Acting Assistant Secretary Michael Yudin will join a panel discussion on building successful partnerships to help individuals with disabilities enjoy competitive integrated employment at the New England Workplace Inclusion and Equality Summit on Friday, June 27, in Providence, Rhode Island. During the discussion, Yudin will discuss how ED works with stakeholders and the business community to promote high expectations for individuals with disabilities, and how the vocational rehabilitation program works with business to recruit and retain individuals with disabilities in the workforce.
The summit will bring together decision-makers and thought leaders across business, government and the service provider community to establish public-private partnerships to streamline the recruitment and retention of employees with disabilities. Attendees from Rhode Island, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York and Vermont will come together to share best practices, identify barriers to hiring individuals with disabilities, propose meaningful recommendations for overcoming such barriers, and make real commitments to employing individuals with disabilities.
Prior to the discussion, Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee and U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Thomas Perez will give introductory remarks.
As part of its efforts to ensure students with disabilities graduate high school college and career ready, the Department recently announced a new framework, Results Driven Accountability (RDA), for overseeing the effectiveness of states’ special education programs. RDA is about using the accountability framework under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to provide states with incentives and support to raise expectations and to implement evidence-based strategies that will help students meet higher expectations for academic achievement.