Disability Employment

Disability Employment The Flagler Community Transition Team (FCTT) works with multidisciplinary agencies and community businesses to improve career opportunities for students with disabilities who are entering the workforce after high school. The FCTT participates annually in Disability Mentoring Day, a national mentoring program for young professionals with disabilities. The mission of the Flagler Community Transition Team (FCTT) is to facilitate a forum for communication, cooperation, and collaboration among multidisciplinary agencies and community businesses serving the youth of Flagler County. The intent of the mission effort is to achieve community business and interagency networking to improve career opportunities for a successful transition to gainful employment. The FCTT first came together during the 2002–03 school year. Since then, the team has been meeting monthly or quarterly throughout the school year. Partners-In-Transition (PIT), and Project 10 Transition Education Network, have guided the team in setting goals and taking action steps to create smooth transitions for students with disabilities from high school to independence and full community inclusion. Statistics of the under- and unemployed status of these individuals are simply unacceptable. Support Needed for Independence with High Living Standards: - Higher Education - Specific Trade/Vocational Skills - Independent Living Skills - Health Skills - Transportation - Funding Resource Identification - Self-Advocacy - Emotional Stability/Care - Community Connection - Local Business Connection - Support Groups - Recreational Resources - Accommodations - Disability Civil Rights Disability Mentoring Day Disability Mentoring Day is a nationwide effort to promote career development for students with disabilities through hands-on career exploration. Students with disabilities (mentees) are matched with workplace mentors according to expressed career interests. Mentees experience a typical day on the job and learn how to prepare to enter the world of work. Employers gain an increased awareness that people with disabilities represent an overlooked talent pool. Disability Mentoring Day is a program of the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD). Goals of Disability Mentoring Day: - Enhance internship and employment opportunities for people with disabilities - Promote disability as a central component of diversity recruitment for a more inclusive workforce - Dispel employers' fears about hiring people with disabilities - Increase confidence among students and job seekers with disabilities - Celebrate a year-round effort to foster mentoring opportunities Disability Mentoring Day began in 1999 with fewer than three dozen student participants as part of a White House effort to increase the profile of National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) and is celebrated every October. In 2005, 9,000 youth with disabilities participated nationally and in 20 international locations. They were mentored by more than 2,000 private, non-profit, governmental, and educational organizations.