Tennessee
This Executive Order directs state agencies to coordinate efforts to increase competitive integrated employment for Tennesseans with disabilities, and convenes an Employment First Task Force to identify barriers and best practices for increasing competitive integrated employment opportunities in the state.
This Executive Order reconstitutes the state Workforce Development Board, which includes one representative of a community-based organization that has demonstrated experience and expertise in addressing the employment, training or education needs of individuals with barriers to employment, including providing competitive integrated employment to individuals with disabilities.
This Executive Order establishes the Tennessee Council on Developmental Disabilities, which includes a representative from the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services. The Council is tasked with undertaking advocacy, capacity building and systemic change activities to support Tennesseans with developmental disabilities.
This bill requires postsecondary education institutions to develop, procure, maintain and use electronic instructional materials and related information technology that is accessible to individuals with disabilities. It further requires the Tennessee Higher Education Commission to convene an Accessibility Task Force, which includes representatives from disability advocacy and experts in accessible technology.
This bill furthers the policy of the state to encourage and assist individuals with severe disabilities to achieve maximum personal independence through useful, productive and gainful employment by assuring expanded competitive integrated employment opportunities. In addition, it creates a Committee for Providing Competitive Integrated Employment for Individuals with Severe Disabilities, which provides oversight to a central nonprofit agency in employing individuals with severe disabilities.
This bill establishes the Katie Beckett Program, which provides essential wraparound services for children with disabilities and their families to plan and prepare children (under the age of 18) for transition to employment and community living with as much independence as possible.
This bill requires the State Board of Education to adopt an alternate academic diploma for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities who are assessed with the state's alternate assessment, and requires the diploma to be aligned with the requirements for a regular high school diploma.
This bill requires the Department of Transportation to create and administer the Office of Accessible Transportation and Mobility, to expand and improve accessible transportation and mobility across the state. The bill requires the office to consult with consumers of accessible transportation as well as professionals with experience in transportation, disability, and aging in developing its mission, scope, and strategic plan.
This bill creates an interagency committee for providing competitive integrated employment for individuals with severe disabilities, which includes a parent of a child with disabilities.
This bill authorizes the Division of Rehabilitation Services to contract with a public or private entity to provide services to vocational rehabilitation program clients and to establish and operate a statewide comprehensive rehabilitation and training center at Smyrna.
This bill: 1. Requires each student's IEP to include age-appropriate transition assessments related to education, training and employment for students age 14 and older; 2. Requires each student's IEP to include pre-vocational assessments for students in kindergarten through grade six; 3. Authorizes the Tennessee School for the Blind to implement programs and install facilities for career and technical education; and 4. Authorizes the Commissioner of Education to establish a work training program for adults who are blind or visually impaired.
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: Tennessee Department of Treasury
Entity Type: State Agency / Office
The Office of Student Success and Office of Academic Affairs have been engaging community and technical college campuses in dialogue, training, and assessment activities to make educational resources more accessible to more students, including those with disabilities. This includes assessing each campus' educational materials to meet accessibility standards and training faculty and staff on how to make materials accessible.
Operating Entity: The College System of Tennessee
Entity Type: College / University
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: Tennessee Department of Human Services, Tennessee Technology Access Program (TTAP)
Entity Type: State Agency / Office
This program provides consultation and information for those receiving disability benefits, who need help understanding eligibility and the impact work may have on their benefits.
Operating Entity: Tennessee Disability Coalition
Entity Type: Non-Profit / Community Organization
The Business Enterprise Program helps people who are blind become food service or vending operators.
Operating Entity: Tennessee Department of Human Services, Division of Rehabilitation Services
Entity Type: State Agency / Office
This program helps individuals with disabilities find jobs in Tennessee’s growing health care industry. It provides job training in a mock CVS Pharmacy inside the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation's Tennessee Rehabilitation Center (TRC), which leads to consideration for a career with CVS Health. It is a partnership between CVS and the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation.
