclusion in the asset test and exclude Education Savings Accounts and Individual Development Accounts;
• For individuals age 65 or older, exclude up to $10,000 in retirement savings ($15,000 for a couple) and disregard one-third of the funds drawn down from retirement accounts when calculating household income;
• Remove the requirement that SSI recipients, if eligible, must apply for periodic payments from their retirement savings;

For more information, please contact Inemesit Imoh, Federal Policy Associate, at iimoh@cfed.org or 202-207-0135.

Join/Sign Up

Yes, I have read the above mission statement and want my organization/company added as a member of the SSI Asset Limit Reform Coalition.

See http://goo.gl/Hcpx6 to sign up

The Obama administration wants to use the power of the federal pocketbook to dramatically increase hiring of people with disabilities.

Under a proposed rule announced Thursday by officials at the U.S. Department of Labor, the government would set a goal that at least 7 percent of workers employed by most federal contractors be individuals with disabilities.

Government officials are hailing the effort as one of the most significant civil rights developments since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990.

Thanks and a hat tip to Yasmina B.

FMS Membership Offering Coming Soon!

Beginning in January 2012, we will offer a new membership track for financial management services (FMS) providers serving participant-directed programs.  

 

FMS membership benefits will include access to issue briefs, webinars, and the opportunity to contribute to a FMS industry code of standards and provide feedback to key federal stakeholders including the IRS. 

We are now accepting applications for FMS membership.  Program membership is also open for new state agency members.  Please contact us to express your interest in either of our membership tracks.

This seminar is designed for individuals who are considering self-employment, or are at the beginning stages of starting a business. You will be introduced to the key characteristics of successful business ownership, and what it takes to start and run a thriving business. Plus, you will be provided with available resources to help launch new ventures in Michigan. Get focused, motivated and ready to go!

The MEDC runs Shifting Gears as career-transition program for professionals. The program allows seasoned corporate professionals to pursue opportunities in business growth sectors, where they can leverage their knowledge and experience in new ways. As the culmination of their experience, Shifting Gears participants are required to provide 80 hours of free internship service to an organization that submits an internship position. Learn more about Shifting Gears and how your organization can benefit from a Shifting Gears intern. 

Here's the unemployment rate for young veterans (16.6%, for vets up to 34).   Note: from what I can tell from this Business Week analysis, they are using the weak measure of unemployment (not the one used during the Great Depression).