New Horizons 2009 Volume 48-4 Fall

7/28/2019 New Horizons 2009 Volume 48-4 Fall

1/8

Happy Holidays from SCV RD

H RIZONSSOUTH CAROLINA VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION DEPARTMENT

Fall 2009Volume 48, Number 4 N E W

Pride, camaraderie mark ITTC graduationRemnants o Tropical Storm Ida ailed to dampen the

pride or the camaraderie o the Inormation TechnologyTraining Center students who accepted their certicates

Nov. 10 at an indoor ceremony onthe State Oce campus.

Cheers rom the class went up aseach graduates name was called, atestimony to the bonds o riendshiporged during their months otraining.

Class speaker Je Ingram spoke othe support provided by the aculty

and his classmates and the sense oBingham amily that develops as the studentstravel the road toward employment.

As he gave the keynote address, Rep. KennethA. Kenny Bingham noted that graduation is anexciting time o great accomplishment and ever greateropportunities or you.

You have put the work in, you have completed thecurriculum and now you have either gone to work orare about to, armed with a new set o skills that are builtor todays workplace, he told the graduates.

Bingham, RLexington, applauded the graduates

determination and resourceulness and praised theiramilies or the sacrices they had made.

I N S I D E

DDS expedites soldiers claims..............................2

Benefts o workers with disabilities.......................3

Open houses, Disability Mentoring Day.............4-5

DDS employees win regional recognition..............6

Journalism Contest deadline..................................8

He talked about potential and how elusive it can

sometimes be.Looking at our graduates today, I see people who

are well on their way to realizing their potential,Bingham said. People who have worked hard to learnnew skills and are about to use them in new elds oemployment.

He spoke about a graduate with physical disabilitieswho could easily have retired on government benets.Instead, she came to Vocational Rehabilitation toenhance her oce skills and is now working as anadministrative assistant.

Another graduate with multiple disabilities is workingin inormation support ollowing his ITTC training.

See Graduation, page 2

SCEIS goes liveThe S.C. Vocational Rehabilitation Department and36 other state agencies took a major step towardreinventing how stategovernment does businesson Nov. 2.

The launch o the S.C.Enterprise InormationSystem (SCEIS) was thelargest event in the administration o the states nancesin more than 30 years, said Pat OCain, director o theSCEIS project.

SCEIS is replacing labor intensive, paperreliantsystems and outdated computer networks with aconsolidated system that will manage nancial,procurement and human resources records or all state

See SCEIS, page 7

Visit our Web site at www.scvrd.net


2/8

N E WH RIZONS 2DDS expediting claimsNew Horizons is published by the South Carolina Vocational Rehabilitation Department (SCVRD), 1410 Boston Ave., P.O. Box 15, West Columbia, rom wounded soldiersSC 291710015.

The Public Inormation Oce provides allnews and inormation. News materials may bereproduced with credit to New Horizons.

SCVRD distributes New Horizons ree bymail. Subscription requests or changes o addressmay be sent to the Public Inormation Oce atthe above address, telephone (803) 8966833 oremail [email protected]

In accordance with ederal and state laws,SCVRD does not discriminate against any race,color, sex, national origin, age or disability inemployment or in provision o services.

Agency:Derle A. Lowder Sr., chairman, SumterBarbara G. Hollis, secretary, Columbia

H. Lucius Latte, M.D., atlarge, AllendaleDr. Roxzanne Breland, Greenville

Timothy W. Evatt, PendletonRhonda J. Presha, Elgin

Alease G. Samuels, WalterboroJoseph A. Thomas, Conway

SCVRD:CommissionerBarbara G. Hollis

EditorSharon H. Kelly

SCVRD Ofces:(All numbers have TDD capability.)

Aiken: (803) 6417630

Anderson: (864) 2246391)

Beauort: (843) 5221010

BerkeleyDorchester (Moncks Corner): (843) 7616036; (866) 2976808 (Toll ree)

Camden: (803) 4321068(866) 2065280 (Toll ree)

Charleston: (843) 7401600

Conway: (843) 2482235Florence: (843) 6628114

Ganey: (864) 4899954

Greenville: (864) 2973066

Greenwood: (864) 2295827

(866) 4430162 (Toll ree)

Hartsville: (843) 3832662

Lancaster: (803) 2856909

Laurens (Clinton): (864 ) 8334121(866) 4430103 (Toll ree)

Lexington (West Columbia): (803) 8966333

(866)2065184 (Toll ree)

