St. Paul, MN – The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) has secured a $19.1 million grant from the federal government to improve employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities, injuries or illnesses.

The U.S. Department of Education grant will help fund two DEED programs: Evolve Employment, supporting Minnesotans who recently experienced vision loss; and MN RETAIN, to help workers stay at work or return to work as soon as medically possible after an injury or illness.

"DEED's mission is to empower the growth Minnesota's economy for everyone. That means every Minnesotan deserves an opportunity to be included in the workforce," said DEED Commissioner Matt Varilek. "We're grateful for our federal partners who are helping us support all Minnesotans, especially during October, National Disability Employment Awareness Month. This is good news not only for our workers and their families, but also for employers looking to hire."

$9.1 Million for Evolve Employment

Evolve Employment, housed at DEED's State Services for the Blind (SSB), is a five-year initiative to tackle unemployment and under-employment of blind, low vision and DeafBlind Minnesotans who recently experienced vision loss, have been unemployed for an extended period of time or are New Americans.

With the grant funding, the program will deliver specialized career services to both individuals and businesses; support businesses in the Customer Service and Technology sectors to provide retention services and foster career development opportunities; and offer enhanced progressive employment, assistive technology, benefits counseling and sector partnerships to meet the needs of the long-term unemployed and New American job seekers.

"The fact is that unemployment and under-employment rates for the people we serve have been way too high for far too long," said SSB Director Natasha Jerde. "This is a bold new initiative to rally our resources and improve employment outcomes for blind, low vision and DeafBlind Minnesotans." 

The program expects to serve at least 800 individuals and 500 businesses over the next five years.

$10 Million for MN RETAIN

MN RETAIN (Retaining Employment and Talent After Injury/Illness Network), a federally-funded program administered by DEED, serves people with new disabilities as they work to find and maintain employment.

The program will use the grant to offer services related to:

• Early intervention to provide support to individuals within the first two months of disability onset;
• Comprehensive services that offer wraparound support, accommodations and modifications for people with disabilities in the workforce, and;
• A partnership with Mayo Clinic, leveraging the Clinic's Return-to-Work Case Managers and the state's workforce development system to help more Minnesotans newly diagnosed with disabilities to access or maintain good jobs.

"Helping people with new disabilities get back to work is critical for workers and families. Through MN RETAIN, we're helping provide peace of mind and financial independence to people during a particularly challenging period of their lives," said Ama Akakpo, Director of Employment and Training Programs. "This funding gives us the opportunity to combine the historic expansion of the state Dislocated Worker program provisions with RETAIN program resources to provide sustainable employment services to people with disabilities across the state."

MN RETAIN plans to assist at least 1,000 individuals who require support to remain in the workforce.