Mississippi
This Executive Order requires all state agencies to coordinate and collaborate to ensure that state programs, policies, procedures and funding support competitive integrated employment for people with disabilities.
This bill requires state agencies to consider competitive integrated employment as a first option for people with disabilities, and to coordinate and collaborate to support competitive integrated employment for people with disabilities (including by sharing data and information across systems). It further tasks the Disability Resource Commission with identifying barriers and solutions for increasing competitive integrated employment in the state.
This bill creates a pilot program to establish Education Scholarship Accounts for parents of eligible students with special needs, which can be used to cover tuition, fees and textbooks at a postsecondary institution (among other qualified expenses).
This bill appropriates funds to the Department of Mental Health to provide supportive employment for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
AbilityWorks is a network of community rehabilitation programs that provide vocational assessment, job training, and work experience to individuals with disabilities through an array of contract and subcontract services provided to local business and industry. There are 15 AbilityWorks locations statewide.
Operating Entity: Mississippi Department of Rehabilitation Services
Entity Type: State Agency / Office
The Addie McBryde Rehabilitation Center provides services to help blind, visually impaired, and deaf-blind individuals live and work independently. Services include GED preparation, vocational evaluation, vocational training in emergency dispatch, as well as classes on mobility and orientation, communication, daily living, and other topics.
Operating Entity: Mississippi Department of Rehabilitation Services
Entity Type: State Agency / Office
This program supports opportunities for people with developmental disabilities who are considered leaders to provide leadership training to people with developmental disabilities who may become leaders. The program targets youth and young adults ages 13-24 from traditionally underserved rural impoverished communities and helps them develop self-advocacy skills.
Operating Entity: Wesley Youth Foundation
Entity Type: Non-Profit / Community Organization
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: Mississippi Department of Rehabilitation Services, Project START
Entity Type: State Agency / Office
MDRS provides consultation services to help connect individuals with assistive technology (AT) for work. This includes performing evaluations and assessments for assistive technology needs, setting up AT equipment, providing follow-up evaluations, designing and fabricating original items, and providing specifications and final inspections for AT services.
Operating Entity: Mississippi Department of Rehabilitation Services
Entity Type: State Agency / Office
This program provides assistive technology services to families, educators, employers, and individuals with disabilities. These services include adaptive computer access; adaptive driving; assistive technology for brain trauma, hearing impairments, learning disabilities, and visual impairments; augmentative and alternative communication services; job accommodation technology; home accommodations; and more.
Operating Entity: Mississippi State University, T.K. Martin Center for Technology and Disability
Entity Type: College / University
The Business Enterprise Program helps people who are blind become food service or vending operators.
Operating Entity: Mississippi Department of Rehabilitation Services, Office of Vocational Rehabilitation for the Blind
Entity Type: State Agency / Office
This program trains students who are deaf or hard of hearing to become qualified to enter competitive job markets. It focuses on helping students set and achieve either postsecondary or occupational goals. All students receive national industry certifications upon completing this program.
Operating Entity: Mississippi School for the Deaf
Entity Type: Other
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: Mississippi Society for Disabilities
Entity Type: Non-Profit / Community Organization
This program connects college students with blindness or visual impairment with career-specific mentors six months before graduation. All mentors are legally blind, and help prepare participants for workforce challenges unique to blindness. Additionally, participants receive Mississippi State University credit for participating in this program.
Operating Entity: Mississippi State University, National Research and Training Center on Blindness and Low Vision
Entity Type: College / University
Express Yourself! Art is an art, recreational, and vocational program that seeks to give individuals with disabilities skills to express themselves, explore creative interests, and discover career opportunities in the arts. The program also helps individuals with disabilities build confidence and leadership abilities.
Operating Entity: Mississippi State University, T.K. Martin Center for Technology and Disability
Entity Type: College / University
This program helps train youth with disabilities to be farmers, and helps individuals with developmental disabilities become entrepreneurs of agribusiness. Career training opportunities include farm management, packing shed management, food safety, and alternative production methods such as aquaponics. The program gives graduates discounts on aquaponics or other agricultural systems, to facilitate a career in agriculture.
Operating Entity: Milestone Cooperative
Entity Type: Non-Profit / Community Organization
This program provides workforce training and education to at-risk population groups, including individuals with disabilities. It helps participants attain careers in targeted industries, including advanced manufacturing, healthcare, information technology, logistics, and energy. Participants receive counseling services, literacy training, job skills training, high school equivalency services, work experience, and more.
Operating Entity: Northeast Mississippi Community College
Entity Type: College / University
This program offers support and services for Mississippi residents with intellectual and developmental disabilities or autism spectrum disorder. Eligible participants receive day service supports, pre-vocational support to explore job opportunities, supported employment services, and supported living services.