Marlboro (Bennettsville): (843) 4798318(800) 8494878 (Toll ree)

OconeePickens (Seneca): (864) 8826669

(866) 3130082 (Toll ree)

Orangeburg: (803) 5344939

Richland (Columbia): (803) 7824239

Rock Hill: (803) 3277106

Spartanburg: (864) 5853693

(866) 4511480 (Toll ree)

Sumter: (803) 4692960

Walterboro: (843) 5383116(888) 5773549 (Toll ree)

Williamsburg (Kingstree): (843) 3545252

Enabling eligible South Carolinians withdisabilities to prepare or, achieve and

maintain competitive employment

By Gloria Robinson

DDS Program Analyst

Disability Determination Servicesand the Social Security Administra-tion have teamed up with the FamilyAssistance Center at Ft. Jackson toexpedite applications or disabilitybenets rom wounded Army soldiers.

Ft. Jackson is home to one o the36 U.S. Army Warrior TransitionUnits that provide up to six monthso assistance to approximately 100

wounded soldiers as they transitionback into their military unit or intocivilian lie.

A DDS military liaison attendsmonthly briengs at the FamilyAssistance Center to explain thedisability decision process andanswer questions rom soldierswho are interested in applyingor benets or who already havepending applications. In addition,

the liaison answers requent

Graduationcontinued rom page 1

And a third, Bingham said,was able to take advantage o aunique program that partners withemployers to provide companyspecic training.

Today, shes employed by amajor telecommunications business,working rom her home.

He also spoke about theresources provided by SCVRD thatenable people with disabilities toreach their potentialthe practicaland technical knowledge shared bymembers o the Business AdvisoryCouncil; the assistive technologysupport; the occupational and

questions about claim processing,

claim status and related issues.DDS gives priority to all claims

received on military casualties,regardless o whether the soldier isassigned to the Warrior TransitionUnit. The liaison also monitorspending military casualty claims tomake sure they are processed asquickly as possible.

Disability examiners whoprocess these wounded warriorcases receive special training onthe eects o posttraumatic stresssyndrome and traumatic braininjuries. Any military casualty caseon which the examiner is unable tomake a avorable decision is given asecond review beore being closedby DDS.

South Carolina DDS makes everyeort to ensure that our woundedheroes are given the best possibleservice in the processing o their

disability applications.

physical therapy.And, o course, the aculty

that has been right there with youthrough the program, he said.

Bingham said the programprovides an excellent returnon the taxpayer investment. . .agreat bottom line rom a nancial

standpoint.But the real bottom line is whatyou realize in terms o making yourlie better, and what it means toyour amily. How you become parto the workorce and continue towork hard and build even morenew opportunities or yourselvesdown the road.

Fitynine students were in the

graduating class.

NEW HORIZONS
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


3/8

3

Employers hear rom peers about thebenefts o hiring people with disabilitiesProtability in Hiring People with

Disabilities was the theme orthe October meeting o the S.C.Employer Council.

The Employer Council is apartnership o South Carolinaemployers and public and privatesector organizations working toenhance the states workorceand economy. About 145 peopleattended the meeting.

Michael Doyle, vice president

and general manager oManpowers Southeast Division,kicked o the proceedings witha presentation on EmployeeRetention and Motivation.

He was ollowed by KeithScarbrough, manager o the hiring people with disabilities. They manage the resources wellWalgreens Distribution Center in A panel discussion explored the and ship directly rom the trainingAnderson. benets o workers with disabilities center.

Scarbrough said when the rom several perspectives. B.J. GrahamLove, inormationcenter opened two years ago, Phoenix Hardin, a recruiter or services training manager or Blue

the goal was to have people with All South Federal Credit Union, Cross and Blue Shield, related herdisabilities comprise 30 percent o talked about hiring employees rom experience with hiring an entryits workorce. That number is up to the Skilled Workorce Apprentice level programmer who is blind.40 percent today and the concept Training (SWAT) program, an Employees who are legally blindhas been so successul that a new initiative o the S.C. Vocational or dea ar exceed their peers indistribution center in Connecticut is Rehabilitation Department. perormance, she said.ollowing the same ormula. She said the program is lowcost Asked about the workplace

