{"id":392804,"date":"2023-05-31T06:06:47","date_gmt":"2023-05-30T20:06:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=392804"},"modified":"2023-05-31T06:06:47","modified_gmt":"2023-05-30T20:06:47","slug":"up-to-10444-in-kind-work-experience-and-on-the-job-training-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/up-to-10444-in-kind-work-experience-and-on-the-job-training-support\/","title":{"rendered":"Up to $10,444 in-kind: Work experience and on-the-job training support"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Jim Rayphand<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As far as training programs go, the Work Experience Training and On-the-Job Training programs through the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation under the Governor\u2019s Office are about as straightforward as they come. The only mystery for me is why more eligible persons with disabilities and employers aren\u2019t knocking on OVR\u2019s doors to avail of the support, which can translate to $10,444 in up to a year\u2019s worth of paid labor.<\/p>\n

More specifically, given eligible, willing, and agreeable participants (both trainee and employer), OVR will pay eligible individuals for Work Experience Training at the prevailing minimum wage rate (presently $7.25\/hour) for up to 20 hours per week for anywhere from three to six months.\u00a0 And thereafter, if the employer is willing to employ them, OVR will reimburse the employer for On-the-Job Training at the same rate for up to 40 hours a week for 24 weeks. In total the employee and employer stand to get 48 weeks of paid labor in the hopes of permanent employment (emphasis on \u201cin the hopes\u201d\u2014the employer is not obligated to hire the person after the training period, but that is the goal).<\/p>\n

Come to think of it, I probably shouldn\u2019t be too surprised and it may not be such a mystery at all why we don\u2019t see more interest in these programs.\u00a0 I\u2019ll take a stab at a few possible reasons here for whatever it\u2019s worth.\u00a0 It\u2019s natural (maybe even advisable) when pointing a finger at an issue not to acknowledge the three other fingers pointing back at yourself and perhaps this will be a break from tradition, but given plenty of blame to go around I\u2019ll be the first to admit that much of it falls directly on ourselves; in fact, let\u2019s start there.<\/p>\n

Government bureaucracy<\/strong><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with government bureaucracy.\u00a0 Yeah\u2026I said it and for emphasis I\u2019m talking about myself and other bureaucrats who work in government with the general government systems in place.\u00a0 For a variety of reasons, we have not done a very good job of instilling confidence in the rest of those who look to the government for help.\u00a0 Put another way, government has a longstanding reputation of being slow, if not unresponsive, and inefficient (with time and resources). OVR is no exception, so we have our share of disgruntled clients.\u00a0 Wait times (whether you\u2019re standing in lines, waiting for appointments, listening to elevator music on the phone, or sitting at home twiddling your thumbs) are simply too common.\u00a0 Most have come to expect that of government\u2014sad, but true.\u00a0 That in and of itself can be a disincentive for people to seek us out.<\/p>\n

I know better than to make promises, but I can say with some confidence that OVR can be the exception to the norm (if it is, in fact, a norm).\u00a0 We are poised with qualified personnel and a wealth of institutional (local and federal government) knowledge to rise above the fold.\u00a0 Our sitting governor and lieutenant governor have expressed in no\u00a0uncertain terms their expectations for us to ensure and\/or restore \u201cfiscal stability, more efficient government operations, and improvements in the delivery and responsiveness of public services.\u201d\u00a0 Personally, I would love nothing more than to be a part of making that happen, not just for OVR but for our government in general.\u00a0 What we need is more consistent buy-in to the real intent of what we offer both from potential employers and from eligible individuals with disabilities who truly want to work.<\/p>\n

Welfare culture<\/strong><\/p>\n

There is a pervasive sense of entitlement in our society due in large part to generational dependence on welfare programs\u2014a welfare culture or welfare state of mind, if you will.\u00a0 And, our people with disabilities are not immune to it; in fact, all too many are brought up to think very little beyond government handouts as their primary, if not only, option.\u00a0 Given a choice to receive something for free or go to work and earn what you get, most will choose the free option.\u00a0 This is especially true when it comes to receiving a Supplemental Security Income check versus getting a job and receiving a paycheck.\u00a0 The truth is that a monthly SSI check (at $914 for an eligible individual or $1,371 for an eligible individual with a spouse) is nearly the same amount (maybe even more depending on deductions) as a paycheck for someone working full-time at the minimum wage rate; it\u2019s hard to blame anyone who chooses the SSI option.\u00a0 Still, the harder truth is that the prescribed \u201cfederal poverty level\u201d is still higher than the SSI rate which (by the way) also comes with an asset limit.\u00a0 The point being that conceding to life on SSI is essentially a commitment to a life of poverty<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Of course, I am not without empathy.\u00a0 I understand the added challenges to competitive employment for people with disabilities and the fear of losing benefits through gainful employment; nonetheless, if we are ever going to break the cycles of dependence, employment must<\/em> be part of our ongoing discussion and, essentially, OVR must<\/em> provide needed supports to eligible individuals in order for them to obtain or retain gainful employment.<\/p>\n

Disability stigma<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sadly, people with disabilities are most often viewed by what others perceive they cannot do more than what they can do; disability discrimination is a very real thing. Many employers (I dare say most employers) dismiss even the mere notion that a person with a disability, especially those with visible, severe disabilities, could offer any value in the workplace.\u00a0 The common assumption is that any person with a disability must be a basket case\u2014of course, we all know what it means to assume.<\/p>\n

Truth be told, attitudes are the real problem\u2014both the attitudes of the job seekers and the job providers. In fact, the same is true regardless of whether or not disability is a factor.\u00a0 Breaking into an already meager job market requires genuine effort, a certain amount of luck and\u2014to be clear\u2014a sense of responsibility to be qualified for the work at hand. And yes, people with disabilities also have a responsibility to be qualified.<\/p>\n

For more information, contact the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation at (670) 322-6537\/38 or online www.ovrgov.net<\/a> or on Facebook.com\/officeofvocationalrehabilitation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As far as training programs go, the Work Experience Training and On-the-Job Training programs through…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":392813,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[21,922],"class_list":["post-392804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","tag-life","tag-ssi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=392804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392804\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/392813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=392804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=392804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=392804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}