The Virginia Board for People with Disabilities (VBPD) is pleased to announce that it recently awarded a $339,680 grant to the Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services (DARS) to increase provider capacity for delivering customized employment (CE) services to individuals with disabilities in unserved and/or underserved areas of the Commonwealth. DARS anticipates funding up to six Employment Service Organizations (ESOs) to participate in the grant project, whose staff will undergo customized employment certification training. DARS will also partner with the consulting firm Griffin-Hammis Associates, which will provide ongoing proficiency mentoring services to staff of the participating ESOs so that employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities are improved.
“The Board is delighted to collaborate with DARS on this project, designed to provide ESOs with the tools they need to provide customized employment services to individuals with disabilities,” said Teri Morgan, the VBPD’s Executive Director. “This project focuses on expanding and supporting best-practice CE service delivery so that participating ESOs can provide customized employment as a core service to individuals with disabilities in unserved or underserved areas of Virginia. We have the highest confidence in DARS and its partner Griffin-Hammis Associates to improve employment outcomes for individuals with developmental and other disabilities.”
“We’re excited to partner with the Virginia Board for People with Disabilities,” said Donna Bonessi, the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services’ Director of Employment Services and Special Programs. “This customized employment grant aims to address the needs of individuals identified by vocational rehabilitation counselors as needing CE to be successful in employment and facilitate the transition of CE from a pilot program to an established core service within the state’s employment support framework. This project will also expand on the work that DARS is doing through the EPIC project to ensure that customized employment services are available to all individuals with developmental disabilities throughout the Commonwealth.”
The Virginia Board for People with Disabilities (VBPD) serves as the Developmental Disabilities Council for the Commonwealth of Virginia.