Richard Kriner
(804) 674-2356
Richard.Kriner@drs.virginia.gov
Careatha Fuller
(757) 686-4342
Careatha.Fuller@drs.virginia.gov
Carolyn "Sinclair" Hubard
(540) 434-5981
Sinclair.Hubard@drs.virginia.gov
Kate Kaegi
(804) 662-7183
Kate.Kaigi@drs.virginia.gov
Lisa Perry
(757) 865-3117
Lisa.Perry@drs.virginia.gov
Al Jones
(804) 271-8510
jon37@co.henrico.va.us
Jamal R. Graham
(703) 838-4479 x300
Jamal.Graham@alexandria.gov
Maynor Guillen
(703) 838-4479 X314
Maynor.Guillen@alexandriava.gov
Jennifer Green
(703) 838-4479 X298
Jennifer.Green@alexandriava.gov
David Amoroso
(703) 838-4479
David.Amoroso@ourpeoplework.org
Maurice Tomdio
(703) 838-4058 TTY
Maurice.Tomdio@alexandriava.gov
Rosalyn Key, Project Director
WIB Area IX
Joe Ashley, Project Co-Director
Virginia DRS
Bob Satterwhite
WIB Area IV
Andrea Grund
WIB Area V
Billie Campbell
WIB Area VI
Todd Palmquist
WIB Area VI
Mike Jenkins
WIB Area XIII
Bill Coley
WIB Area XVI
Bill Mann
WIB Area XIV
Levin Sullivan
WIB Area XV
Dennis Mckinney
WIB Area XII
Bruce Patterson
ServiceSource Inc.
Richard DiPeppe
Endependence Center
Barbara Cotter
Virginia DSS
Sharon Kohler
Virginia DHMRSAS
Karen Tefelski
VaACCESS
Jim Taylor
VADBVI
Welcome...
"Accessible Times" is the newsletter for workforce professionals and leaders interested in advancing the employment and independence of persons with disabilities through the One-Stop system. This introductory issue features our Disability Program Navigators (DPN) and WIB Partners' Disability Specialists, along with other pertinent information involving the Workforce Centers. Future issues will update you on DPN WIG IV activities, including the support and development of employer-focused workforce networks in their service areas; initiating and maintaining local workgroups to encourage additional partnership activities among state and private organizations and agencies that serve persons with disabilities through the One-Stop system; sharing technology that increases access for consumers to information and resources; and providing statewide resource development and technical assistances to non-participating WIBs.
An Invitation from Rosalyn Key, WIG IV Project Director
A major goal of the current Work Incentive Grant is to enhance service delivery to persons with disabilities among Virginia's Workforce Network and partners within regions and across the state.
I invite you to take this unique opportunity to participate in real-time video-conferencing as a means to increase our connectivity.
Real-time video conferencing can enhance service delivery to one-stop customers in a variety of ways. Partners not co-located five days a week in a one-stop can conduct business with customers off-site via video-conferencing. Services can be brought from another part of your region or from another part of the state directly to a customer in your one-stop. When you need someone who can provide sign language or foreign language interpretation, you can locate a qualified person in another center via videoconferencing. Should a customer need to discuss Social Security options with the BPAO, you will be able to contact the organization via videoconferencing. The applications for videoconferencing as a component of service delivery are only limited by your imagination and the needs of your customers
Videoconferencing has applications beyond service delivery to our customers with disabilities. It is a great way to conduct meetings, deliver training and share information between one-stops and partners and among workforce areas. For example, a great labor market workshop in Charlottesville can be viewed by one-stop customers in Richmond. If you don't have adequate staffing to provide the GED class in multiple locations, videoconferencing can connect two sites to expand the number of persons who can participate.
As a WIB Director, I understand that new capabilities are often slow to be integrated into our routines and processes. Heavy workloads often impede our ability to make new initiatives a priority, even when they could improve our efficiency and our customer service. However, because the Capital Area Training Consortium is an active user of teleconferencing, I can speak to the increased service and benefits that it can provide.
I invite you to explore the many uses videoconferencing may have to provide service delivery and staff development in your workforce area. Get the equipment provided through the Workforce Investment Grant connected and plugged in to the ISDN lines, participate in the upcoming Users' Workshop and begin communicating with customers, partners and other one stops in new (and efficient!) ways.
- Rosalyn Key, WIG IV Project Director
Mark Your Calendar: April 21, 2005
Meeting of the WIG IV Executive Council
Henrico County Training Center
10:30 am to 2:30 pm
Introducing... Virginia's Disability Program Navigators and the WIG Partners' Disability Specialists
With all four of our Disability Program Navigators (DPNs) hired and our WIB partners on board, the Workforce Investment Grant Round IV is well under way! Our Disability Program Navigators and Disability Specialists bring experience and disability expertise to our Workforce Centers. Their background will greatly benefit the system's ability to provide services to persons with disabilities who are seeking employment, skill development, job retention assistance, or career advancement.
