Webinar 2021 Transcription

June 18, 2021

2021 Accessful Webinar Transcript

Sonya White:
Welcome to the prerecorded webinar explaining Accessful and the Facilitator’s Manual, presented on behalf of OSSTF, a program supported by District 19 and the Peel District School Board. Accessful was an initiative funded by An Enabling Change grant with the Ministry for Seniors and Accessibility.
Sonya White:

Hi everyone. My name is Sonya White and I was the In-school Facilitator for Project Accessful. We were planning on hosting a live webinar in the Spring of 2021. However, with the emergency stay at home orders and the extended school closures, school board personnel were telling us that as they were trying to wrap up quadmester four activities, it was extremely difficult to commit to a scheduled webinar time and so Accessful decided to record this presentation so that we could describe the project and introduce to you the Facilitator Manual in a more time flexible manner.

Sonya White:
Typically, in a webinar there’s usually time for a Q and A component and in this format, I guess the bonus will be, if you have questions or comments as we go along today, you can actually pause the video, write those questions or comments down and then if I haven’t addressed any of the questions that you may have before the end of the video, please feel free to email them to us directly so that we can clarify any of the questions you may have in terms of implementing the project to help support youth with disabilities find employment. I’ll keep the email address, inquiries@accessful.org, up and I’ll also make sure I share that at the end as well.

Sonya White:
I’d like to walk you through our presentation today and see how you might also be able to help your students with disabilities find employment. So, let’s get started.

Sonya White:
Today, I’m going to be describing what Project Accessful is all about and why it’s so important. I will also give you a tour of the website so that you can become familiar with some of the components and elaborate a little bit more on the programming specifics and the job placements that occurred. I will also share a short video that highlights some of the successes of the students that were achieved in our first year. And of course, not that anyone in the education space needs a description of the impacts of COVID in the last 12 months, but I will try to explain how we arrived here today with the introduction of the Facilitator Manual. And again, as I mentioned earlier, please write down any questions or comments that you might have so that you can share them with us at the end.

Sonya White:
Re-imagining student success through Accessibility was the goal for the initiative, led by OSSTF and its members in district 19 in Peel. The project was funded by the Ministry for Seniors and Accessibility through An Enabling Change grant for both the 2018, 2019 and 2019, 2020 academic years. Accessful was really designed to improve summer employment for grade 10 to 12 students with disabilities, not only to diversify the workplace, but to also grow a stronger culture of acceptance within the province, which really exemplifies the goals of the AODA, the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act.

Sonya White:
Year two plans were significantly altered due to COVID, which I’ll touch on a little later, but looking ahead for these students, we really need to set them up for securing employment after they finished their time in school and whether they go directly into the workplace after high school, or if they pursue post-secondary. The research out of the University of Wisconsin-Madison tells us that having one paid job in high school is the best predictor of future employment for people with disabilities.

Sonya White:
Now, just to give you some background information, in terms of the rationale for the project, the statistics around unemployment rates for youth with disabilities are quite problematic. As of 2012, the rates in Ontario were about 30%, which is really almost two times higher than that of youth without disabilities. Those statistics have become even more challenging since the onset of the pandemic. Overall, people with disabilities have been disproportionately affected by COVID impacts.

Sonya White:
If we look at the most recent data, there are some interesting takeaways from Statistics Canada. The Canadian survey on disabilities is conducted every five years. Now, I should note that the 2017 data really can’t be compared to 2012 and that’s simply because the sampling frame for those two surveys differed. So, although the unemployment rate I just shared was a reflection of 2012, the 2017 report certainly doesn’t show any improvements with the unemployment rates for youth with disabilities.

Sonya White:
If we look at one of the key 2017 findings, the majority of youth with disabilities, that’s 77% actually, have a mental health related or a learning disability. In fact, 87% of that population is either not in school or unemployed. Now this stat only gives insight into mental health-related and learning disabilities. It doesn’t look at the other types of disabilities, but it will be interesting to see what the next survey reports to include the impact of COVID. That just gives you some background information.

