This Executive Order directs the Secretary of Administration to ensure that a program is in place to increase awareness of legal protections for people with disabilities in order to allow individuals with disabilities to apply for employment, perform the essential functions of their jobs and enjoy the privileges and benefits of employment.
Topic(s): Connecting Activities
This bill establishes that it is the policy of the state that competitive integrated employment is considered the first option when serving people with disabilities of working age, and requires all state agencies to coordinate and collaborate to ensure that state programs, policies, procedures and funding support competitive integrated employment.
This program enables individuals with disabilities, service providers and others to learn about, access, and acquire assistive technology needed for education, employment, and community living. Services include device demonstrations, reutilization, loans, and financing.
Operating Entity: Kansas University, Assistive Technology for Kansans (ATK)
Entity Type: College / University
Topic(s): Connecting Activities
The Business Enterprise Program helps people who are blind become food service or vending operators.
Operating Entity: Kansas Department for Children and Families, Rehabilitation Services
Entity Type: State Agency / Office
Topic(s): Career Prep & Work-Based Learning
CAP helps individuals who experience problems when applying for or receiving vocational rehabilitation or independent living services. This includes advising and informing individuals of their rights and providing advocacy services.
Operating Entity: Disability Rights Center of Kansas
Entity Type: Non-Profit / Community Organization
Topic(s): Connecting Activities
This program provides transition services to all Kansas School for the Deaf students, including individual and personalized career counseling, beginning when students are in the 7th grade. It also involves working directly with students' families to best prepare students for work opportunities.
Operating Entity: Kansas State Department of Education, Kansas School for the Deaf
Entity Type: State Agency / Office
Topic(s): Family Engagement, School-Based Prep
This program offers a number of virtual and in-person day-long trainings to help transition-age youth with disabilities acquire necessary skills. Topics include learning to navigate employment networks, creating and setting boundaries in adult relationships, learning to live independently, and more.
Operating Entity: Kansas Youth Empowerment Academy
Entity Type: Non-Profit / Community Organization
This program helps out-of-school youth with disabilities find jobs in competitive integrated settings. Participants are connected with entry-level jobs with a chance for advancement, and the program compensates employers for payroll expenses.
Operating Entity: Cerebral Palsy Research Foundation
Entity Type: Non-Profit / Community Organization
Topic(s): Career Prep & Work-Based Learning
This seven-month program teaches transition-age youth self-advocacy and leadership skills, including around communicating their goals, learning to be leaders, and giving back to their communities.
Operating Entity: Kansas Youth Empowerment Academy
Entity Type: Non-Profit / Community Organization
Topic(s): Youth Development & Leadership
This program helps individuals on the Autism spectrum or with other developmental disabilities develop work skills, social connections, and advocacy skills, and identify work opportunities.
Operating Entity: Independent Living Resource Center
Entity Type: Non-Profit / Community Organization
This eight-week program takes place in high school special education programs in Kansas City and provides students with skills and resources for transitioning from high school to adulthood.
Operating Entity: The Whole Person
Entity Type: Non-Profit / Community Organization
Topic(s): School-Based Prep
This program provides a range of independent living services to people with disabilities at Centers for Independent Living across the state. Services include help connecting to local services, assistance with job searches, local transit skills training, assistive technology help, peer mentoring support, assistance with school-to-career transitions, self-advocacy help, and more.
Operating Entity: --
Entity Type: Multi-Stakeholder Project
This program provides workforce services to people living in regions that lack a permanent workforce center, including career counseling, resume assistance, career development workshops, skills training, and more. Centers are ADA compliant and feature computer labs and internet access.
Operating Entity: Kansas Department of Commerce
Entity Type: State Agency / Office
Topic(s): Career Prep & Work-Based Learning
This program provides multiple services to Kansas residents who are deaf or hard of hearing, including interpreter services, legal advocacy services, referral to job finding services, training with assistive technology, and more.