Meet the Navigators
Richard Kriner, MS, CRC, CTRS
Lead Disability Program Navigator, Chesterfield DRS Field Office
As Lead Navigator, Richard will be providing support to the Navigator initiative statewide, and directly providing services to Chesterfield, Henrico and Portsmouth WIB areas. Most recently Richard served as the Disability Resource Specialist for the Capital Area Training Consortium (CATC) during Virginia's WIG Round II. As a Disability Resource Specialist he provided direct service and support to jobseekers with disabilities and staff in the Capital Area Workforce Centers. Over the last three years as a Vocational Counselor with DRS Richard provided vocational rehabilitation services to people that have a variety of disabilities and barriers to assist in their efforts to obtain, retain, and advance in employment. In previous employment settings, he has worked as Job Coach and Therapeutic Recreation Specialist.
Careatha Fuller
Disability Program Navigator, Portsmouth DRS Field Office
Careatha will be providing services to the Hampton Roads, Crater (Emporia), and Bay (Eastern Shore) WIB areas. Her areas of specialization consist of employability skills training, job development, placement, and resource coordination her previous employment was as a Youth Workforce Specialist as a contractor of the WIA program for Goodwill Industries of Lower South Carolina, and she has related experience in meeting the needs of individuals with disabilities in a variety of professional settings such as United Cerebral Palsy of Greater Atlanta, Louisiana Rehabilitation Services and Shepherd Center as a Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist.
Carolyn "Sinclair" Hubard
Disability Program Navigator, Harrisonburg DRS Field Office
Sinclair will be providing services Shenandoah Valley, Northern Shenandoah Valley (Winchester), and Workforce Today (Charlottesville) WIB areas. She has an extensive background in disability services working at an Employment Service Organization in Northern Virginia as well as the Department of Rehabilitative Services as an Employment Training Specialist. She also has experience working collaborative with Workforce Centers in Northern Virginia and the TANF population.
Kate Kaegi
Disability Program Navigator, Chesterfield DRS Field Office
Kate started out as a Vocational Evaluator serving Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation Center and later moved to Richmond where she worked as a rehabilitation counselor with a specialized caseload for substance abuse. Kate has experience providing a variety of rehabilitative services such as counseling, vocational training, physical restoration services, assistive technology, job skills counseling, assistance with application/resume/cover letter writing and developing interview skills.
LISA PERRY
Disability Program Navigator, Hampton DRS Field Office
Lisa will be providing services to Greater Peninsula and Bay Area Consortium WIB areas. She has experience as a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor for Career Options in Hampton and as an Admissions Counselor at Hampton University. Previously she completed an internship with the Virginia Department of Rehabilitative Services as Rehabilitation Counselor.
Meet the Disability Specialists
JAMAL R. GRAHAM
Community Digital Divide Consortium (CDDI) Coordinator
JobLink, City of Alexandria's Workforce Center
Jamal, as CDDI Coordinator, schedules and conducts client user orientation, performs general maintenance on the on-line training system and monitors system usage. In addition, he supervises the training center, conducts site visits of remote learning centers, schedules and conducts all video teleconferencing activities and researches funding to support the CDDI and technology infrastructure. He is skilled in a variety of computer applications including PeopleSoft, Microsoft Office, Front Page, and Flash software.
MAYNOR GUILLEN
Assistive Technology Specialist
JobLink, City of Alexandria's Workforce Center
Maynor provides in-house training for staff on disability awareness and the use of Assistive Technology, assesses the needs and abilities of clients, makes recommendations to clients, and train clients in the use of assistive technology, and serves as a team leader for the accessibility team in effort to ensure that all agency programs, services and facilities are ADA and 508 compliant. He serves as the City's resource for Braille and other forms of alternative format and participates in community events to promote Assistive Technology and as an advocate for persons with disabilities. He is the JobLink representative on the Alexandria Commission on People with Disabilities.
Jennifer Green
Special Project Coordinator, CDDI
JobLink, City of Alexandria's Workforce Center
Jennifer assists with the day-to-day operations of the CDDI program, interfaces with program partners and the business community, assesses program partnership needs, and conducts partnership recruitment. She has skills in a variety of computer applications and Internet technology including the use of ATM Network via video teleconferencing and web casting.
DAVID AMOROSO
Employment Development Specialist
ServiceSource of Alexandria
David provides job development and customized employment assistance, in English and Spanish, to individuals with disabilities in Fairfax County SkillSource Centers. His prior experience includes careers in retail management and banking, serving individuals for Arlington Housing Cooperative, Inc. in a bilingual community center, and providing job development and skills training to a diverse group or adult learners for Training Futures (Northern Virginia Family Service).
