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Employment Toolkit
Employment Toolkit
The Employment Toolkit is designed to guide service providers and teams in supporting people with intellectual disabilities on their journey to meaningful employment. This comprehensive resource offers practical strategies, tools, and resources insights to facilitate the transition from traditional day programs to supported employment. The toolkit is divided into five modules, each focusing on a critical aspect of the employment process:
Module 1: What is Employment?
This module highlights the shift from sheltered workshops to inclusive employment for people with intellectual disabilities. It emphasizes the importance of meaningful, paid work that promotes financial stability, personal growth, and community inclusion, ensuring fair wages and equal protections in integrated work settings.
Module 2: Seeds of Employment
This unit underscores the importance of employment beyond financial benefits, highlighting its role in promoting inclusivity, personal growth, and social integration. It addresses the higher rates of poverty and unemployment among people with disabilities, advocating for the benefits of hiring them, such as increased workplace diversity and morale. The unit also explores the key reasons for employment and the roles of supporters in achieving successful employment outcomes.
Module 3: Rights, Responsibilities, & Realities
This module covers the rights and responsibilities of jobseekers with intellectual disabilities, employers' legal obligations for inclusive workplaces, and the importance of suitable job placements. It stresses ongoing support for job retention and career growth, guided by frameworks like the CRPD and the Accessibility for Manitobans Act.
Module 4: Transportation
This module highlights the critical role of transportation in securing and maintaining employment for people with intellectual disabilities in Winnipeg and rural Manitoba. It covers various transportation options, addresses unique challenges in different settings, and offers strategies for budgeting and funding transportation costs to support workplace success and independence.
Module 5: What's Next?
Guides senior management and decision-makers in transitioning from traditional day programs and sheltered workshops to supported employment models. It focuses on the importance of strategic planning, organizational readiness, and professional development for a successful transformation.