June 2022

View original email with photos.

From the Executive Director's Desk

Dear readers,

You will read about leadership in this edition of our e-news, both inside and outside of state government. This is what I love about the Council: we are a rare entity that has a foot planted squarely in both worlds, so to speak.

I have been deep in that intersection over the past few weeks while attending the (in person!) Transition TN resource fairs across the state. We showcased our programs so that teachers can help families connect to opportunities. We pointed them to resources like our scholarship fund and Partners in Policymaking. The highlight for me was hearing our Council members who graduated from the Partners in Policymaking Program explain the difference it made for them.

We talked to teachers about other key resources we fund that can help them focus on the teaching part of their jobs. We showed them how to help students use TN Disability Pathfinder to find services and how to use the Center for Decision Making Support to answer questions about conservatorship and other decision-making options. It fills me up to see communities connect with statewide resources. Nothing can replicate an in person networking event. I’ve missed it.

If you care about someone approaching adulthood, we can talk you through the many programs available to help. Often, learning about what’s out there is the biggest hurdle. We’re here to help.

We hope you are all having a great summer.

Lauren Pearcy, Executive Director

P.S. At this half-way point in 2022, we’d love your feedback on changes we made to this newsletter this year. Can you take just 1 or 2 minutes to fill out this survey? Your input really does guide how we communicate!

Council Member Spotlight: Alicia Hall

Alicia Hall is one of our Governor-appointed Council members for the Memphis Delta Development District. She serves as the chair of our audit committee and graduated from our Partners in Policymaking® Leadership Institute. She also serves on committees for the National Federation of the Blind, the TN Dept. of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (DIDD) West TN Family Support Council, and the Memphis Advisory Council for Citizens with Disabilities.

She is passionate about disability advocacy because her son Gino II was born with a visual disability.

We want you to get to know our members better, so we asked Alicia to share with us about her leadership and advocacy efforts!

What do you think are the most important things you’ve learned through serving on the Council?
Alicia: The most important things I have learned through serving on the Council are:

  • I can have input on bills as they pertain to the disability community.
  • How to be an advocate.
  • If I have any questions or concerns I can reach out to the Council staff for guidance.

How has serving on the Council helped you advocate in your local community?
Alicia: I have always been some type of advocate most of my life. I always find a way to fight for the underdog. By serving on the Council, it has helped me advocate in my local community by reaching out to local and state government officials on concerns of the disability communities. It has also helped me become a mentor and help others become advocates.
 
How has serving on the Council helped motivate you to go deeper with your advocacy?
Alicia: Serving on the Council helped motivate me to go deeper with my advocacy by giving me a plethora of information on learning opportunities to broaden my knowledge and lighting the fire to do more.

I registered to be a student in the Vanderbilt Volunteer Advocacy Project (VAP) that starts August 15, 2022. VAP is a 12-week program to train people to become advocates for families navigating the special education process.
 
What are your advocacy dreams for the future?
My advocacy dream is to be a full-time advocate for the disability community. My near future goal is to become a student at the University of Memphis in Fall of 2022, pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work.

Third Class of TN Leadership Academy for Excellence in Disability Services Begins

Thanks to a brilliant idea from Council staff member Alicia Cone, Tennessee is the only state in the nation to offer disability-specific leadership training for state employees.

In 2015, Alicia had a light bulb moment: People in agencies across state government were serving citizens with disabilities. But none of those agency staff had access to learning on core disability issues and best practices. This led her to suggest what became the Leadership Academy for Excellence in Disability Services – or LAEDS. (View our video about LAEDS featuring graduates talking about its impact here.)

A new class of scholars just began this year’s LAEDS training, co-hosted with the TN Department of Human Resources. Class members are from 10 different state agencies:

  • Dept. of Safety
  • Dept. of Human Services
  • Dept. of Correction
  • Dept. of Transportation
  • Dept. of Education
  • Veterans Affairs
  • Dept. of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
  • Dept. of Environment and Conservation
  • TennCare
  • Dept. of Health

When we gathered for the in-person kickoff, this diverse group of state employees heard an overview of disability history by Dr. Bruce Keisling of the UT Health Science Center on Developmental Disabilities. It was powerful to watch the group process this information together, with all their different perspectives on today’s disability system.

The class will meet every other month through April 2023, building leadership skills AND knowledge of disability issues and resources. Sessions will focus on connecting across departments and systems. The end goal: skilled leaders who can together shape a service system that supports Tennesseans with disabilities to live their dreams.

