News release, Aug. 23, 2007DD

August 23, 2007......................................................FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Georgia Department of Labor to launch new vision for vocational rehabilitation services at Warm Springs
ATLANTA State Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond said today that the Georgia Department of Labor plans to build a new "residential village" in Warm Springs as one step in implementing a new vision for providing vocational rehabilitation services. The new facility will replace the current five-story dormitory for students receiving vocational rehabilitation services at the Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute for Rehabilitation (RWSIR).
"We want to thank Gov. Perdue and the General Assembly for providing $9.9 million from the state budget for fiscal year 2008 to help build the new `residential village'," Commissioner Thurmond said. "We are getting a `dollar-for-dollar' match in federal funds from the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA). This will provide a total of approximately $20 million to complete this project."
"This is a new day for vocational rehabilitation," said Greg Schmieg, RWSIR director. "We must change not only how we view vocational rehabilitation, but also how we do vocational rehabilitation. Our greatest challenge is to move beyond our own comfort zone of what we are used to, and to genuinely take a step forward into what this new world will be. It is a responsibility we owe to every person we serve. My hope is that this new `residential village' will be that first step."
The new "residential village" will provide for, and increase, the residential capacity for persons with all types of disabilities from all over the state of Georgia to come to RWSIR and receive the full continuum of vocational rehabilitation services. The goal is to "empower persons with disabilities to achieve personal independence," including employment.
The concept for this project will be to design and build a 200-bed residential complex that is non-institutional and provides for maximum independence through such features as apartment and small home settings, state-of-the-art assistive technology, and accommodations for specific disability groups. The initial design stages of the project are scheduled to begin in the fall.
Likewise, the concept for this project will be to design and build the complex so that it fits both with the historic architecture of the RWSIR campus as well as the modern standards for independent living.
The "residential village complex" is just the first phase of a new focus for vocational rehabilitation services at RWSIR. The announcement heralds expanding vocational rehabilitation services "into the new century" with many other initiatives occurring over the next few years.
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RWSIR'S "RESIDENTIAL VILLAGE"
Some of these include:
Individualized, customized work training programs based on Georgia Department of Labor's labor market trends;
Micro-enterprising for those persons interested in owning and running their own business;
Center for Rehabilitation Technology with a focus on assistive work technology and the use of technology to "level the playing field" for persons competing for employment;
Transitional living and independent living; Expanded services for specific disability groups, such as the blind, deaf and deaf/blind; Services to help disabled servicemen and women of the U. S. military reenter the work
world; Mobile services that can provide support and/or training to disabled persons not just on
campus but in the local communities where the person resides.
In addition, RWSIR will offer the integration of vocational rehabilitation services with Georgia Department of Labor career centers and workforce development initiatives, serving both people with disabilities and the public at large.
News media needing additional information should contact the Georgia Department of Labor's Office of Communications at (404) 232-3685.
CY-07-315