The Nebraska Alliance for Full Participation Team sponsored a series of five webinars in spring of 2011. Those webinars were recorded and are now available to any interested party, by clicking on the links below. Webinar topics relate to AFP’s efforts to double the rate of employment of Nebraskans with intellectual / developmental disabilities. Learn more about our work by visiting www.allianceforfullparticipation.org.

AFP Adventures Around the USA
During the webinar, we'll explore some of the most interesting activities currently engaged in by several of the 38 state teams associated with AFP. We'll chat about a few fascinating community initiatives spanning service, post-secondary education, and corporate diversity agendas now including people with disabilities. All of these have the potential for replication within Nebraska and all are demonstrating that people with disabilities are finding employment in both small and large businesses in a recession in every area of the U.S. Speaker: Karen Flippo, State Team Liaison, Alliance for Full Participation.

Customized Self-Employment for Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime: Creating Careers in a No-Jobs Labor Market
Customized self-employment builds on the energy created by supported employment, taking it to another level by refining the job development process, including self-employment as a legitimate career option. This seminar will be of particular interest to employment seekers, professionals, families and funders who seek to expand beyond traditional community employment. We’ll identify a variety of collaborative funding and resource opportunities available to agencies and consumers in customized employment, state the advantages that self employment has over wage employment in the personal acquisition of wealth and equity, and explore the role of rehabilitation systems in expanding the use of customized employment strategies in both urban and rural settings. Speaker: Cary Griffin, Senior Partner at Griffin-Hammis.

Work IS Possible
Persons who experience disabilities and their families are in the best position to make choices about work when they receive good information about the impact of work on benefits. The more you know and understand, the better choices you can make about work. This webinar will help provide a general overview of the disability benefits that are administered by the Social Security Administration and the work incentives that individuals have available to them once work begins. Speaker: Crystal Norvell, Easter Seals Nebraska

Setting Employment as the 1st Priority
Employment First has become a national movement among some state agencies, employment and self advocacy organizations, such as National APSE, AFP and SABE, and employment service providers. The common thread among these groups is that employment is expected to be the first priority when discussing and offering day services for youth and adults with disabilities. This session will focus on several ingredients that are important when considering setting employment as the 1st priority. Topics include career planning, how to create the expectation of work, setting employment outcomes for your agency, data collection (what’s important to track and why), and nationally recognized approaches to promote change within a service organization. Speaker: Darla Wilkerson, The CSI Network

Nebraska Employers: What Do They Need From Us?
In January of 2011, the NE AFP Team collaborated with the Nebraska State Council for the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) to survey the membership of the SHRM Nebraska chapters about their perceptions and experiences in recruiting and hiring job candidates with intellectual / developmental disabilities. Eighty-one respondents gave us some great insights to what employers need and want. We’ll review the survey results and their implications. Speaker: Susan Rocker, University of Missouri Region 7 TACE Center