On April 2^nd 2012, the Provincial government will launch a new system of employment programs for British Columbians. Under this model, all employment services will be centralized and consolidated into WorkBC Employment Services Centres, which will be operated by various organizations.

People who want help finding employment through WorkBC will need to contact an Employment Services Centre. The model differs from the previous system in that the Centres will provide help to people from all communities including people with disabilities, immigrants, youth, women and people receiving basic social assistance.

Please note no changes have been made to the rules about seeking employment for Persons with Disabilities (PWD) benefit recipients or for people receiving the Persons with Persistent and Multiple Barriers to Employment benefit (PPMB).

About Accessing the Centres
After April 2^nd job seekers should go to the WorkBC website http://www.workbc.ca/ or phone toll-free at 1-877-952-6914 between 12:30 pm – 4:30 pm for answers to job, career or labour market questions.

To locate their local WorkBC Employment Services Centre, job seekers can go to this map: http://www.workbc.ca/workbccentres/interactive_map.htm. Please note that the phone numbers of the Centres are currently not provided on the map and need to be accessed from the various Centre’s websites or through the phone directory.

We’d Like your Feedback on the New Service Model
There is concern in the community that people with disabilities will find the new system less accessible and useful because the Service Centres are not specialized but rather provide assistance to all types of job seekers.

We’d like your feedback on how this new system is working. Please share your experience with the new system by emailing feedback@bccpd.bc.ca.

You are invited to participate in an important survey on behalf of the Access Programs for People with Disabilities (APPD) at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. APPD is seeking input from community agencies and individuals working with people with disabilities. The purpose of the study is to obtain information on the educational needs of students and delivery methods for Adult Special Education programming at a post-secondary institution.

For more information and to begin the survey: http://survey.kwantlen.ca/efm/wsb.dll/s/8gbd

Your responses will remain anonymous. Please complete the survey by March 23, 2012. (approx. time to complete: 10 minutes)

Thank you for your time!

The Library Services for People with a Print Disability Survey executive summary is now available at the BC Library Association (BCLA) website.

The BCLA’s Services to People with Print Disabilities Working Group (SPPD) and the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) jointly conducted this online survey of people with print disabilities. In November/December 2011 the survey was completed by 101 people across BC.

Excerpts from the report:
“The majority of respondents were over 40, with half being in the 41 to 64 year old age bracket. The respondents primarily identified as visually disabled or blind.”

Ninety-four percent of survey respondents preferred to borrow rather than purchase reading material. “Cost was the main reason for a vast majority of the respondents, as many were on fixed incomes due to disability. Other reasons include the fact that books are usually only read once and there was no need to keep them, space concerns and that the library was a convenient place to borrow materials.”

Read more from the executive summary at: http://tinyurl.com/7o5mrrc