Sonya White:
Let’s return to Accessful’s programming. So, who was involved and what was their role? Accessful taps all the key stakeholder groups to break down employment barriers. By hosting symposia with each stakeholder group, we were able to generate resources that met the particular needs of each group.

Sonya White:
For those of you unfamiliar with Open Space technology, it’s a method for organizing and running meetings where participants are invited to focus on a specific task or question. In this case, it was to identify barriers to employment. So, each symposia was designed to be participant driven, where their voices heard and their ideas guide discussions. The five stakeholder groups are obviously the students, but also parents and guardians, teachers and other educational support workers and representatives from different employers and social agencies.

Sonya White:
I’ll quickly walk you through what the student’s symposia was like. It started with an introduction by the facilitator to explain the purpose of the day and the process that is called Open Space. We had interactive icebreakers, which helped participants feel more comfortable, so they were able to generate ideas for discussion in small groups. Those discussions were recorded and posted on an agenda wall and then we organized breakout sessions where students led the conversation. Teachers helped. They summarized and shared those discussions after on a feedback wall and at the conclusion of each symposia, a document was created. Essentially, it was like a bank of ideas and it summarized the work of the larger group that helped identify what resources were needed.

Sonya White:
But first, I’d like to just give you a little bit of a tour of the website, accessful.org. Up at the top, you can see the various hubs and when I click on Resources, you can see that they are organized based on the different stakeholder groups. So, if I click on Students, we can take a look at some of the content that’s organized in here. There are a number of resources that were created based on the conversations that the students were having during the symposia. Naturally, these resources could be quite valuable for all students. For example, your mandatory Grade 10 Careers class, or even in your co-op sections. Things like helping students identify their transferable skills and what do I do with my non-paid work experience? How to write a resume.

Sonya White:
Let’s just open one up and take an example. Here is a resume worksheet. So, for students who don’t have a resume, how do we get started? I can click on this little icon and you could be showing this content in your classroom, helping them to explain how they’re going to organize some of their experience to help them get started with creating their resume. Students can click on this little key icon to download the resource, which is a fillable PDF.

Sonya White:
If I just go back to Resources for a second, again, there’s a variety of resources for parents. There’s other resources, as well, too. Now, some of these might be sort of geographically specific. But for example, the Federal Government Job Bank would be relevant for any parent in any school board.

Sonya White:
Once we had all of our resources posted and live on the website, we were ready then to begin the next phase of the project, which was In-School Programming. Let’s take a little look at that.

Sonya White:
The In-School Programming was really a significant piece to the success of the program. In fact, the students who participated in the one-on-one or the small group settings, actually secured 90% of the job placements that we were able to secure for the first year. The pilot year invited 15 selected schools to participate with the goal of trying to secure 50 job placements. But, 72 were actually obtained that first year and again, 90% of those job placements went to students who took part in the In-School Programming component. So, there were five schools that continued with the In-School Programming after the symposia. That’s almost an average of 13 students gaining employment per school, which is almost half of a population of one co-op class. And again, let’s remember what the research says about having that first paid job. Those students just achieved that very important milestone in their employment history.

Sonya White:
Now, there are three short videos on the website and I’d actually like to show you the last final video, which showcases the success of those students in those summer jobs. So, let’s take a look.

Speaker 2:
Trying to find a job as a team can be really tough and when you have a disability, it can feel even more challenging. Accessful’s In-School Programming helps students with disabilities overcome this challenge and it was an amazing experience to watch them grow as young adults and experience success in their first summer job.

Speaker 2:
Telling an employer about a disability is a deeply personal decision. Some disabilities are visible, but there are so many identified disabilities like ADHD, anxiety, or hearing loss that we wouldn’t notice just by looking at the individual.

James:
My name is James and I’m 17 years old. The disability I have is a Cerebral Palsy. Specifically, it is [Hemiplegia 00:12:37], meaning that one side is affected. So, in this case, my right arm and right leg.

