Disability Toolbox

Services are available to assist a consumer in preparing for, securing, retaining or regaining employment that is consistent with one's strengths, resources, capabilities, interests and informed choice.

30-Second Trainings

Try it. These interactive sessions don't take much time ... and you may learn something! Please check back. New sessions will be added periodically.

• Introduction
• Vision loss

Employers

Compliance Benefits

• What does disability mean for me as an employer/business owner?
• What are the benefits of making my business disability friendly?
• What are the benefits of accommodating an employee with a disability?

ADA Basics

• What are the basic protections offered by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) employment provisions (also known as ADA Title I)?
• Who has protections under the ADA? (Definition of disability)
• What employers have compliance responsibilities under the ADA?

Recruitment and Hiring Strategies

• Why should I hire a person with a disability?
• How can I find qualified employment candidates with disabilities?
• What questions can I ask when interviewing an applicant with a disability?
• What is a State Vocational Rehabilitation Agency and how can it help me?
• Where can I find a short online video that dispels 10 common myths about hiring people with disabilities?
• What are the benefits of becoming an Employer Partner with SSA’s Ticket to Work Program?

Employment Basics

• I’ve hired a person with a disability. Now what? (Overview of legal requirements and practical strategies)
• What is a reasonable accommodation?
• What should I do when my employee asks me for an accommodation?
• What are some ways I can accommodate ALL my employees?
• Under the ADA, can I discipline or fire an employee with a disability?
• What tax incentives are available for employers who hire people with disabilities?

Staff

Top 9 Myths of the Disability Resource Guide

• Myth 1: Multiple service systems (i.e., Workforce, Vocational Rehabilitation, Mental Health, Employment Networks, Social Security Administration, etc.) cannot report a successful employment outcome when providing services and resources to the same customer.
• Myth 2: One-Stop Career Centers that have performed accessibility surveys and as a result, addressed physical access issues and installed adaptive technology, have built the capacity to effectively serve customers with disabilities and other multiple challenges to employment.
• Myth 3: One-Stop Career Centers are programmatically accessible when customers with disabilities are able to independently access core services.
• Myth 4: Customers with disabilities are not able to achieve successful employment outcomes upon enrollment in WIA training.
• Myth 5: An Integrated Resource Team is an Interagency Committee that meets regularly to build cross-agency awareness and build systems collaboration.
• Myth 6: Under the Ticket-to-Work Program, One-Stop Career Centers can be successful Employment Networks without establishing a strong partnership with a Work Incentives Planning and Assistance Project or developing internal expertise in this area.
• Myth 7: A One-Stop Career Center cannot ask a customer if he/she has a disability.
• Myth 8: It is the role of the DRC, One-Stop staff, and/or a partner program to decide which service provider and resources best match a customer's needs.
• Myth 9: One-Stop Career Centers have built the capacity to more effectively serve a diverse population of jobseekers by referring all customers with disabilities to a DPN or DRC for one-on-one employment and job search services, benefits counseling, and/or resource coordination.

Mental Health At Work

The Competitive Advantage

Mental Health at Work: The Competitive Advantage is a set of videos brought to you by Wisconsin United for Mental Health, in partnership with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. The link below takes you to a set of 40 short videos, and includes links to Wisconsin and national resources in the areas of mental health and workplace resources.

• Mental Health at Work: The Competitive Advantage (video series)

Employer Resources

The Field Guide to Evolving Your Workforce is a quick interactive guide (PDF) from ThinkBeyondTheLabel.com.

Disability Employment Initiative

The Disability Employment Initiative (DEI) is funded by the Department of Labor that builds on the former Disability Program Navigator project.

• Executive summary of the Disability Employment Initiative
• Wisconsin DEI PowerPoint presentation
• Map of DEI Service Areas in Wisconsin (PDF)
• DEI Information Brief: "Why the Initiative?" (PDF), from the US DOL
• DEI Fact Sheet (PDF)
• DEI Asset Development Resource Guide (PDF)
• DEI Integrated Resource Teams FAQs (PDF)
• Welcoming Customers with Disabilities is a self-paced webcourse for people interested in discovering the best practices for working with customers who have disabilities.
• DEI Top 9 Myths of the Disability Resource Guide (PDF)