Operating Entity: --
Entity Type: Multi-Stakeholder Project
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 Law and Advocacy Center
Entity Type: Non-Profit / Community Organization
The Council on Development Disabilities convenes state agencies to discuss transition services for students with disabilities. The goals of the Roundtable are to increase communication across agencies, better support individuals with their employment goals, and increase employment outcomes among people with developmental disabilities across the state.
Operating Entity: Tennessee Council on Developmental Disabilities
Entity Type: Other
This program provides services to help people with intellectual and developmental disabilities become employed and live independently. It follows an integrated, home and community-based services program, aligning incentives toward promoting and supporting integrated, competitive employment and independent living.
Operating Entity: Tennessee Division of TennCare
Entity Type: State Agency / Office
This program includes six inclusive higher education programs for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities on college campuses across Tennessee. These non-degree programs enable students to take college courses, have internships and jobs, and build relationships with their peers, with the goal of developing employment and independent living skills and experiencing a variety of potential work environments.
Operating Entity: --
Entity Type: Multi-Stakeholder Project
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 supported employment services to individuals with mental illness and substance-related disorders, including those with other diagnoses.
Operating Entity: Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, Division of Mental Health Services
Entity Type: State Agency / Office
Job Club is a safe place where young adults and adults with disabilities who are working or want to work come together to share their experiences and problem solve together. Job Club topics have included skill identification, turning hobbies into paid work, resume writing, dressing for success, interview skills, working with difficult bosses, customer and co-workers, and more.
Operating Entity: The Arc of Tennessee
Entity Type: Non-Profit / Community Organization
This diploma is available for students with an Individualized Education Plan (IEP), and requires them to meet or exceed performance levels on specific skills and complete two years of paid or unpaid work experience.
Operating Entity: Tennessee Department of Education
Entity Type: State Agency / Office
This program supports Parent Training and Information Centers and Community Parent Resource Centers in 12 southern states. Services include one-to-one consultations, trainings and webinars, peer-to-peer mentoring, site visits, non-profit management tools, and more.
Operating Entity: Parent to Parent of Georgia
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: TN STEP (Support and Training for Exceptional Parents)
Entity Type: Non-Profit / Community Organization
PFTN is a grassroots membership disability rights group led by self-advocates with the goal of empowering people with disabilities to have voices in addressing issues of equality that affect them. PFTN teaches youth and adults with disabilities about their legal rights and responsibilities, how to become effective self-advocates, and the power of self-determination.
Operating Entity: The Arc of Tennessee
Entity Type: Non-Profit / Community Organization
This self-advocacy initiative develops a corps of trainers, who themselves receive disability support services through a Medicaid waiver, to teach advocacy skills to other individuals who receive similar services. The training helps individuals with disabilities become more active in developing and implementing their individual service plans.
Operating Entity: Tennessee Council on Developmental Disabilities
Entity Type: Other
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
The Department of Education offers three courses to better prepare students with disabilities to enter into postsecondary education or training, employment, community involvement, and independent living, with an emphasis on understanding how to navigate postsecondary service systems. The courses are Introduction to Self-Determination, Focus on Adulthood, and Planning for Postsecondary.
Operating Entity: Tennessee Department of Education
Entity Type: State Agency / Office
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
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
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 Tennessee
Entity Type: Non-Profit / Community Organization
This program trains and upskills vocational rehabilitation counselors, including counselors who specifically work with deaf individuals.
Operating Entity: University of Tennessee
Entity Type: College / University
This program offers rehabilitation services including vocational evaluation, situational assessments, training, and job readiness classes to prepare individuals with disabilities for employment. Clients have opportunities to engage with business through internships, externships, job tours, job shadowing, and mentoring. Services are offered at seventeen Community Tennessee Rehabilitation Centers (CTRCs) across the state.
Operating Entity: Tennessee Department of Human Services, Division of Rehabilitation Services
Entity Type: State Agency / Office
S-TEC tracks employment activities and keep providers informed and trained in Tennessee employment policies and practices, in order to increase the employment rate of people served by the Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (DIDD). The group receives a monthly update from DIDD, Vocational Rehabilitation, TennCare, the TennesseeWorks Partnership, and at least one TN employment provider.
