Section IV: Inclusive Recruitment And Outreach

 
This is a Companion Training Manual to accompany the Corporation for National and Community Service publication Creating an Inclusive Environment: A Handbook for the Inclusion of People with Disabilities in National and Community Service Programs. The Inclusion Handbook is available on-line at www.serviceandinclusion.org, or you may call the National Service Inclusion Project at 888-491-0326 (voice/TTY) or email at nsip@umb.edu.



Overview

Key Words and Terms

  • Access
  • Accommodations
  • Alternate Formats
  • Barrier Free Design
  • Inclusive Service Environment
  • Relay Service
  • TDD/TTY
 

Introduction

There are two basic approaches to recruitment of persons with disabilities as service members and volunteers in your program. The first is to recruit persons with disabilities as part of your overall recruitment process. This will happen naturally as your program becomes increasingly accessible and inclusive. The second approach is to form collaborations with organizations and communities of persons with disabilities to conduct specific outreach and recruitment activities.
 
The key to inclusive recruitment and outreach is to create an inclusive service environment. An inclusive service environment is one that proactively seeks to include persons with disabilities at all levels of planning and delivery, ensures that everyone can make a valued contribution, and weaves access and accommodations into all aspects of the program. For example, outreach materials should send a message about inclusion, such as: “Qualified individuals with disabilities who need accommodations may make arrangements by contacting (insert your program contact person and number/email).” Include images of people with disabilities as active service members and volunteers in your brochures, videos, and other materials.
 
Lastly, include online and social media platforms when developing recruitment strategies for your organization. Online forums and the Internet provide more than a means to exchange information. Service organizations can use web technologies to broadcast themselves, create partnerships with other organizations, and display available positions to a wider audience than by using traditional recruitment strategies alone. By using programs like Facebook or Disaboom or tools such as Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, or RSS Feeds, you can increase the pool of potential service members, including individuals with disabilities, for your service programs. In order to encourage recruitment among people with disabilities, your organization must check the social media tools to ensure they are inclusive to individuals with disabilities.  Please see the following link for more information: http://www.serviceandinclusion.org/index.php?page=conf_08
 
 

Trainer notes

Objectives for this Section
At the completion of this unit, each participant will:
  1. Know and understand the basic approaches to recruiting people with disabilities
  2. Understand the significance of, and be able to create, inclusive recruitment activities and materials for outreach to people with disabilities
  3. Know where to locate external resources from which to obtain local assistance for recruiting people with disabilities
  4. Be able to identify and understand the importance of key terms, and their significance to inclusive recruitment and outreach. These include: accommodations, alternate formats, barrier free design, inclusive service environment, relay service, TDD/TTY
 
 
Suggested audiences
  • Members in service
  • Members involved in capacity-building
  • Service and volunteer program managers and staff
  • Organization staff
  • Organization Board of Directors
  • Disability organizations
 
Visuals and Power Points recommended for this Section
Slides with Notes pages are found at the end of this section.
 
 
Activities included for this Section
  • Mingo
  • Outreach and Recruitment Checklist
 
Handouts recommended for this Section
  • Inclusive Outreach -3 Basic Tips Fact Sheet
  • Use of Proper Language and Basic Disability Etiquette
  • What we Mean When we Talk About Inclusion
  • Benefits of Volunteering Survey Results -PDF
  • Web Accessibility Guidelines PDF
  • Volunteers with Disabilities in SeniorCorps
  • Inclusive Interviewing
  • Civil Rights Guidelines for Grantees Acceptable Interview Questions
  • Accessibility for Community Organizations
  • Accessibility Online
  • Building Accessible Websites in Seven Steps
  • Web 2.0 Overview
  • Web 2.0 and Social Media Links
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • RSS XML Feeds
  • Social Networking
  • WIKI
  
Supplies/equipment needed: (e.g. markers, flipcharts, LCD)
Use depends on your personal preferences, availability, and the activities chosen. Each activity lists any unique needs.
 
Frequently Asked Questions
  • How do I successfully recruit people with disabilities in national and community service?
  • How can I make recruitment activities inclusive?
  • Where can I recruit people with disabilities?
  • Are there organizations in my community that can help me recruit individuals with disabilities?
  • How do I collaborate with a disability organization to strengthen my outreach and recruitment activities?
 
Useful references and resources for this Section
Frequently Asked Questions - Opening Doors to Service Inclusion in Action – Profiles of Alumni
See Appendix – References and Resources
 
Recruiting members with disabilities and using an inclusive application process http://www.nationalserviceresources.org/epicenter/practices/index.php?ep_action=view&ep_id=333
 
 
 
Preparing people with disabilities for evacuation, shelter, and recovery during national emergencies http://www.nationalserviceresources.org/epicenter/practices/index.php?ep_action=view&ep_id=1144
 
NICHCY stands for the National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities. NICHCY compiles disability-related resources in each state, and creates State Resource Sheets. This handy resource sheet will help you locate organizations and agencies within your state that address disability-related issues http://nichcy.org/Pages/StateSpecificInfo.aspx
 
The National Council on Independent Living (NCIL) is a national organization of Independent Living Centers. Its vision is a world in which people with disabilities are valued equally and participate fully http://www.ncil.org/

 

 

Assessment

Training Survey

Date: _________________________

After each numbered statement, indicate your current level of knowledge about the following topics on a scale of 1 - 5.  1= nothing, 2 = not much, 3 = somewhat, 4 = some, 5 = a lot

  1. Inclusive approaches to recruiting people with disabilities
  2. Inclusive recruitment activities and materials for outreach to peole with disabilities
  3. External resources from which to obtain local assistance for recruiting people with disabilities
  4. Using social media to recruit people with disabilities as members and volunteers
  5. Key terms as they relate to inclusive recruitment and outreach:
    1. Accommodations
    2. Alternate formats
    3. Barrier-free design
    4. Inclusive service environment
    5. Relay service
    6. TDD/TTY

 

Primary links