The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability and Employment Programs (ODEP) recently selected IIDC as one of 12 award recipients nationwide, who are creating innovative programming and approaches aimed at improving employment outcomes for young adults, ages 12 to 24. ODEP’s Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Youth Solutions initiative identifies and evaluates “innovative and evidence-based actions – including legislative, regulatory and policy changes – that can increase labor force participation and economic success.”

IIDC and its Center on Community Living and Careers (CCLC) were chosen by SSI Youth Solutions thanks to CCLC’s work on Indiana’s new Family Employment Awareness Training (FEAT). CCLC oversees and coordinates FEAT with IN*SOURCE, the state’s parent training and information center. Families, young adults with disabilities, and employment professionals participating in two-day FEAT learn about possibilities, benefits, and systems of support for employment within the state and locally. FEAT, supported in Indiana through the AWS Foundation, is now providing training in five states around the country.

Judith Gross, CCLC director; Stephanie Gage, CCLC coordinator of the Indiana Benefits Information Network project; and George Mason University professor Grace Francis will use ODEP stipends and technical assistance to develop a white paper about Indiana FEAT, which will be shared with federal, state, and local policymakers. Final papers will be presented at a conference in Washington, D.C. in 2021.