90% grant funded Disability Equality Training for Not for Profit sector announced!
The Department of Social Protection has announced the launch of the Work & Access Scheme.
This forward thinking scheme is replacing the Reasonable Accommodation Fund and the Disability Awareness Support Scheme which have both been in operation for a number of years in Ireland. This new scheme has been launched on foot of recommendations made from a comprehensive review of the Reasonable Accommodation Fund in August 2023.
Work and Access aims to help reduce and remove barriers in the workplace that restrict employment choices for people with a disability, providing them with the same opportunity to succeed in work as their non-disabled peers.
The aim of Work and Access is to support disability-inclusive employment by offering funding to job candidates, employees, self-employed people, and employers to adjust their workplaces and make them more accessible. This will help to make sure employees of all abilities are given equal opportunities.
This new scheme has 7 new access supports, all with the aim of creating more equitable opportunities to employment for people with disabilities. At Ability Focus we are delighted to see the seventh access support which has been included on foot of recommendations. This is the replacement of the 'Disability Awareness Support Scheme' with the 'Disability Equality & Inclusion Training' scheme.
The Disability Equality & Inclusion Training scheme is a game changer for organisations who are looking to offer disability equality training to staff. Previously grant assistance was only offered to private sector employers who offered disability equality training or disability awareness training to their staff. This meant that community based, not for profits and voluntary organisations who had paid staff could not access grant assistance to train staff in this important area of disability inclusion.
Since this groundbreaking announcement by the Dept. od Social Protection your organisation can receive between 80% - 90% grant assistance to deliver disability equality training to your staff if you are any of the following:
* A non-public sector employer
* A private sector employer
* A community based, not for profit or voluntary organisation
* You have a paid workforce
To qualify for 80% - 90% grant assistance the training must have the purpose of:
* Promoting the inclusion of disabled people in the workplace and/or
* Creating an inclusive service provision for customers/clients/service users who have disabilities
Work and Access pays up to €20,000 a year to employers for eligible costs.
By including the community, not for profit sector and community based organisations to qualify for up to 90% grant assistance for disability equality training, the Department of Social Protection clearly recognises the right of organisations outside of the private sector to access grant supports.
As the leading provider of disability equality training in Ireland Ability Focus is looking forward to working with many not for profit and community based organisations to deliver CPD accredited disability equality training to staff in the months and years ahead.
Next week we will be writing about the second significant benefit to the Work & Access Scheme. 80% - 90% grant assistance not only applies to disability equality training for the community based and not for profit sector.
Additional grant funding now also applies to private sector and not for profit organisations who wish to train their staff in a number of other programmes such as:
* Supporting Autism in the Workplace
* Neurodiversity in the Workplace
* Disability Inclusive Recruitment Practices
* Reasonable Accommodation Training (TBC)
If you are considering Disability Equality Training for your organisation, please get in touch with Ability Focus by calling (01) 699 1150 or email info@abilityfocus.ie and we will be happy to discuss a programme to suit your disability training needs.
Ability Focus is the leading provider of disability equality training in Ireland. Our award-winning training programmes are CPD accredited, L&DI Endorsed and delivered by qualified trainers with over twenty years' experience working in disability inclusion.