Together, those two centers have and lowrisk. SCVRD prescreens attitude toward people withthe highest eciency rate in the potential employees and reimburses disabilities, Gayel Wigall, diversity Walgreens system. By next year, part o the training cost. consultant or Blue Cross, said Walgreens intends to have 1,000 The SWAT program saves us theres a period o uncertainty at

people with disabilities working in $2,000 per person, she said. rst.its distribution centers. Armand Lawrence is production However, once workers without Walgreens made a commitment manager or Pontiac Foods, which disabilities get over the initial

at the outset to share what it has contracts with SCVRDs Richland trepidation, they can look pastlearned rom the experience with Work Training Center to assemble the disability and realize [peopleother businesses interested in hiring grocery store display units or with disabilities] are rst o all justpeople with disabilities. It is doing Kroger. people with values, attitudes andthat by holding boot camps at the Clients at the center put together needs like yours.Anderson center. about 50,000 units a year. Once thats done, its nothing

Scarbrough showed a video Its about a 30 percent savings but a positive experience, Wigallabout Lowes successul experience or VR to do it, Lawrence said. said.

Phoenix Hardin, let, o All South Federal Credit Union answers a questionduring the panel discussion. To the right o Hardin are Armand Lawrence oPontiac Foods, and B.J. Graham-Love and Gayel Wigall o Blue Cross and BlueShield.

Fall 2009


4/8

4

Disability employment awareness themeor open houses, mentoring experiencesS.C. VocationalRehabilitationoces aroundthe state took theopportunity to showo their acilitiesand raise awarenessabout employingpeople withdisabilities duringNational DisabilityEmployment

Awareness Month inOctober.

Many o theoces combinedDisability Mentoring Day eventswith their open houses.

Disability Mentoring Day isa nationwide eort to promotecareer development or high schoolstudents with disabilities throughhandson career exploration.Students with disabilities arematched with workplace mentorsaccording to their career interests.The students experience a typicalday on the job and employersgain an increased awareness thatpeople with disabilities represent anoverlooked talent pool.

Fortyour students and adultsand more than 20 mentorsparticipated in Disability MentoringDay in Greenwood beore joining

about 200 open house guests orlunch. The sta received a noterom a mother who said her sonhas not stopped talking about hisexperience at Greenwood Today,an online newspaper.

He has always talked aboutbeing a sports writer and to havethe opportunity to do it, even i itwas only or a couple o hours, hasreally got him going, she said.

Patonya Mack, let, an instructor at the Kenneth ShulerSchool o Cosmetology in Columbia, demonstrates hair-washing technique or Latoya Glover o Dreher High School.

In Charleston, 12 clients and sixmentors participated. The mentorsincluded the Charleston CountyLegislative Delegation oce thanksto Rep. David Mack III, who invitedstudents to visit him in Columbiawhen the legislature reconvenes. Alarge group attended the open houseand toured the training center.

Bob Steele, senior hydrologist or the LPA Group inColumbia, explains a topographic map to Thomas Tadlocko Swansea High School.

The Berkeley-Dorchesteroce partnered with the BerkeleyChamber o Commerce to host itsannual Business Clinic. Thirtythree

vendors set up booths on the trainingcenter foor and about 75 communityand chamber members attended,including S.C. Reps. Joe Daning and

Joe Jeerson and Berkeley CountySupervisor Dan Davis.

A local radio station did a livebroadcast outside the work trainingcenter.

The Laurens oce reports morethan 90 people attended its openhouse, quite a ew or the rst time.

In addition to tours o the trainingcenter, visitors were treated to anassistive technology demonstration byVR rehab engineer Jonathan Cruce.

Kay Chandler, director odisability services at NewberryCollege, spoke at the open houseluncheon in Newberry, wherestudents participating in DisabilityMentoring Day and their mentorsalso were recognized.

More than 40 business partnersand reerral sourcerepresentativesattended the Marlboroopen house.

Erem Andrews,regional humanresource manager withPerdue Farms, spoke onhis positive relationshipwith SCVRD. Hepraised VRs ability

to adapt to Perdueshiring practices andsuccessully screen jobcandidates, resulting ina much higher retentionrate than that orcandidates who come

rom elsewhere.A ormer client spoke about

the benets o the cardiac rehabcontinued on next page

NEW HORIZONS


5/8

5

Evan Smith, let, o Swansea High School, tries his handat welding under the guidance o Chris Cook, a MidlandsTechnical College welding student.

program and Rep. Doug Jennings

joined the group or lunch.Hartsville welcomed more than50 business partners and reerralsource representatives to its openhouse despite two highprolecompeting events.