Maurice Tomdio
Employment Training Specialist, Disability Program
JobLink, City of Alexandria's Workforce Center
Maurice assists clients with varied disabilities with their job search and placement effort and acts as facilitator for Universal Access for clients with disabilities at JobLink. He trains staff on disability etiquette and the ADA, Section 504 and the WIA section 188. Maurice coordinates with other partners for the provision of SSI and SSDI Benefit Planning And Outreach counseling, social security work incentives and the Ticket to Work program. He has been working with people with disabilities for over twenty years, especially with the Deaf, Hard of Hearing, Deaf/Blind, Late deafened and Low functioning Deaf (LFD)
Shares JobLink's Vision for Video Teleconferencing
There are several plans emerging to broaden JobLink's Video Teleconferencing participation. The ultimate goal is to create a seamless delivery system in every aspect by reaching a larger population and offering opportunities for contact with people in different regions. A wider group of participants means a broader range of ideas and points of view.
Teleconferencing will enable people with disabilities such as, sign language interpreters, our VIEW clients with childcare conflicts, the elderly and others to participate without having to travel. It will open up training hours and availability of courses for customers who are unable to take specialized classes because of time constraints and travel cost. A variety of certification classes, such as GED, sales & marketing training, seminars, workshops and conferences could be provided. In the past, Florida Institute of Technology sponsored a Personal Finance course through video teleconferencing.
JobLink's leading edge goals are to have job fairs, interviews, and effective meetings involving other employment agencies to discuss issues or concerns at locations throughout the United States via teleconference. JobLink is determined to get its' maximum use of its teleconference system.
WIG IV Video-teleconferencing Initiative
A major goal of the WIG IV grant is to use and demonstrate polycommunication equipment (polycoms) purchased with WIG II grant funds to other WIBs as an alternative means to provide services to Workforce Centers' staff and clients. Polycoms purchased with WIG II funds are currently located in Capital Area WIB, Area IX; Richmond WIB, Area X; Greater Peninsula, WIB Area XIV; Hampton Roads, WIB Area XVI; Workforce Today, WIB Area VI; and WIG IV funds have been expended to furnish polycoms to Bay Consortium, WIB Area XIII; Crater, WIB Area XV; Northern Shenandoah Valley, WIB Area V; and Northern Virginia WIB, WIB Area XI.
Executive committee member Richard DiPeppe, representing Endependence Center and CIL partners statewide has used the polycom purchased with WIG II funds to connect to other partners. The first use, a videoconference in Northern Virginia sponsored by VDOT, engage approximately 20 program participants. Endependence Center program participants gave the video conferencing high marks. Working with JobLink's Jamal Graham, Endependence Center has arranged for a trade of training. JobLink will provide interviewing and resume writing training for Endependence Center participants and Endependence Center will provide an ADA Title I training for JobLink's local employers.
Updates:
>> Accessible Work Stations
Through funding from the Workforce Investment Grant Round II, accessible workstations have been installed in the following locations:
- Area IX, Capital Area Workforce Centers, Chesterfield and Henrico Counties
- Area X, Richmond Career Advancement Center, Richmond
- Area IV, Harrisonburg VEC/One-Stop Center, Harrisonburg and Job Center, Luray
- Area XIV, Peninsula Workforce Development Center, Hampton and Virginia Workforce Center, Williamsburg
- Area XVI Regional One-Stop Job Zone / Next Step, Norfolk and Virginia Beach VEC, Virginia Beach
DRS has appropriated funds to provide an additional Accessible Workstation to be placed in the Winchester Workforce Center on Premier Drive.
Plans are underway for Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation Engineers and Partner Disability Specialists to provide training to the DPNs and Workforce Center staff that staff the resource rooms on use of the Accessible Workstations. The DPNs will then be responsible for training Workforce Center Staff and for mounting an awareness campaign among the disability communities in each region that has an Accessible Workstation.
>> Needs Assessment
Led by Richard Kriner, Al Jones, and Sinclair Hubard, with technical expertise provided by DRS' Kirsten Rowe and Georgia Coopersmith, Grants & Special Programs, planning, testing and finalizing a procedure for conducting a needs assessment has been underway for the past two months. Current plans are to post the data to the WIG IV Share Point site, which has the ability to consolidate the data. WIB Directors will be contacted shortly to bring them up-to-date and to ask for their input and assistance in carrying out the assessments.
>> Coming Soon: Mystery Shopper Presentation
Service Source's Bruce Patterson will provide a presentation on the Mystery Shopper concept and how it has been effectively used in Northern Virginia at the April 21st meeting of the Executive Council in Richmond. Bruce has presented a presentation on this successful program at the USDOL/ETA Region V Training Forum held March 2004 in Chicago.
Read an article on Mystery Shoppers published by the Institute for Community Inclusion, "Taking the Mystery out of Customer Service". Visit http://www.communityinclusion.org/publications/pdf/ib18.pdf. (PDF)
