Employment

Maine sitting in a wheelchair with a laptop on his lap.
  • Accessible Onboarding: Conveying a Commitment to Inclusion from Day One – A new online resource from the ODEP-funded Employer Assistance and Resource Network on Disability Inclusion (EARN) can help employers both communicate and demonstrate a commitment to accessibility and inclusion during the onboarding process.
  • Disability Inclusive Employment Policy, Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (DIEP RRTC) (2021-2022) Podcast Series. Let’s Get to Work: Reimagining Disability Inclusive Employment Policy.  – Thirteen episodes over two seasons. Season 1. Season 2. Brings guests from the world of disability researchers, policy makers, people with disabilities, to help learn about the latest trends and thinking to advance workforce development and employment policy that produces sustainable economic opportunity for individuals with disabilities.
  • Fostering a Mentally Healthy Workplace (2022) – From the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Disability Employment Policy, a two-page guide about supporting employees’ mental health and workplace well-being.
  • Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Workforce Shortage – Policy brief by the 2022-2023 cohort of New Hampshire-Maine Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (NH-ME LEND) Program Trainees. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), our nation’s special education law, ensures special education and related services to children with disabilities. One in every seven students in the United States receives special education services through the IDEA, requiring a large, highly qualified special education workforce to support students’ rights to a free and appropriate public education (FAPE). Special education personnel shortages and attrition rates negatively affect access to FAPE. These shortages are directly related to inadequate pay and training which, in turn, leads to difficulty in recruiting and retaining interdisciplinary IEP teams.
  • Job Accommodation Network (JAN) – The leading source of free, expert, and confidential guidance on workplace accommodations and disability employment issues. JAN is a service of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy/ODEP.
  • Maine AgrAbility Project – Helps owners, operators, managers, employees, and family members of farm, fishing or forestry businesses to work safely and more productively.
  • Maine Department of Labor, Bureau of Rehabilitation Services, Division of Vocational Rehabilitation – Also known as “VR,” a program that helps people who have disabilities to get and keep a job.
  • Maine Medical Center Department of Vocational Services, Benefits Counseling Services – Certified counselors can help answer questions about work incentives for individuals receiving SSI or SSDI benefits.
  • Maine Medical Center Department of Vocational Services, Employer Services  – The Employer Services team provides training, strategies, and practical tools to help businesses across Maine create a work culture that is intentionally inclusive of people with disabilities.
  • Maine Working Together: Workforce Development System – The Institute for Community Inclusion (ICI) (MA UCEDD) coordinates the implementation of Maine’s Employment Services Workforce Development System (EWDS). ICI works with the Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies (ME UCEDD) to develop a strong employment workforce in Maine by providing training, resources, and assistance to Maine employment services providers, individuals with disabilities and family members.
  • NIDILRR Research In Focus: Study offers insights to barriers to paid employment facing youth with severe disabilities (2023) – In a recent National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) funded study, researchers looked at challenges that youth with severe disabilities had in finding employment. Specifically, they wanted to know what parents, educators, agency staff, employers, and school district leaders felt were the factors hindering youth with severe disabilities from accessing paid work.
  • National Trends in Disability Employment (nTIDE) – On the first Friday of every month, corresponding with the Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs report, the national Trends in Disability Employment (nTIDE) team offers a live broadcast via Zoom Webinar to share numbers and the latest news about disability employment.From the Center for Research on Disability (Kessler Foundation and the University of New Hampshire Institute on Disability (NH UCED).
  • Partnership on Employment and Accessible Technology (PEAT) Future of Work Podcast: How You Can Support Employees with Invisible Disabilities (2022) – Podcast discusses the challenges workers with invisible disabilities face. Offers tips for employers who want to make sure their organizations are inviting and inclusive for people whether or not they wish to disclose their disability.
  • Putting Faith to Work: A Guide for Congregations and Communities – A ​model​ ​for faith communities to address the employment needs of some of their members by connecting people with disabilities to quality employment opportunities through the natural networks represented by congregational members.​ Developed by four University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities​ in TN, KY, TX and MN with funding from the Kessler Foundation.
  • Social Security: 2020 Red Book (56-page PDF) – A summary guide to employment supports for persons with disabilities under the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Programs.
  • Staying Safe at Work 2nd Edition (2022) (146-page PDF). 2nd edition developed by the Institute on Disability (NH UCED) – A Curriculum for Teaching Workers with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities about Health and Safety on the Job. Five accompanying PowerPoint presentations are available for download to use with the curriculum.
  • The Workplace Mentoring Playbook (2020) (28-page PDF) – Resource developed by the Employer Assistance and Resource Network on Disability Inclusion (EARN). A mentoring program is a talent development and retention strategy, one that uses an organization’s human resources to improve employee satisfaction, develop leaders and teach new skills. Mentoring is also an effective tool for increasing and shaping an inclusive workplace culture.

Updated: 07/08/2024