Guest speaker Mike Kromer,human resources director atAnderson Brass, brought exampleso quality work done by VR clientsand said the training centerstransportation service was very

valuable to his company.A ormer client spoke about the

benets o the training center. Hechallenged clients to prepare orsuccess, set goals and take advantageo opportunities. Sen. Gerald Malloyand Rep. Denny Nielson stopped byater attending other events.

Thirteen students and ninementors participated in RichlandsDisability Mentoring Day/OpenHouse event, which also includeda tour o the training center andlunch. Mildred Allen, projectmanager with SCANA, spoke.

A total o 23 students andsix job seekers participated inDisability Mentoring Day eventswith 13 employers in Rock Hill andLancaster.

Clients who shadowed at YorkCounty Road Maintenance made

street signs orthemselves andtheir counselors.York TechnicalCollege InormationTechnology

Departmentmentees took homecomputer hardwarepieces and menteesin the WeldingDepartment weldedpieces o metal totake home. A clientwho shadowed atthe Olive Gardenrestaurant was

encouraged to complete a job

application.In Walterboro, Bonnie Fargnoli

rom the Colleton CountyCommission on Alcohol and OtherDrug Abuse spoke about thebenets o partnerships.

A ormer client who hadsubstance abuse problems but hasbeen clean or almost two yearstold the audience they shouldnever give up. Her daughter, who

could not attend, sent a statementthat said, VR gave my mother heramily back. . .Let her know that welove her and are proud o her.

Alease Samuels, who representsthe area on the agencys board, alsoattended.

Six studentsand their mentorsparticipated inDisability MentoringDay in Camden.

The WilliamsburgWork TrainingCenter open houseshowcased growthover the past yearwith new contractsrequiring higher skilllevels.

Lisha Pasley,transition coordinatoror the Williamsburg

County School District spokeabout partnerships and her wish tostrengthen and expand services. Aclient and his mentor, a ormer VRclient, talked about their DisabilityMentoring Day experience.

Florence welcomed more than150 guests, including SCVRD boardChairman Derle Lowder Sr., whoassisted with awards recognition.Rep. Terry Alexander spoke andrecognized Sen. Kent Williams andother state legislators and localleaders.

Longstanding business partnerand Florence City Councilman StevePowers was guest speaker. A clienttalked about her Disability Mentoring

Day experience and a ormer clienttalked about the opportunity to showher abilities to employers.

More than 55 guests attendedthe Beauort open house, includinglocal government ocials, ormerclients and industry representatives.

Dan Peters o GreenvilleIndustries spoke about his initialreservations about working with VRand what a positive experience it

turned out to be.These and local mayorscommittee NDEA Month activitiesdrew signicant media coverageabout the potential o people withdisabilities in the workplace.

Rich ODell, let, station manager or WLTX in Columbia,discusses TV production with Justin Biggom o LowerRichland High School.

Fall 2009


6/8

6

DDS employees win regional recognitionFive S.C. Disability Determination

Services employees have received

PRIDE awards rom the SocialSecurity Administrations Atlanta

Region.

Sylvester Jackson, proessional/

medical relations ocer in

Greenville, was named Sta

Person o the Year. His work in

recruiting seven

reestanding

diagnostic

clinics or theconsultative

examination

(CE) provider

panel in the

past 12 months

has saved

the agency

tremendous

CE costs. Through his eorts,

the Greenville oce received 55

percent o its medical records and

almost 87 percent o its CE reports

electronically.

He is parliamentarian or the

S.C. Association o Disability

Examiners (SCADES), an SCVRA

division, and is very involved in a

number o agency organizations

and workgroups. He also is pastor

o a local

church with

140 members,

a Christian

academy and a

nursery.

Dr. Donna

Rook Stroud,

senior physician

in Greenville,

Jackson

Stroud

received the Mary Simmons

Special Act o Service Award.

A pediatric medicalconsultant, she carried through

on extraordinary eorts to make

a avorable decision or a 1year-

old claimant with deaness whose

parents are both dea and mute.

Dr. Stroud led the eort to recall

a claim that was previously denied

and even assisted in arranging

medical care or the child.

Lisa SmithKlohn, Ph.D., apsychologist in Columbia, received

the Medical

Consultant o

the Year Award.

Dr. SmithKlohn

demonstrates

outstanding

achievement in

perormance,

proessionalism

and service.

She takes

on complex

cases and maintains a 100 percent

accuracy rate. She volunteers or

oce projects and social unctions

and serves as a liaison between the

medical community and DDS.

