Employment Support Institute (ESI) Home Page

Employment Support Institute
School Of Business
Virginia Commonwealth University
esi@vcu.edu

providing supports for better decision-making
about employment options and policies
affecting people with disabilities

	Welcome to the Employment Support Institute Web site.
			New Opportunities for Learning and Training Announced Registration is now open for future training programs. Regional and State training availability announced. Contact Jim Troxell at jltroxel@vcu.edu or call 804-828-1992 to learn more about all our training options for you, your organization, and your community.

			For information and news about our WorkWORLD^TM software, visit our WorkWORLD Web site. WorkWORLD can simulate the financial effects of earnings on net income for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Section 8 Housing, and Food Stamps. Find out about the latest release, installation and operational details, and technical support. The site also has answers to Frequently Asked Questions and downloadable Profile cases with explanations which show how WorkWORLD can be used in typical situations. Go to our WorkWORLD Web site to download a free copy of the software now. Read or listen to a consumer-oriented newspaper article about WorkWORLD from the Richmond Times-Dispatch. The article, titled Software Helps Solve Benefits Quandaries, discusses how WorkWORLD can help ease the fears that people with disabilities may have about losing their benefits due to working. Also, read or listen to a brief article about WorkWORLD that appeared in the Babcock Bugle. The article provides a real-life example and concise review, and is titled WorkWORLD, an Employment Tool for Consumers.

			Greetings from David Ruth, Director of the Employment Support Institute in the School of Business at Virginia Commonwealth University. Read about our efforts to design, build, provide, and continuously improve a national WorkWORLD Knowledge Based Decision Support (WW-KBDS) System for people with disabilities and their advocates, which helps them make informed choices about work incentives, benefits, employment supports, and wages. A summary of our experience to date as well as background information is available in our continuously updated and revised WorkWORLD KBDS article. Is your State really advancing self-determination? Can new outcome measurements focusing on individual self-support and providing decision support technology contribute to the solution? Can we truly increase personal self-determination without redesigning the system to focus on building increased individual self-support and financial independence and growth? Read a provocative discussion of these and related issues in the article Self-Determination, Funding Priorities, and WorkWORLD Benefit and Work Incentive Decision Support System.

			The Employment Support Institute (ESI) at Virginia Commonwealth University's School of Business provides training programs for people with disabilities and advocates who want to learn how to most effectively use WorkWORLD decision support software to make informed choices about work incentive programs associated with various Federal disability and poverty programs. Click here to read an overview of the programs, to be offered at VCU and other offsite regional and state locations. Certificates and Continuing Education Units (CEUs) are awarded to participants who successfully complete the training, which is provided by members of the WorkWORLD development team. See the announcement of training programs that can be customized for you, your organization, and your community. Read the registration details for further information.

			New policies and program initiatives are creating an evolving environment in which advocates and advisors are challenged to adapt to new customer service expectations and to meet new measures of success. The Employment Support Institute (ESI) at Virginia Commonwealth University's School of Business can work with you to design strategies to help your organization be most responsive and effective with your customers. Read about our consultation services for further information.

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