Vocational Rehabilitation Business Relations Services for Businesses

Summary

VR Resources within the Rocky Mountain Region.

For a number of businesses finding resources and support to help with the recruitment, hiring, and retention of individuals with disabilities can feel like an overwhelming task. The Rocky Mountain ADA Center is a wonderful resource that provides a variety of support around accessibility and disability access, but where does a business connect to find qualified candidates with disabilities or receive specific onsite support to support their diversity goals around disability?

You may have heard of Vocational Rehabilitation or Division of Rehabilitation Services and know of their services to individuals with disabilities. Vocational Rehabilitation exists across the country and helps eligible individuals with disabilities to prepare for, obtain or maintain employment, and achieve independence. Did you also know that Vocational Rehabilitation works to support business partners as well?

The Business Relations Teams support business partners in their efforts to recruit, hire and retain individuals with disabilities and improve workplace accommodations. The Rocky Mountain ADA region encompasses North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah. Each of these states has a point of contact within the state that can provide services to business partners in our specific area. If, by chance, you are not located in one of the states listed above, the services mentioned in this blog are still available to you through The National Employment Team or The NET, which is a service offered to businesses nationwide through the Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation (CSAVR).

If your business is looking at increasing their diversity inclusion by being more proactive with hiring individuals with disabilities, or if they have questions on how to accommodate a current employee who has recently self-identified as an individual with a disability needing potential accommodations, our teams can help.

Some examples of the support that can be provided are:

One-on-one support providing disability employment training and education for Human Resources, supervisors, and entire companies
Disability attitudinal training
Assistance to improve or add workplace accommodations
Connection and networking with other businesses taking action to hire individuals with disabilities
Connection to qualified candidates with disabilities
Incentives such as Work Opportunity Tax Credits, Bonding, On-the Job Training, Apprenticeship, etc.
Services to connect businesses to the pipeline of youth who will enter the workforce within the next few years
- Students interested in Work Based Learning Opportunities and Internships
Connection events like Employer Workshops, targeted job fairs and training opportunities
Retention services to help keep qualified workers in the workforce
Consultation and guidance around disability employment and access issues