Working Together Emphasized at YTI Conference
“It’s important to look more deeply at where are the barriers and where are the pathways to get individuals into the workplace,” said Susanne Bruyère, academic director at the Yang-Tan Institute on Employment and Disability, in her introduction to Working Together: Advancing Disability Inclusion in NYS Workplaces, a one-day conference hosted by the Yang-Tan Institute on June 3 at the Ithaca Downtown Conference Center in Ithaca, New York.
Bruyère highlighted the importance of research as a foundation for the institute’s work, saying, “Research has told us that there are workplace policies and practices that increase successful employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities. These practices make a significant difference in who applies for jobs and in the receptivity of the workplace.”
Connecting and Coordinating
The in-person conference focused on making connections to improve access to employment and the quality of employment for people with disabilities in New York and beyond. Conference organizer and senior extension associate at the Yang-Tan Institute Ellice Switzer explained, “I wanted to create an opportunity for everyone to be in the same room at the same time, to have the same conversation.”
The keynote speaker, Victor Edwards, Central Student Advocate for the New York City Public Schools, received a standing ovation for his remarks. Edwards noted that systems, such as the K-12 educational system, do impact individuals and can “lift someone up or hold them back.” He urged attendees to see each person for who they are and to provide the support they need, and to not create barriers or “become the barrier.”
The conference offered six presentations that showcased the institute’s current work and provided ample “hallway track” time for networking among the over 100 leaders, providers, educators, self-advocates, and others in attendance. The conference included a moderated Community Conversations session that brought all attendees together to discuss concerns and solutions from different viewpoints.
One theme that emerged was that strong solutions often require coordination between different systems, including human services agencies, education, transportation, and employers. Coordination helps individuals with disabilities access needed services and connect the dots from training and education, to career exploration and internships, to vocational rehabilitation services and benefits planning, and more.
The presentations were these:
- Partnering for Disability Employment: Drafting Effective Interagency Agreements
- The Power of Collaboration: Promoting High-Quality Transition Planning Through Effective Partnerships
- Competitive Integrated Employment for People with Significant Disabilities: Early Lessons from the NYS SWTCIE
- DisabilityStatistics.org: Live Demonstrations
- Effective Business Engagement: Strategies Everyone Can Use
- Improving Employment Outcomes for Autistic Job Seekers
More Work to Do
The conference concluded with remarks from Wendy Strobel Gower, executive director of the Yang-Tan Institute. She shared that data from the Institute for Community Inclusion’s Think Work Program puts New York in twenty-first place among U.S. states for the level of participation in integrated employment by people with disabilities. “We still have some work to do,” she said. Gower also highlighted the values of community integration, self-direction, and informed choice as guides for moving forward, closing the conference by saying, “when we work together, the journey is better.”
About the Yang-Tan Institute
The ILR School’s Yang-Tan Institute on Employment and Disability provides practical information to policymakers, educators, employment specialists and others who assist people with disabilities. The institute’s mission is to advance knowledge, policies and practices that enhance equal opportunities for all people with disabilities. Its research, training and technical resources expand knowledge about disability inclusion, leading to positive change.
The institute leads many grant-funded projects and receives funding via a New York state legislative appropriation to assist with a variety of disability-related initiatives, including the Working Together conference.