Florida BLN Steering Committee
CHAIR
Sue Moore
Walt Disney World Co
PAST CHAIR
Sharlyn Lauby, SPHR
ITM Group, Inc.
VR LIAISON
Eladio Amores
Division of Vocational Rehabilitation
HR FLORIDA LIAISON
Catherine Mallozzi, SPHR
Florida Metropolitan University
BIG BEND BLN CHAIR
Sarah Butters
Holland & Knight
BREVARD BLN CHAIR
Douglas Barclay
Mercedes Homes, Inc.
BROWARD BLN CHAIR
Steven McCarty
Enterprise Rent-A-Car
EMERALD COAST BLN CO-CHAIRS
Sheryl Hollarn
MTI/MTC Technologies
Gail Waller
Ft. Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce
FIRST COAST BLN CHAIR
John Wagner
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida
FT. MYERS BLN
Erin Wilkinson
SunTrust Bank
GREATER ORLANDO BLN CHAIR
Mayra Hernandez
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida
MIAMI-DADE BLN CHAIR
Bob Bromberg
Bromberg & Associates
PALM BEACH BLN CO-CHAIRS
Rita Barreto Craig
The Craig Group
Rose Lee Archer
Rose Lee Productions Inc.
PANHANDLE BLN CO-CHAIRS
Lara Burnside
The Studer Group
Jennifer Grove
Gulf Power Company
POLK COUNTY BLN CHAIR
Karen Mitchell
Lakeland Regional Medical Center
TAMPA BAY METRO CHAIR
Angela M. Rosario
JOBING.com
About the Florida BLN
The Florida Business Leadership Network is a peer-to-peer membership group of employers seeking resources to recruit, hire and market to persons with disabilities. Members include small and large businesses who recognize that success in the 21st century hinges on a diverse workforce that includes employees with disabilities. For more information about the Florida BLN, visit www.floridabln.org. To suggest an article or upcoming event to be included in this newsletter, e-mail the editor at kristen@abletrust.org.
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Message from the Chair
This month's issue features a variety of resources and online courses that may prove to be beneficial to your business. Read on to learn more about the barriers of Latinos with disabilities as well as how the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) relates to employers with deafness and hearing impairment. Also in this issue is mention of several online courses that serve to educate employers on embracing customers with disabilities.
As always, we also want to keep you informed on activities of the Florida BLN local chapters as well as other disability related events. In addition to what's mentioned in this month's newsletter, please visit our website for more information. If you have additional events or best disability employment practices you'd like us to share with the membership, please email or call Kristen Knapp at the Florida BLN at Kristen@abletrust.org or toll-free 888-838-2253.
Report On Employment For U.S. Latinos With Disabilities
Proyecto Vision, the National Technical Center on the Employment of Latinos with Disabilities has released a report entitled Latinos with Disabilities in the US: Understanding and Addressing Barriers to Employment. This resource takes a look at the low employment status of Latinos with disabilities and provides recommendations on ways to improve their careers and other opportunities.
This report outlines factors affecting the extent of participation and degree of success of Latinos with disabilities in the service delivery system. It highlights innovative research and employment projects that are working to reduce barriers. And it also presents both positive and negative profiles of the experiences of individuals and families.
If you are interested in learning more about Latinos with disabilities and the challenges they face, please visit the Proyecto Vision website. Information on the report can be accessed here.
EEOC Fact Sheet on Workers with Deafness and the ADA
The EEOC has issued a Fact Sheet for employers and employees about Deafness and Hearing Impairments in the workplace. The report is a part of a Question & Answer series addressing particular disabilities in the workplace. It explains how the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) might apply to employees with Deafness and Hearing Impairments.
This Fact Sheet includes general information such as when is hearing impairment a disability under ADA; best practices for obtaining, using and disclosing medical information; how to accommodate employees with hearing disabilities; concerns about safety and harassment; and how to go about legal enforcement.
The Fact Sheet can be viewed at http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/deafness.html.
DOJ On-line Course on Reaching the Disability Market
Reaching Out to Customers with Disabilities is a 10 lesson online course provided by the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) Disability Rights Section. The course provides old business owners, new business owners and aspiring business owners a way to reach a whole new group of customers. It shows how compliance to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) makes good business sense.
For your convience the course is divided into lesson modules that you can go though at your own pace. The lessons will highlight policies, practices, and procedures, communicating with customers with disabilities, implementing and maintaining accessability and tax incentives for compliance.
The course in its entirety can be accessed at http://www.ada.gov/reachingout/intro1.htm.
At Your Service: Welcoming Customers with Disabilities
The ADA and IT Technical Assistance Center is providing a free, accessible, self-paced web course for people interested in discovering best practices for working with customers who have disabilities. This course has recently been revised and expanded in response to requests from more than 10,000 participants who have taken the course.
The course consist of a pretest, 15 course topics and a posttest. Among the topics are Serving People with Disabilities, Disability Etiquette, Legal Framework and A Word about Hidden Disability.
Because the course has been aproved by the Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification (CRCC), you can also recieve 5 CRCC credits.
For more information please visit http://www.wiawebcourse.org.
Florida BLN News
BLN Local Chapter News
Orlando BLN Chapter
The next meeting of the Orlando BLN Chapter will be held on Friday, March 30, 2007 from 8:30 AM to 9:00 AM at Disney World. For further details please contact Mayra Hernandez at Mayra.Hernandez@bcbsfl.com.
Palm Beach BLN Chapter
The Palm Beach BLN Breakfast Kick-Off will take place on Tuesday, April 17, 2007. The Kick-Off will be hosted by St. Mary's Medical Center and the United Way of Palm Beach County. For further details contact Leslie Wilson at leslie@wilres.com.
Polk County BLN Chapter
The next meeting for the Polk County BLN Chapter will be held on Wednesday, April 18, 2007. This meeting will be hosted by Lakeland Regional Hospital. For more information contact Vivian Campbell-Williams at vivian_williams@polkworks.org.
Miami BLN Chapter
The next meeting of the Miami BLN Chapter will be held on Tuesday May 1, 2007 from 8:00 AM to 9:00 AM. The meeting will be hosted by Miami Dade College-Wolfson Center. Please contact Bob Bromberg for more information at BobBromberg@aol.com.
Upcoming Events
Bridges to Employment Conference: Exploring Career Opportunities for Latinos with Disabilities
On June 13-15, 2007, the national Bridges to Employment Conference will be held at the Radisson Miami Hotel in Miami, Florida. This event is hosted by Proyecto Vision, the national technical assistance center on employment, in partnership with Best Buddies and AT&T.
The two-day conference, dedicated to connecting the Latin community of persons with disabilities to employment opportunities, will feature workshops and roundtables discussing topics such as recent legislation, disability employment rights, employer narratives on recruiting/employing people with disabilities, and financial literacy and asset-building for jobseekers. Click here for details about registration and fees and a sample itinerary.
2007 USBLN Annual Conference
The USBLN has revised its dates for their annual conference being held in Florida. The event will take place September 24-26, 2007 at the Lake Buena Vista Palace in Orlando, Florida. Visit http://www.usbln.com/ for more information.
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