Operating Entity: --
Entity Type: Multi-Stakeholder Project
This program provides individuals the opportunity to earn living wages and other employment benefits, develop new skills, increase community participation, and increase self-esteem, empowerment and quality of life.
Operating Entity: Easterseals Tennessee
Entity Type: Non-Profit / Community Organization
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
This project helps Tennessee's state and local educational agencies, teachers, related service providers, and families address education, related services, transition, and early intervention needs of children who are deaf-blind (DB) to ensure that these children will graduate from high school ready for college and a career.
Operating Entity: Vanderbilt University
Entity Type: College / University
This program provides consultation and mentoring to intellectual and developmental disability providers around the state as they transition people with disabilities from sheltered workshops to competitive integrated employment opportunities in the community.
Operating Entity: Tennessee Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (DIDD)
Entity Type: State Agency / Office
The Tennessee Inclusive Higher Education Alliance meets quarterly to increase the postsecondary educational opportunities for students with disabilities. It is comprised of representatives from state and local agencies, self-advocates and family members, representatives from colleges and universities in Tennessee, and business owners.
Operating Entity: --
Entity Type: Multi-Stakeholder Project
This program enables students with disabilities to choose and engage in areas of study that all have an emphasis on work-based learning and community integration through volunteer, practicum, and internship opportunities with business and industry. Upon completion of all courses, students receive a certificate of completion and have the opportunity to obtain national certifications and licenses that are industry-recognized, portable, and/or stackable.
Operating Entity: Tennessee Department of Human Services, Division of Rehabilitation Services
Entity Type: State Agency / Office
This program provides training and professional development to families who have children with disabilities, transition-age students with disabilities, teachers, and related service providers who work with transition-age youth. It includes transition information fairs, transition planning activities and workshops, and provides information to families who first language is not English.
Operating Entity: TN STEP (Support and Training for Exceptional Parents)
Entity Type: Non-Profit / Community Organization
This program provides vocational rehabilitation services to eligible and potentially eligible high school students with disabilities who are interested in employment after leaving high school. The goal is a smooth, seamless transition from high school to post-high school career development and/or employment.
Operating Entity: Tennessee Department of Human Services, Division of Rehabilitation Services
Entity Type: State Agency / Office
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: --
Entity Type: Multi-Stakeholder Project
This webpage provides hotlines to call to discuss mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic and links to several other pages and documents addressing COVID's impact on mental health.
Operating Entity: Tennessee Department of Health
Topic(s): Mental Health
This school guidance document provides educators the resources and information they need to continue services to students with disabilities through distance learning. It includes specific guidelines for instructing students with disabilities virtually, evaluating students for special needs, conducting IEP reviews virtually, and providing compensatory education to qualifying students with disabilities. It also lists educational and policy resources for educators of students with disabilities
Operating Entity: Tennessee Department of Education
The purpose of the Postsecondary Transition Toolkit is to assist districts and schools in planning, executing, and monitoring key actions and metrics to ensure students stay on track for postsecondary success during this extraordinary time. For clarity and coherence, the initial draft will focus on three cohorts: recent 2020 graduates, rising seniors, and rising juniors. The guidance in this document is built on the assumption that it will be necessary for districts and schools to shift numerous services from traditional in person courses to a virtual distance learning format or hybrid approach at the beginning of the school year or in response to a potential future closure.
Operating Entity: Tennessee Department of Education
Topic(s): Transition
While tasked with forward thinking about safety and logistics, schools must also prioritize equity while developing their operational structures and programming for all students, including students with disabilities and English learners. This toolkit focuses on re-opening strategies that are specifically targeted toward providing meaningful educational opportunities and services to our special populations. The questions and considerations in this toolkit are intended to be a guide for districts as they make plans to support all learners.
Operating Entity: Tennessee Department of Education
The Tennessee Department of Education responded to questions that were collected from superintendents and special education supervisors regarding IEPs and other special education services. The information provided pertains to the guidelines for virtual IEP meetings, the guidelines for providing extended school year services, and adjustments made to IEP plans in response to COVID-19,
Operating Entity: Tennessee Department of Education
Topic(s): IEP