SW Region Town Hall: Accessibility in Workforce

Thursday, March 25, 2021 via Zoom

At this informational Town Hall, the following presenters shared their expertise:

Eric Rivera with WIOA Adult & Dislocated Worker Programs
Erik Padilla with New Mexico Division of Vocational Rehabilitation
Vanessa Gomez with WIOA Youth Program
Susana Santillan with the New Mexico Commission for Deaf and Hard of Hearing

Each presenter provided information about workforce services available to individuals with disabilities and who to contact for these services.

Darleen Lopez, Southwestern region One-Stop Operator, was the Moderator.

To protect the privacy of individuals, customer-specific questions were not addressed in this Town Hall.

Questions and Answers

The following are common questions the presenters have received.

Q. What services are available to NM DVR participants?

A. The services provided to NM DVR participants are individualized and dependent on the individual’s career goal, strengths, resources, priorities, concerns, abilities, capabilities, and interests. All services provided must be directly related to the participant’s career goal to ensure that there is sufficient justification in providing that particular service to the individual. NM DVR has a wide variety of services available to meet the specific needs of an individual wanting to pursue a long term career. For more information, please contact your local office or visit www.dvr.state.nm.us.

Q. What supports can NM DVR provide to employers?

A. There is a variety of supports that can be provided to employers to include placement of highly qualified, dedicated, and capable employees, guidance and education in hiring and supporting employees with disabilities, education on the benefits of hiring people with disabilities, supporting employees of the business/organization that are needing accommodations, and providing guidance on the interactive process and additional resources for employees that need accommodations for employment. NM DVR can provide any and all support to an employer both directly, via guidance and education, and indirectly, via support to employees that need acommodations/training or other supports to maintain their employment. Many times, the accommodations that an employee may need can be something that NM DVR can assist with providing via monetary services to the employee to obtain any assistive technology or other accommodation needs that have a cost. An additional resource that employers can benefit from is the Job Accommodation Network (JAN): https://askjan.org/