Operating Entity: Kansas Department for Children and Families, Kansas Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Entity Type: State Agency / Office
Topic(s): Connecting Activities
This program enables eligible individuals with disabilities to save money in a tax-exempt account that may be used for qualified disability expenses while keeping their eligibility for federally-funded, means-tested public benefits. Eligible expenses include education, employment training and support, and assistive technology.
Operating Entity: Kansas State Treasurer's Office
Entity Type: State Agency / Office
Topic(s): Connecting Activities
This program helps farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural workers with disabilities attain gainful employment in production agriculture or a related occupation, access appropriate assistive technology needed for work and daily living activities, and more.
Operating Entity: --
Entity Type: Multi-Stakeholder Project
The Kansas Deaf-Blind Project program provides services to families, educators, and interveners to support individuals who are deaf-blind. This includes providing assistance related to transition planning. The project is a partnership between the Kansas Department of Education, Kansas School for the Deaf, Kansas School for the Blind, and multiple state and national non-profit organizations.
Operating Entity: --
Entity Type: Multi-Stakeholder Project
This program provides a range of vocational services to individuals with disabilities, including services specifically for transition-age youth. This includes offering Pre-Employment Transition Services, connecting youth with disabilities to employment opportunities, providing career counseling, empowering youth to earn high wage and in-demand jobs, and connecting with in-school services for youth with disabilities.
Operating Entity: Kansas Department for Children and Families, Rehabilitation Services
Entity Type: State Agency / Office
KYLF is a five-day forum in which high school juniors and seniors with disabilities learn about leadership, advocacy, and goal setting on a local university campus.
Operating Entity: Kansas Youth Empowerment Academy
Entity Type: Non-Profit / Community Organization
Topic(s): Youth Development & Leadership
The Clinical Counseling: Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling program prepares vocational rehabilitation service providers to serve rural Kansas. The program prepares students to provide pre-employment, employment, and vocational support services to persons with physical, intellectual, sensory, and mental-emotional disabilities.
Operating Entity: Emporia State University
Entity Type: College / University
This program trains service providers on secondary education and transition competencies for assisting youth with disabilities, with a specific focus on helping youth shift from high school education to post-secondary employment.
Operating Entity: Kansas University
Entity Type: College / University
This program supports Parent Training and Information Centers and Community Parent Resource Centers in 16 midwestern and western states. Services include one-to-one consultations, trainings and webinars, peer-to-peer mentoring, site visits, non-profit management tools, and more.
Operating Entity: WI FACETS
Entity Type: Non-Profit / Community Organization
This program provides a variety of direct services for children and youth with disabilities, families, professionals, and other organizations that support them. This includes helping parents participate effectively in their children’s education and development and partnering with professionals and policymakers to improve outcomes for children with disabilities.
Operating Entity: Families Together Inc.
Entity Type: Non-Profit / Community Organization
These programs offer students with intellectual disabilities an opportunity to take college classes, engage in career development and independent living activities, and participate in the social life of a college campus.
Operating Entity: --
Entity Type: Multi-Stakeholder Project
Pre-ETS assist students with disabilities in identifying career interests and developing skills to be successful in the workplace. This includes five required activities: job exploration counseling, work-based learning experiences, workplace readiness training, counseling on comprehensive transition or postsecondary educational programs, and instruction in self-advocacy.
Operating Entity: --
Entity Type: Multi-Stakeholder Project
Project SEARCH is a one-year transition-to-work program for students with significant disabilities that includes classroom instruction, career exploration, and internship rotations. It is a collaboration between local businesses, state agencies, local school systems, and other entities, and is offered at several locations.
Operating Entity: --
Entity Type: Multi-Stakeholder Project
Topic(s): Career Prep & Work-Based Learning
This program protects individuals with disabilities by empowering them and advocating on their behalf. This includes providing information and referrals, providing training and technical assistance to service providers, and conducting self-advocacy training.
Operating Entity: Disability Rights Center of Kansas
Entity Type: Non-Profit / Community Organization
This program helps youth with IEPs transition from high school to post-secondary life by teaching basic life skills and preparing students to navigate college life, handle finances, navigate legal concerns, and search for employment.