James:
One thing I would say to an employer is that we’re just like everyone else. We’re just like everyone else, even if we have mobility issues. That doesn’t mean that we’re not who we are at heart. That shouldn’t be the first thing that you see. We may need a few more accommodations, sure. But, that doesn’t mean that we can’t do what we want to do.

Sara Siddiqui:
That’s, I guess, one thing that we really tapped on is that just be confident in whatever approach you take. Yes, there is limitations or barriers that you’re facing, but at the same time, you should focus on your accommodations and your abilities rather than the fidelity.

Angel:
My name is Angel. I am 17.

Melissa:
My name’s Melissa. I work as the Summer Camp Supervisor at Kinetics.

Melissa:
Really great at taking initiative. She’s always smiling, always making jokes. She makes it really fun to work.

Melissa:
It’s a really good opportunity, not only for us, but for them. We really love, here at Kinetics, giving students and young youth an opportunity to gain experience, find out what they like, things that they want to do in the future. It’s also a really great way to find new ways of thinking. We found that with all of the staff that we’ve hired, we’ve found new ways of doing things, new ways of thinking, new ways to approach situations, so they definitely give that to us as well.

Isabella:
My name’s Isabella and I’m 16 years old. I really thought I couldn’t for the summer job because it was, I had like… I can’t really speak to people that well, or do quick math.

Isabella:
One thing that helped me with you guys. You guys helped me a lot for this because I never really thought I was going to get a summer job at all. But, you guys helped me a lot to get this job and put me in the right path on how to get it, helped me with my resume. These are the things that you guys do to help me with this.

Isabella:
Yeah. My family is really proud of me for getting a job. They’re surprised and proud and they find it hilarious each time I say I’m going to work tomorrow.

Maula:
Has a lot of self doubt and that’s one of the things I realized with youth, such as my son, Stephan, that he struggles in identifying his strengths.

Maula:
What I would say it’s an investment in our children and especially children who are vulnerable, who may have some challenges in life. They need to see that they can be successful and they have the skills and know how, how to be successful.

Speaker 9:
I think ultimately, there needs to be confidence and understanding both with the employee and the employer so that these students can have the same chances as everyone else. They’ll prove they’re worthy of that chance. We all want to feel we have something to contribute, that we have purpose. And I think we help students find their voice, so employers see them for who they are and what they can offer.

James:
All we’re looking for is a level playing field.

Sonya White:
The 2019, 2020 school year started with labor relations and was talked off with the onset of the pandemic, which saw everything in education, and our world really, change quite dramatically. Accessful was executing Year Two of programming in the same District 19 schools and many new locations that heard about the success of the program from the summer before. Yet, with COVID related restrictions, helping students secure summer employment for 2020 simply wasn’t possible. We saw March break extensions, In-Person learning shift to remote learning and ultimately the school year was canceled earlier than normal. The job market, well, it experienced a significant downturn for so many people and the health and safety of students really was the first priority, which understandably meant that summer jobs would have to wait until 2021.

Sonya White:
Well, that led us to create a Facilitator’s Manual. Interested schools can use the resources to help plan and host their own local symposia. Elevate your local stakeholder voices, especially youth with disabilities by downloading it from the website at accessful.org. As you can see, there are many resources from template letters, to PowerPoint slides, to summer job visit suggestions.

Sonya White:
Specifically, planning and timeline of events really identifies, how do you identify your project lead at the board level, recruiting team members and your various community partners, how do you plan the symposia and any of the related activities, how do you reach out and solicit interest in schools to participate, specifics on how to begin a communication strategy and even your Twitter campaign. Then of course, executing the symposia and the implementation of In-School Programming with ultimately, the followup at job sites.

Sonya White:
Thank you for joining us today to learn about Accessful and the Facilitator Manual and please send us any comments or questions by September 7^th at our email inquiries@accessful.org.

Sonya White:
Of course, your feedback is always helpful when we try to obtain future funding so that our work supporting youth with disabilities can continue. Please be sure to include your name and your school board.

Sonya White:
This concludes our recorded presentation describing Project Accessful and the Facilitator’s Manual.