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KentuckyWorks Website Launches Today to Empower Youth with Disabilities to Reach Their Potential!
We’re excited to announce the launch of our new website and first learning module for teachers, youth with disabilities, employers, families, and employment professionals at kentuckyworks.org! The purpose of this website is to help navigate the transition process and find the most valuable transition resources in Kentucky and nationwide to make sure youth with disabilities can get jobs and higher education after they finish school.
You can also read about employment success stories in Kentucky and find out tips for helping all people with disabilities learn work skills, find jobs and flourish. We have resources available for families and youth embarking on this journey and the educators and employment specialists alongside them.
The youth section of the website is also written be accessible for people with intellectual disabilities with an accessible reading level, resource content with an audio button, and photos. In addition, the website can adjust to the size of any screen, and you can create a shortcut on your phone or tablet to access the website like an app.
Free Transition Training Available Now
We are also pleased to share Transition 101, (kentuckyworks.org/modules) which is an online module overview of the current status of employment outcomes for youth with the most significant disabilities in Kentucky. This module reviews the key steps in the transition process itself, the legal requirements and the roles of each agency, types of employment (competitive, supported, and customized), and the development of measurable post-secondary goals for transition-age youth. The module has a series of guiding questions, with interactive questions interspersed throughout. We anticipate that we will soon offer professional development/continuing education credits to educators, VR counselors, and DD case managers/providers who successfully complete the training
What is KentuckyWorks?
KentuckyWorks is a partnership program between the Human Development Institute and the KY Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR), KY Department of Education, Special Education Cooperatives, KY Division of Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities, KY Protection & Advocacy, KY Office for the Blind, Commonwealth Council on Developmental Disabilities, KY Office of Autism, and the KY Autism Training Center. The University of Kentucky’s Human Development Institute (HDI), along with our partner agencies, has received a five-year Partnership in Employment Systems Change grant from the US Administration for Community Living. The grant will help students with the most significant disabilities transition from school to meaningful employment or postsecondary education in their communities. This state-level intervention will impact students at the most critical point – their final years of school.
The over-arching goal of our Partnership is to increase positive post-school outcomes (integrated employment; participation in post-secondary education; or both) for students with the most significant disabilities in our state by 20 percentage points over the five years of this grant! If we work together, we can do this!
Stay up to date by following the KentuckyWorks Facebook Page
You can also follow us on Facebook to stay informed about new modules, upcoming employment events, stories about employment/college and disabilities, and share ideas with others.
