Initiative Description
The Justice Center and the TRAID Centers continued to collaborate with staff from the Department of Labor on the New York Systems Change and Inclusive Opportunities Network (SCION.) SCION's goal is to improve education, training and employment opportunities and outcomes for youth and adults with disabilities. SCION has worked to hire and train 33 new Disability Resource Coordinators (DRCs) to assist job seekers with disabilities. This includes providing feedback and voiceover for recorded Disability Resource Coordinator (DRC) trainings, assistance in SCION office hours, and resource sharing. After partnering with SCION in the previous year, connections with TRAID have increased, along with loans and requests for trainings on assistive technology for employment. Additional trainings have included reasonable accommodations, accessibility, and an overview of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The end goal of SCION is to support at least 45,000 individuals seeking employment by the project’s completion in 2026.
Lessons Learned/Replication
The SCION Project is in its second year and results are still being measured. By having TRAID as a partner agency, the DRCs have had access to various training topics related to assistive technology that they would not have had otherwise. This partnership has increased knowledge of assistive technology resources in New York. It has built connections to resources across the state and has been successful so far, due to frequent communication and monthly check-ins for DRCs and partner agency staff. This has resulted in loans and trainings tailored to the needs of the program and participants. This initiative builds upon the work of four rounds of federal Disability Employment Initiative (DEI) pilot funding and the Disability Program Navigator before that. TRAID plans to keep working with the Department of Labor as the initiative continues.