Dr. Blanck and BBI have undertaken a number of projects to study corporate practices and the employment of persons with disabilities. Exploration of these issues, through the development of scientifically rigorous and externally valid research standards, and company case studies derived from these standards, helps to address the gap in field research and strives to positively influence the employment of people with disabilities.
Americans with disabilities have significantly lower levels of employment than their non-disabled peers. Prior study of employment rates among people with disabilities generally has relied on a “supply-side” approach, analyzing how personal characteristics predict employment and earnings. These models have not sufficiently analyzed variables related to employer demand (and the interaction of employer demand/supply and the environment) as predictors of employment outcomes for people with disabilities. Thus, there is a need to systematically understand demand characteristics for qualified workers with disabilities, particularly as work requirements change over time.
The National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) has granted BBI and its partners five-year funding to conduct scientifically rigorous and evidence-based research to develop, identify, and evaluate employment demand-side models. The partnership is an unprecedented nationwide collaboration of economists, statisticians, and leading experts in law, public and disability policy, corporate culture, applied life studies, technology, and education. Project partners will translate findings into valid and practical tools for large and small businesses in different market sectors to improve employment outcomes.
Fall 2006, BBI received a $500,000, 18-month grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP). The project, "Disability Case Study Research Consortium on Employer Organizational Practices in Employing People with Disabilities," will investigate connections between corporate practices and the employment of people with disabilities.
A three-year research and dissemination project (2008-2011), funded by the U.S. Department of Education - National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), that will advance the economic self-sufficiency of youth in transition and working-age adults with disabilities by exploring ways to promote income production, saving and asset building by individuals with disabilities. This project will also build on our Asset and Tax Policy Project funded by NIDRR over the past five years and support continuation of the monthly e-newsletter Equity, published by the World Institute on Disability.
This five-year project, ending October 31, 2008, is funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) and unites organizations serving persons with disabilities with credit unions and other financial institutions to produce groundbreaking research on barriers and opportunities of tax and public policies.
The Burton Blatt Institute is partnering with the Southeast Disability and Business Technical Assistance Center (DBTAC) for the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on three exemplary projects to enhance and further disseminate their cutting edge work in serving an eight-state geographic region (Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, and Tennessee).
The recent events of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita left devastated the lives of thousands of people in the Gulf Coast region. People with disabilities in this region were among some of those who experienced the most profound impact of the disaster. In September 2005, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) provided assistance to the states affected by the devastation of Hurricane Katrina by deploying a team of Disability Program Navigators (DPN) to the region. The goal of the DPNs dispatched to Louisiana and Mississippi was to work within the states’ workforce development systems and rehabilitation agencies to identify individuals with disabilities and to provide them with resources and assistance that would enable them to obtain necessary resources and benefits, and to resume, or to obtain, employment.
The Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans program provides cutting edge, experiential training in entrepreneurship and small business management to post-9/11 veterans with disabilities, and is offered entirely free to qualified veterans accepted into the program. Applications for the EBV are accepted on a rolling admissions basis, which means the application process is always open. However, while there are no application deadlines, admission is on a first-come, first-served basis.
To create disability-related curriculum and assist participants in understanding and leveraging programs at the intersection of disability and entrepreneurship, BBI is a collabortive partner in the EBV, which was started in 2007 by the Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University and expanded in 2008 through a national partnership.
The Burton Blatt Institute and the State of Israel’s Ministry of Social Affairs and Services have signed a historic agreement to work together to expand the scope and reach of disability rights in Israel and the United States.
The Burton Blatt Institute: Centers of Innovation on Disability at Syracuse University (BBI) kicked off its Fall Luncheon Lecture series, in furtherance of the partnership in exchanging experts to advance the agenda for people with disabilities in both countries.
Research has shown there is a demand for trained information technology (IT) workers. Research also shows the percentage of working individuals with disabilities in substantially lower than the percentage of working people without disability. The goal of IT Works is to increase the employment of individuals with disabilities in IT-related jobs, reducing the shortage of trained IT workers and increasing the employment of individuals with disabilities. Towards this goal, the project will Identify barriers to and facilitators of the hiring, retention, advancement, and wages of individuals with disabilities, test strategies to improve hiring, retention, advancement and wages of individuals with disabilities, and provide training and disseminate research findings.
The mission of the Technical Assistance and Continuing Education (TACE) Center Region IV (Southeast TACE) is to improve the quality and effectiveness of vocational rehabilitation services and enhance employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities. This project is a collaboration with the DBTAC: Southeast ADA Center, which provides information, training, and resources on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Both Southeast Region Centers are managed by the Burton Blatt Institute (BBI).
The Southeast Region TACE Center is comprised of a Learning Consortium of nationally recognized educators and researchers from various universities such as East Carolina University, Hofstra University, and Syracuse University, vocational rehabilitation (VR) administrators, rehabilitation services providers, employers and advocates throughout the eight southeastern states. In addition, the Southeast Region TACE Center has a number of expert consultants from the fields of disability, rehabilitation and employment. Among them are: Robert (Bobby) Silverstein, Joe Skiba, Marc Gold and Associates with Michael Callahan and Norciva Shumpert, and Harold Thornton.
The Southeast Region TACE Center is funded by the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA), of the U.S. Department of Education.
Start-UP NY is an unprecedented community collaboration to increase self-employment among people with disabilities living in Onondaga County. It is one of three national technical assistance centers on self-employment for people with disabilities funded by the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Disability Policy (ODEP). This three-year, $3 million project to create self-employment options for people with diverse disabilities throughout Onondaga County to establish, grow and sustain their businesses is led by the Onondaga County Offices of Social Services & Economic Development, in partnership with: The Burton Blatt Institute (BBI) at Syracuse University; The Falcone Center for Entrepreneurship, affiliated with the Department of Entrepreneurship and Emerging Enterprises (EEE) at the Martin J. Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University; The Southside Entrepreneurial Connect Project; and Partners from various business, human services, and economic development organizations.
The Gifford Foundation Matched Savings Program for Entrepreneurs provides $1,000 each to 35 individual as part of the Matched Savings Program. The program, paired with intensive education and coaching, aims to help people with disabilities start or expand a small business. A Matched Savings Account, also known as an Individual Development Account (IDA), provides a structured savings plan wherein each dollar a participant saves is matched according to a pre-determined ratio, up to a certain amount.
The purpose of this center is to facilitate the development of real-world, scientifically rigorous knowledge and research on assistive technology and environmental access for persons with disabilities in partnership with disability researchers, disability advocates, community-based organizations, and other disability community members.