Council Director of Leadership Development Cathlyn Smith says, “There are more than 150 service programs for people with disabilities in our state. This academy provides an opportunity for state employee leaders to come together and connect across those programs. They learn to identify where breakdowns in communication happen, what services may need updating, or where they can work together on new programs to meet the changing needs of people with disabilities. My hope is members of this new class will go back to their agencies with renewed eagerness, armed with the newest information and ideas.”

Members of the class will work over the coming months on team projects that propose creative solutions to a real-world problem in disability services. Members will present their projects to senior government leadership, including from the Governor’s office, at the end of the class.

The Council is proud to offer this chance to help grow Tennessee leaders in disability services. A member of last year’s LAEDS class summed it up well: “The efforts to bring about change require people to work together to solve problems and create solutions.”

Earlier this year, we finished a long-term study of the first LAEDS classes. The results showed a big impact on state employees. They reported changes in how they think about disability services . They were better able to find ways to work together across services after going through LAEDS. This study will be published in the International Journal of Developmental Disabilities, showing the importance of LAEDS as a national model.
  • “LAEDS helped us think differently. Every speaker offered something that drove home the shared goals we have.”
  • “I would not have my network in the disability field without LAEDS. And I reference research from our group project to this day.”
  • “LAEDS offered context to other disability services and removed the need to start at zero in terms of what each agency can do to help.” 

Get to Know a Leader: Tanika Arms, Director of the State as a Model Employer (SAME) program, TN Department of Human Resources

Hi, I am Tanika Arms and I have worked for the State of TN for 18 years, for several departments, mainly in Human Resource divisions. I currently work for the Department of Human Resources as the director of the State as A Model Employer (SAME) program.

The purpose of the SAME Program is to ensure that state agencies and departments use best policies, practices, and procedures for recruitment, hiring, advancement, and retention of qualified people with disabilities.

What excites me most about the about the SAME program is that it not only gives me the opportunity to continue to help state workers, but I am also able to show the citizens of TN with disabilities that the State of TN is making the necessary changes to be an inclusive and accessible place to work. We can be a model for other companies in TN.

This program is an opportunity to bring about cultural changes and social awareness around the employment of people with disabilities. SAME gives employees a voice to address ways that we can improve how we support employees with disabilities. To do this, we first had to get feedback from current state employees with disabilities. We did this in December 2021, when we sent out the "employee experience survey."

We also updated our human resources information system to allow state employees to voluntarily disclose their disability status in a simple and confidential way. We recently held the “This is Me” campaign kick-off event, which was centered around employee belonging. It highlights aspects of our identities that make us who we are and encourages voluntary disclosure of disability and veteran status. 

Everybody should be able to bring their full selves to work. I hope when they see other employees sharing their “This is Me” statements and stories, it will make employees feel comfortable to tell their own story. I hope employees will disclose their disability status in our Edison system and request an accommodation if one is needed. I hope job applicants will ask for accommodations they need both during the application and interview process and while on the job.
 
Below is my “This is Me” statement and a link to a couple “This is Me” videos and the video of William Arnold, who works for the Dept. of Labor and Workforce Development.
 
"Hi, I am Tanika Arms and I work for the Department of Human Resources as the HR Program Director for the SAME Program.  I currently live in Nashville, TN and I am a mother of two teenagers, and one of them has a learning disability.  I am also a black woman over the age of 40, who suffers from migraines. I am Tanika Arms, THIS IS ME and together we are One TN."

Precious Cargo Act: Privately Disclose Your Disability to First Responders, Law Enforcement

Did you know that Tennesseans can privately disclose their disability for use by law enforcement and first responders? If you want to disclose your disability and need for help, fill out this form from the TN Dept. of Revenue’s website and take it to your county clerk’s office.

If you need an accommodation or have questions, contact revenue.support@tn.gov.

Our Council member Martez Williams uses a wheelchair and needs canes to transfer out of his vehicle. “What happens if I get stopped by the police and ordered to get out of the car? If I reached for my canes, would the police officer think that I was reaching for a weapon?” The concern has plagued Martez, who has not wanted a public display of disability on his vehicle.

Last year, Martez worked with legislators to pass the Precious Cargo Act which allows Tennesseans to voluntarily and privately disclose to law enforcement and first responders the need for assistance with communication or exiting a vehicle.