The Idaho Department of Labor’s nationally recognized two-year-old initiative to help break down barriers to employment for workers with disabilities has secured the financial support needed to continue for another year.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s National Grants Office announced that Idaho’s disability program navigator team is receiving nearly $400,000 that will be combined with $134,000 from the federal stimulus package to keep the initiative going through June 2010.
“One of every eight working-age Idahoans has some kind of disability, but only 40 percent of them are employed,” program coordinator Gordon Graff said. “This grant gives us another year to continue working with other groups and agencies to further reduce the impediments to the job market that so many of these talented people face.”
Since the project began in 2007 with a $1.1 million federal grant, regional navigators in Coeur d’Alene, Lewiston, Grangeville, Canyon County, Boise, Twin Falls, Pocatello and Idaho Falls have been collaborating with agencies and local organizations to improve job prospects for those with disabilities.
Earlier this year, Idaho’s program was recognized by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration as one of the most effective among the states, and the program received the highest award made by the International Association of Workforce Professionals – its Group Award of Merit.