Program areas at NDI
Project e3 - vocational rehabilitation technical assistance center - targeted communities (vrtac-tc) - funder: department of education rehabilitation services administration through a subcontract with southern universityoverview: provide technical assistance (ta) to state vocational rehabilitation agencies (svras) and their partners, addressing barriers to vr participation and competitive, integrated employment of historically underserved groups of individuals with disabilities. Intensive ta is provided onsite through long-term service delivery relationships with local vr agency personnel and community-based partners in economically disadvantaged communities identified by the svras.workforce innovation technical assistance center on quality management (wintac-qm) - funder: department of education rehabilitation services administration through a subcontract with the interwork Institute at san diego state universityoverview: wintac-qm is a new iteration of previously funded work called workforce innovation technical assistance center (wintac) established to provide support to svra's in implementing the workforce innovation and opportunity act (wioa) and increasing agency capacity to respond to populations with significant challenges.wintac-qm narrows the focus to quality management of svras to improve employment outcomes for people with disabilities in participating states. Our role in the project is to advise svras on the opportunities available under the community reinvestment act (cra). Cra rules promote partnerships that create work opportunities and improve employment outcomes for marginalized communities.
Able drrp: financial engagement as a gateway to community participation: a multi-level intervention study - funder: National Institute on Disability, independent living, and rehabilitation research (nidilrr); administration for community living (acl); u.s. department of health and human services (hhs)overview: able drrp is a multi-level intervention study that will: a) serve 250 young adults, age 18-24, who are in receipt of Virginia vocational rehabilitation services, receive ssi or ssdi, and are living in one of three targeted communities - through a control group (125 participants) and an intervention group (125 participants). B) provide each participating young adult in the intervention group with the following intervention activities: i. Targeted futures planning, ii. Financial education, iii. Able account opening and management assistance, iv. $100 in able account, and v. financial coaching. C) survey each participating young adult in the intervention group to understand the impact of the intervention on their level of community participation and living. D) survey each participating young adult in the control group to understand their level of community participation and living. E) analyze findings to prepare knowledge translation materials for use by the field. This will be the first data of its kind data to better understand influences on the use of able accounts and their impact on the community participation outcomes of young adults with disabilities.alternative finance program / at loan program - funder: administration on community living, u.s. department of health and human services (hhs)overview: the at loan program is an alternative finance program, funded by the department of education, to facilitate the financing of loans to meet the assistive technology needs of people with disabilities. The program requires partnerships with banks who agree to loan funds in new york and new jersey backed by our federal grant dollars. Loan applicants are vetted by an advisory council and the bank and receive ongoing support to meet their financial obligations.
Financial empowerment programs - funders: private sector partnerships including bank of america, citi community development, jp morgan chase, prudential, td bank, and wells fargooverview: financial empowerment programs provide projects and activities across the country that meet the Institute's mission to build a better economic future for individuals with disabilities. Financial empowerment programs use technology, cross-collaboration strategies with diverse partners, and ndi's marketing, communication, education and training and technical assistance strategies to build Disability inclusive practices and advance economic stability and mobility for low-income individuals with disabilities and their families. Ndi invites organizations and individuals from the field (disability-focused and financial empowerment-focused) to receive free training and technical assistance through our ndi website, our financial resilience center pages, webinars, newsletters, and other media, and through the able National resource center.financial resilience center - funder: wells fargooverview: the financial resilience center (frc) provides resources to help people with disabilities and chronic health conditions respond to the financial challenges of the covid-19 pandemic. The frc is an online hub to answer frequently asked questions about: covid-19 stimulus; employment and unemployment; public benefits; money management; housing, food and healthcare; scams; and more. The frc provides needed information and resources to help people with disabilities navigate financially through the covid-19 crisis.financial wellness initiative - funder: Illinois council on developmental disabilitiesoverview: ndi-led training of Disability service providers who will in turn train individuals with disabilities and their families on financial wellness strategies. Core strategies include training on improved utilization of public benefits, favorable tax provisions, social security work incentives and matched savings plans and financial education and coaching techniques.
Other economic empowerment, employment and research activities - funder: variousthroughout each calendar year, ndi completes activities that meet our mission but are not large enough to be classified as a project. These activities are typically completed over a short period of time and fulfill a specific set of tasks, deliverables or scope of work.
Lead center - funder: department of labor, office of Disability employment policy through a subcontract with social policy research associatesoverview: the lead center - known formally as the National center on leadership for the employment and economic advancement of people with disabilities (lead) - is a collaborative of Disability, workforce and economic empowerment organizations dedicated to improving employment and economic advancement outcomes for all people with disabilities. The lead center is continuing its work (a) to promote equal opportunity within the broader workforce system for youth and adults with disabilities; (b) to advance the development of inclusive career pathways using the interactive road to inclusive career pathways on the lead website; (c) to support economic advancement and financial literacy for youth and adults with disabilities; and (d) to provide up-to-date data to the field on employment and related outcomes for people with disabilities.
Disability employment technical assistance - funder: us department of labor, employment and training administration through a subcontract with maher and maheroverview: the Disability employment project improves coordination between the public workforce system and industry to help businesses meet their workforce needs by recruiting, hiring, and training individuals with disabilities. A key aspect of this is to share best and promising practices with the workforce system and partners through the workforce gps technical assistance platform, to accelerate the adoption of such practices across the country.
American dream employment network - funder: social security administrationoverview: aden is a National administrative employment network providing face- to-face employment services to ticket holders through a network of providers across the country called aden members. Aden provides supports to state and local workforce investment boards (wibs), community rehabilitation providers and other qualified and interested community partners across the country, by offering administrative solutions and ongoing training and technical assistance to its members.