Mark Shriver, PhD, is the director of the Munroe-Meyer Institute University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities.
October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month.
However, the Munroe-Meyer Institute (MMI) University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) is active throughout the year facilitating efforts in Nebraska to provide employment for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. These efforts require collaboration and partnerships to produce meaningful outcomes. One of the primary roles of the UCEDD is to serve as the liaison between the university and community on issues regarding disabilities. I highlight some of our partnerships below in our role as liaison with a particular emphasis on employment and disability.
Our employment services liaison, Saige Vohs, has been active coordinating the UNMC/Nebraska Medicine Project Search program with our partners including Madonna Schools, Omaha Public Schools, Sodexo, Nebraska Vocational Rehabilitation, Nebraska Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired, The Assistive Technology Partnership and the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. We have nine interns in the program this year, all of whom are in their final year of transition services and receiving valuable work experience that will substantially increase their chances of meaningful employment in the future.
Vohs also is active with the Nebraska State Independent Living Council Committee on Employment, which includes representatives from independent living centers, other disability agencies and organizations and self-advocates in Nebraska seeking to improve opportunities for employment for individuals with disabilities.
UCEDD faculty member Rachel Ray directs the Trailblazer program, which is an inclusive college experience program for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The Trailblazer program is a partnership with the University of Nebraska Omaha and housed at the Weitz Community Engagement Center. The success of this program is highlighted by the recent employment of two of the students at MMI — one working part-time as a concierge and the other working full-time with toy cleaning for our clinical services.
In addition, Ray has developed partnerships with local school districts to provide a College and Career Exploration Program for students. This program builds valuable employment skills such as interviewing, resume writing, job shadowing and mentoring on employability skills. We have expanded this program to include contracts with school districts to provide transition programming at MMI, including experience learning environmental services and office skills. We are serving more than 60 students a week through these programs. School partners with these programs include Westside District 66, Millard Public Schools and Papillion-LaVista Public Schools. Ray and her team also are working with the Nebraska Department of Labor to develop certificate programs for individuals with disabilities which we hope to offer this next year.
The MMI UCEDD has also partnered with more than 20 other disability organizations in Nebraska to offer monthly webinar on topics of importance to those with disabilities. This week, there are three days of webinars provided on topics specific to disability employment:
- Oct. 26 – Presentation on "Medicaid Insurance for Workers with Disabilities, Medicaid Expansion, and Social Security Work Incentives."
- Oct. 27 – Presentation on "Person-Centered Planning (PCP) and Virtual Reality Implementation of PCP."
- Oct. 28 – Presentation on "Supported Employment."
The webinars will be held each day from 1-2:30 p.m. CDT. Registration is required for each day. Click here to register. CART and ASL will be available.