MA-APSE Employment Matters! Training Event

Employment Matters! Training Event – May 29th

Details and registration information can be found by clicking here

The 8th annual Employment Matters! Training Event presented by Massachusetts APSE, and co-sponsored by the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission is Wednesday May 29th from 9:00 to 4:00 at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester (registration and networking from 8:00 to 9:00). This year’s conference features opening remarks by MRC Commissioner Toni Wolf and a keynote presentation by Randy Pearce. Randy is the founder and President of 2020 Vision Quest. In addition the event will feature 12 breakouts sessions and informational exhibits. Breakout sessions include:

• Employer Chat Room: In this interactive session, corporate sponsors of Work Without Limits and members of Disability:IN Massachusetts, representing some of the state’s leading employers, will offer interactive employer chat circles to continue and deepen the conversation around employer engagement and partnerships.
• Promoting Engagement and Readiness for Job Seekers: This workshop will focus on strategies to increase engagement among job seekers with mental health and other disabilities and how to help them increase their readiness to move forward with making the changes toward employment.
• The Direct Workforce Crisis: What’s the Solution?: Service providers are experiencing unprecedented challenges in attracting high quality staff to provide employment services and supports. This session will examine the strategies for attracting and retaining quality staff that support individual employment and career success.
• Addressing Transportation Challenges with Tools, Advocacy, and Innovation: This session will provide a brief overview of transportation services available in communities around Massachusetts and introduce tools to help individuals and providers find local options. Then we’ll highlight strategies for filling in the gaps.
• Public Policy – Where We’re At and Where We’re Going: Learn about the latest public policy developments at the state and federal level, and how you can get involved to advance employment for all.
• Career Centers and Workforce Development: Partnerships as Key to Success:Learn the latest about how the MassHire and the MassHire career centers are responding to the needs of job seekers with disabilities, and opportunities for partnership.
• Credentials to Careers: This session will explore the array of entry-level employment, credential training and employer driven workforce development strategies that can equip individuals with disabilities to enter the workforce on a pathway to long-term career success.
• A Brief Overview of Social Security Benefits for Individuals with Disabilities: This presentation will review the major differences between Supplemental Security Income and Social Security Disability Insurance and examine how work earnings affect cash benefits and public health insurance Medicaid and/or Medicare.
• Customized Employment – Ya Gotta Believe: Come learn the tricks of the trade and how customized employment has been successfully used especially when working to match jobs to the talents of people with disabilities!
• Achieving the Employment First Standard: A Collaborative Conversation: At this interactive session we will discuss how Employment First has made tremendous progress in Massachusetts and nationally and where we go from here. What defines the TRUE essence of “Employment First?” Where are ideas and practices moving forward, and what needs to change to continue in a positive direction?