Her commitment to quality,

customer service and teamwork are

well respected at Columbia DDS

and across the state.

Edward D. Waller, Ph.D., also a

psychologist in Columbia, received

the Robert R. Hinrichs DDS

Humanitarian Award. The award

honors DDS employees who have

dedicated their lives to helping

others.

Smith-Klohn

He contributes positively to the

morale o the Columbia DDS oce,

helping the sta tap into the mostcharitable parts

o themselves.

He organizes

participation in

the AdoptA

Family program,

is active on the

DDS Social

Committee and

assists withevents such

as Employee

Recognition luncheons and the

annual Halloween costume contest.

He dedicates a signicant

amount o his own time to

charitable causes.

Terry Horton, regional oce

trainer in Charleston, received

the Thomas M. Leahy Creative

Achievement Award.

Horton developed a training

plan to address deiciencies in the

level o adjudicative knowledge

that would not require complete

retraining o

the examiner

sta.

The program

has been

implemented

in Charleston

on the

production

team level and

the examiner

sta anticipates

increased accuracy in a shorter

period o time.

Waller

Horton

NEW HORIZONS


7/8

7

Representatives rom Procurement, Finance, Budgets, Inormation Technology, Client Services, Training Center Services andDisability Determination Services gather in the war room to answer questions rom the feld about the SCEIS system.

SCEIS continued rom page 1agencies centrally. The system is

being implemented to provide

aster processing, more aordableresources and better inormation or

decisionmaking.

As with any new system thatbrings changes as sweeping as

these, we are hitting some bumps

(and an occasional sinkhole!) in the

road, said SCVRD CommissionerBarbara Hollis.

But I want to let you know how

pleased I am with our agencysresponse to this challenge, she told

the sta. You have done everything

that we have asked, and more, tomake this conversion work.

A conerence room in the State

Oce was converted into a warroom so issues could be addressed

as they arise. Representatives rom

SCEIS consultant Cheryl Clements, right, and Denise Koon, client servicesspecialist, research an answer.

Procurement, Finance, Budgets,Inormation Technology, Client

Services, Training Center Services

and DDS have put in untold hourspreparing or the conversion. They are

available to answer questions rom the

eld and expedite solutions.They have sacriced time with

their amilies during this period

and have worked long hours understressul conditions, Hollis said.

And they have done so withsuch an amazing spirit and ercedetermination.

She said problems are beingaddressed with SCEIS and we are

making progress.

In the long run, our agencyand our clients and claimants will

absolutely benet. We have already

seen glimmers o the advantagesand eciency o this system.

In March, the agency will beginusing the human resources andpayroll components o SCEIS.

This conversion will include

MySCEmployee, an online systemthat will allow each employee

to view their pay stub anywhere

and manage work unctions suchas making leave requests and

submitting travel expenses.

Fall 2009


8/8

N E W NonprotH RIZONS US PostagePAIDSouth Carolina Vocational

West Columbia, SCRehabilitation Department Permit No. 2551410 Boston AvenuePost Oce Box 15West Columbia, SC 291710015

Return Service Requested

The South Carolina VocationalRehabilitation Department reportsthat it printed 5,200 copies o thisnewsletter at a cost o $1188, or about$.23 a copy.

8

Journalism Contest entry deadline Jan. 19The 2010 Journalism Contest is

accepting entries until Jan. 19, 2010.

The theme or the contest,

sponsored by the S.C. Governors

Committee on Employment

o People with Disabilities, is

Expectation + opportunity = ull

participation.

It is open to South Carolinians16 to 19 years old who have not

entered a postsecondary school

beore March 1, 2010. Entrants must

be a high school junior or senior or

otherwise qualied to begin post-

secondary education no later than

the 20112012 school year.

They do not have to have a

disability to enter.

The winner receives a ouryear

scholarship to the South Carolina

statesupported institution o their

choice, provided they are otherwise

qualied. The scholarship pays or

undergraduate tuition and ees,

which may or may not include

room and board.

It may be canceled i therecipient does not maintain general

scholastic and conduct standards

established by the institution.

Entries must be postmarked no

later than Jan. 19, 2010.

More inormation is available at

journalism.scvrd.net or by calling

the SCVRD Public Inormation

Oce at (803) 8966833.

Brooke Adams o Fort Mill wasthe 2009 Journalism Contestwinner. She is attendingClemson University.

New Horizons 2009 Volume 48-4 Fall

Documents

Transcript of New Horizons 2009 Volume 48-4 Fall