Narrative: g. 1.

(g) Coordination with Employers

Under the interagency cooperative agreement referenced above, the FDBS’ coordination with employers is part of a range of activities that include developing a long-term communications plan to increase employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities. The FDBS achieves this by motivating employers to hire; promoting a consistent message of awareness among employers about the value individuals with disabilities bring to the workforce; informing employers about the resources available to assist with their hiring needs; and providing businesses with a diverse, talented labor pool of motivated and qualified candidates.

As part of a collaborative effort with the statewide workforce systems, the FDBS director serves on the statewide workforce board and district administrators collaborate with their LWDBs during visits to workforce centers and other venues. FDBS utilizes the following to increase partnerships with the statewide workforce investment system and employers in the state of Florida:

• Work with businesses/employers to encourage sponsorship of registered apprenticeship programs. Apprenticeship programs allow companies to build the skilled, diverse workforces that are essential to success. Employment Placement Specialists (EPS) offer businesses support by matching qualified candidates to apprenticeship and workforce opportunities that open doors to career opportunities for people from a variety of backgrounds who have a wide range of skills.
• Increase utilization of online job systems/portals to expose employers to consumers who are ready for employment. The Statewide Business Consultant (SBC) shares the TAP report monthly. The SBC provides one-on-one training for new counselors, EPS, and supervisors. FDBS will consider hosting TAP job developing events monthly to sign up and publish resumes of consumers who are seeking employment.
• Develop and strengthen employer relationships by providing employer training, support, education, and resources. The EPS and SBC provide training to employers during partnership development. This training involves blind and visually impaired etiquette training, education on the Americans with Disabilities Act for hiring managers, reasonable job accommodations, assistive technology assistance, resources on DBS work experience/OJT, and tax credits. EPS also works with employers to identify competitive integrated employment and career exploration opportunities.
• Develop mechanisms to maximize job placement effectiveness among EPS and contracted service providers.
• The U.S. Department of Labor’s 7% Solution challenges federal contractors to strive to have 7% of their labor force be comprised of people with disabilities. The FDBS aims to target federal contractors that post thousands of jobs in the TAP trying to reach the 7% target goal to maximize opportunities for individuals who are blind and visually impaired.
• Create training methods to better integrate individuals with disabilities into the workforce. Counselors, EPS, and supervisors participate in mandatory Employment Outcomes Professional (EOP) training, which includes a review of job development techniques, marketing strategies, and the sales process plan.
• Collaborate efforts between multiple agencies and organizations to achieve the intent of the Employment First Act. The SBC attends the Employment First Collaborations Team quarterly meetings with eight other agencies. This team uses collaborative discussions on partner response to Covid-19 and agency updates to draft an annual accomplishment report. The SBC provided updates to the communication plan in collaboration with five partner agencies. The EPS and SBC participated in the Employment First toolkit training, which provides a guide/resource for all employment service professionals. The toolkit meets the Association of People Supporting Employment (APSE) competencies and reflects evidence-based practices in employment training.
• Promote service innovation. The EPS and SBC have in-person meetings with employers to discuss FDBS’s services. The services are free to businesses and include significant support to blind and visually impaired employees. Marketing strategies entail targeted outreach to medical providers, schools, non-profit/state agencies, Chamber of Commerce events, and CareerSource centers. 
• Identify baseline employment outcome data for individuals with disabilities and set targets for improvement. FDBS strives to increase the utilization of online job portals by 10% over the next three years. The SBC focuses efforts on creating partnerships with major stakeholders and developing/strengthening employer relationships to increase employment outcomes. The goal is to increase employment outcomes by 10%; this includes work-based learning experiences and apprenticeship participation.

Through coordination with employers and the workforce system, the Division utilizes these strategies to foster equal access for clients, generate program awareness, strengthen infrastructure, and increase the number of employers who provide opportunities for work-based learning experiences and hire youth with disabilities.