Operating Entity: Mississippi Department of Mental Health
Entity Type: State Agency / Office
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: LIFE (Living Independence for Everyone) of Mississippi
Entity Type: Non-Profit / Community Organization
This program provides training to rehabilitation counselors in American Sign Language and other communication competencies, to enable them to provide employment services to individuals who are deaf.
Operating Entity: Mississippi Department of Rehabilitation Services
Entity Type: State Agency / Office
This program provides vocational rehabilitation services to individuals with combined hearing and vision loss. Services include supported employment, independent living services, employment connections, transition services, and more.
Operating Entity: Mississippi Department of Rehabilitation Services
Entity Type: State Agency / Office
MSU Access is a postsecondary education program for students with intellectual disabilities. It provides students an opportunity to take college classes, engage in career development and independent living activities, and participate in campus life.
Operating Entity: Mississippi State University
Entity Type: College / University
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: Mississippi Department of Rehabilitation Services
Entity Type: State Agency / Office
This program provides technical assistance to families and services providers of children/young adults with hearing-vision challenges, including around educational transitional services.
Operating Entity: University of Southern Mississippi
Entity Type: College / University
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: Mississippi Coalition for Citizens with Disabilities
Entity Type: Non-Profit / Community Organization
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
This program provides comprehensive job training and other job-related services for individuals with significant intellectual and developmental disabilities. It focuses on providing careers in gardening and lawn care, janitorial services, automotive maintenance, and carpentry. It also prepares participants with job seeking skills, such as completing job applications, creating resumes, mock interviews, job fairs, and more.
Operating Entity: REM Mississippi
Entity Type: Non-Profit / Community Organization
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 Mississippi
Entity Type: Non-Profit / Community Organization
This accredited Master's degree program trains students to provide employment services for individuals with disabilities. Jackson State University is a Historically Black University.
Operating Entity: Jackson State University, Department of Counseling, Rehabilitation and Psychometric Services
Entity Type: College / University
This program provides support for individuals with significant disabilities to prepare for, retain, or regain employment. Participants work in a competitive setting and receive all the benefits of employment, including competitive wages, while learning social and work skills.
Operating Entity: Mississippi Department of Rehabilitation Services
Entity Type: State Agency / Office
This program provides training and employment for individuals who are blind or visually impaired to facilitate their full independence. Jobs and training through MIB are primarily in the manufacturing sector, although MIB also provides employees for the service sector (such as call centers).
Operating Entity: Mississippi Industries for the Blind
Entity Type: Non-Profit / Community Organization
This program provides vocational rehabilitation services to eligible secondary school students with disabilities, including career exploration, preparation for employability, job readiness training, technical training, and on the job training. The program also connects participants with potential employment opportunities.
Operating Entity: Mississippi Department of Rehabilitation Services
Entity Type: State Agency / Office
This program provides pre-employment services to students with disabilities, including job exploration counseling, work readiness training, and paid internship opportunities.
Operating Entity: University of Southern Mississippi, Institute for Disability Studies
Entity Type: College / University
This program trains future vocational rehabilitation counselors to serve as vision specialists, to help them be more effective in their work with people who are blind or have low vision.
Operating Entity: Mississippi State University, National Research and Training Center on Blindness and Low Vision
Entity Type: College / University
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 provides Mississippi School for the Blind students (ages 14 and up) with on-campus work opportunities. Students work under the supervision of experienced staff members, and experience a "real world" employment experience, including filling out an application and completing a full interview.
Operating Entity: Mississippi School for the Blind
Entity Type: Other
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: Mississippi Department of Rehabilitation Services
Entity Type: State Agency / Office
This campaign was started to promote mental health services during COVID-19. The website includes links to crisis hotlines, mental health and wellness tips, online screeners for mental health conditions and testimonials from Mississippians who reached out for mental health support during the pandemic.
Operating Entity: Mississippi Department of Mental Health
Topic(s): Mental Health
This webpage provides links to crisis hotlines and mental health resources regarding coping with stress and anxiety resulting from the pandemic. It also provides information on how parents can support children in coping with the resulting stress and anxiety from the pandemic and relevant links to other resources
Operating Entity: Mississippi Department of Mental Health
Topic(s): Mental Health
This webpage, linked under COVID-19 resources as part of mental health resources, includes a link to the city of Jackson's Mental Health Warm Line and links to a mobile crisis response team and digital resources for mental health.
Operating Entity: City of Jackson, Mississippi
Topic(s): Mental Health
This document contains questions and answers for districts regarding special education during COVID-19. It also provides various resources for parents and educators of students with disabilities, covering various subject matters and also providing technological assistance.
Operating Entity: Mississippi Department of Education