Operating Entity: Prairie Independent Living Resource Center (PILR)
Entity Type: Non-Profit / Community Organization
This program provides culturally relevant vocational rehabilitation services to assist Alaska Native and American Indian individuals with disabilities residing on or near reservations in the state to prepare for and engage in gainful employment. Program services are provided under an individualized plan for employment.
Operating Entity: Prairie Band of Potawatomi Nation Tribal Government
Entity Type: Other
Topic(s): Career Prep & Work-Based Learning
This program help out-of-school and in-school youth with one or more barriers to employment (including having a disability) prepare for and secure employment and postsecondary education opportunities. Services include tutoring; work experiences; occupational skills training; leadership development opportunities; and postsecondary education and training preparation activities.
Operating Entity: --
Entity Type: Multi-Stakeholder Project
This program helps individuals with disabilities who are receiving Social Security Disability benefits make informed choices about work and make a successful transition to self-sufficiency.
Operating Entity: Easterseals Nebraska
Entity Type: Non-Profit / Community Organization
Topic(s): Connecting Activities
This program gives people with disabilities who are working or interested in working the opportunity to keep Medicaid coverage while on the job.
Operating Entity: KanCare
Entity Type: State Agency / Office
Topic(s): Connecting Activities
YEP helps individuals with disabilities, ages 15-21, prepare for and achieve long-term employment. It enables youth to gain work experience by connecting them with members of the business community and paying their wages.
Operating Entity: Independence Inc.
Entity Type: Non-Profit / Community Organization
Topic(s): Career Prep & Work-Based Learning
This program teaches youth with disabilities skills related to financial planning, finding services in their community, finding and advocating for accessible housing, and talking to family members about wants and needs. It also includes Pre-Employment Transition Services.
Operating Entity: Independent Connection Inc.
Entity Type: Non-Profit / Community Organization
Kansas provides an updated FAQ document pertaining to legal aspects of school closures and distance learning. Specifically, it discusses new applicable laws and legal adjustments due to the COVID-19 pandemic for the provision of special education services in Kansas schools, as well as how schools should adjust distance learning to adhere to legal requirements.
Operating Entity: Kansas Department of Education
Topic(s): Distance Learning
Kansas created a document that provides general distance learning guidance. It requires that schools provide students with IEPs materials required by IEP plans, as well as adjusting IEP plans to COVID-19 related complications if necessary. It also requires teachers to modify instructional materials to best ensure that students with disabilities have access to instructional information.
Operating Entity: Kansas Department of Education
Topic(s): Distance Learning
This document developed by the Kansas Department of Education provides examples of IEP modifications during the COVID-19 pandemic. More specifically, it addresses the frequency, location, and duration of accommodations and modifications on the IEP.
Operating Entity: Kansas Department of Education
Topic(s): IEP
This Frequently Asked Questions document clarifies what post-COVID is and provides links to patient advocacy and support groups.
Operating Entity: Shawnee County Health System
Topic(s): Long-COVID
Kansas provides an FAQ document pertaining to legal aspects of school closures and distance learning. Specifically, it discusses applicable laws and legal adjustments for the provision of special education services in Kansas schools, as well as how schools should adjust distance learning to adhere to legal requirements.
Operating Entity: Kansas Department of Education
Topic(s): Distance Learning
The Kansas Technical Assistance System Network (TASN) created a web page that shares a wide variety of resources that can be helpful in implementing local Navigating Change plans. The web page is to support the guidance provided by the Kansas State Department of Education.
Operating Entity: Kansas Technical Assistance System Network (TASN)
Topic(s): Distance Learning, Family Engagement
The Kansas Department of Education released guidance on how schools ensure compliance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the Kansas Special Education for Exceptional Children Act for Reopening Schools during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The guidance answers frequently asked questions such as how to ensure the least restrictive environment or how the IEP team is to make a decision about distance vs. in person learning.
Operating Entity: Kansas Department of Education
Topic(s): Distance Learning, IEP
This webpage mainly details the symptoms of Post-COVID Syndrome and directs readers to University resources.
Operating Entity: University of Kansas Health System
Topic(s): Long-COVID