Conference Registration  

Exhibits Open

Breakfast

Sponsored by ABLEnow

Opening Keynote: Hasan Davis

Sponsored by DARS, Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services, Didlake and VersAbility Resources

Break Out Sessions

Sponsored by FCE Benefits 

Beyond the $2,000 Limit: Medicaid Works, WISA Services, and ABLE Strategies for Employment Success

Michael Klinger, Work Incentives Specialist Advocate (WISA) Coordinator, Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services (DARS)
Jonathan May, Ticket to Work Coordinator/Financial Empowerment Manager, Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services (DARS)

Many Social Security beneficiaries fear losing Medicaid coverage if they return to work or increase earnings. Virginia’s Medicaid Works program offers a powerful employment-first solution that allows eligible individuals with disabilities to maintain Medicaid coverage while working and earning substantially higher income. This session will provide an overview of Virginia’s Medicaid Works program, including eligibility requirements, countable income calculations, the use of ABLE accounts to address the $2,000 SSI resource limit for initial eligibility and recent policy changes eliminating the Medicaid Works age cap beyond age 65.

Participants will also learn how DARS’ Work Incentives Specialist Advocate (WISA) services support beneficiaries in navigating benefits planning, maintaining healthcare coverage, utilizing work incentives and pursuing long-term employment goals. The presentation will highlight how WISA services, operating in coordination with the Ticket to Work program and Employment Network partnerships, help working individuals sustain employment while protecting critical Medicaid access. Practical examples, case scenarios and implementation strategies will be shared to help attendees better support individuals pursuing competitive integrated employment.

Serving Both Sides: Effective Engagement Strategies for Employers and Job Seekers

Alissa Brooke, M.S., CRC, PBSF,  Virginia Commonwealth University - Rehabilitation Research & Training Center
Whitney Ham, Ph.D., CRC, BCBA, Virginia Commonwealth University - Rehabilitation Research & Training Center
Crystal Hence, M.Ed., Virginia Commonwealth University - Rehabilitation Research & Training Center
Jennifer McDonough, M.S., CRC, Virginia Commonwealth University - Rehabilitation Research & Training Center

Meeting the needs of  both sides of employment can be a challenge: helping employers find qualified talent and helping individuals access meaningful work. This session will share information about training activities available to employment specialists and vocational rehabilitation professionals developed through a newly funded RSA project, Innovative Rehabilitation Training Program: A Comprehensive Approach (IRACA). Presenters will describe a menu of training and technical assistance products designed to strengthen workforce capacity, enhance employer partnerships and elevate self-advocate-centered service delivery. The goal of the work is to improve VR services and improve outcomes for job seekers with disabilities.

Launching Futures: Collaborative Pre-ETS Delivery through Successful Partnerships

Martha Carballo, Career Assessment Counselor, Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services (DARS)
Deanna Carter Kelso, Area Coordinator, RSVP
Heather Mossinger, Regional Manager, The Choice Group
Nathan Roberts, Vocational Rehibition Counselor, Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services (DARS)

The successful delivery of Pre-ETS services for students relies on cross-system partnerships. When schools, Vocational Rehabilitation Agencies and community providers work in silos, students face service duplication, fragmented planning and missed opportunities. This session will discuss how to effectively provide in-school Pre-ETS services in a collaborative and coordinated way that will explore shared roles and responsibilities. Leave this interactive session with a framework to increase student engagement and launch high schoolers into a successful pathway towards their future.

Awards Luncheon

Remarks from:
Nedra Moncrief-Craig, Commissioner, DARS
Darryl Washington, Commission, DBHDS

1:45 – 2:15 pm

Networking Break

Break Out Sessions

Sponsored by Moms in Motion

CLiC – Community Living Connections ReIgnite

Melinda Caldwell, Director of Programs, Brain Injury Solutions
Jodi Judge, Executive Director, Brain Injury Solutions

Individuals with brain injuries are significantly overrepresented in jails and prisons, yet their cognitive and behavioral challenges are frequently misinterpreted as noncompliance, defiance or lack of motivation. When brain injury goes unidentified, the result can be repeated disciplinary actions, longer lengths of stay, increased recidivism and missed opportunities for stabilization and successful reentry.

This session highlights an innovative collaboration between Brain Injury Solutions and the Roanoke City Detention Center in Roanoke, Virginia, that addresses brain injury as a critical and often invisible factor within the criminal justice system. Rather than focusing solely on awareness, this partnership demonstrates how targeted screening, staff training and compensatory strategies can improve behavior management, enhance institutional safety and support successful community reintegration.

Participants will explore practical, justice-focused strategies for identification, engagement, accommodation and cross-system coordination that strengthen outcomes for both individuals and correctional systems. Attendees will leave with concrete tools and a replicable partnership model they can implement immediately to reduce recidivism, improve compliance and promote safer, more effective transitions from incarceration to community.

Practical and Ethical Use of AI to Support Individuals with Disabilities and Their Families

Tammy Burns, Executive Director, Parent Educational Advocacy Training Center (PEATC)
Kendra Wormley, RSA Transition to Project Adulthood Coordinator, Parent Educational Advocacy Training Center (PEATC)

Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming part of how families and professionals access information, communicate and make decisions—but where does it fit, and where should it not? This session offers a practical, plain-language look at how AI can be used thoughtfully to support individuals with disabilities and their families. Participants will explore real-world applications of common AI tools, learn how to distinguish between helpful applications and those that require human judgment, and consider key issues related to privacy, accuracy, and bias. The session will also touch on emerging policy questions and the need for clear internal guidance. Through discussion and hands-on exploration, participants will leave better prepared to make informed, mission-driven decisions and to help families navigate AI in their everyday interactions with schools and service systems.

Networking Break

Break Out Sessions

Sponsored by RSVP

Yoga, Group Singing and Other Easy Rehabilitative Activities

Andrew Stankevich, Registered Yoga Teacher with 200 Hours of Training (RYT-200) and Grants Manager for Access Plus

By describing his experiences, Andrew will show that people from a variety of backgrounds and skillsets participate in day programs and DARS as a clients, and improve empathy among provider staff. Andrew will describe the perspective of a law school graduate that developed a severe psychiatric disability, became indigent, welfare-dependent and went through Community Service Board programming, day programs and DARS vocational rehabilitation programming.

Further, Andrew will provide a recreational activity for program participants, teach participants basic mindfulness and wellness techniques that they can do own their own, as well as the benefits that such wellness techniques can provide.

ADHD: New Information for Vocational Rehabilitation

John Allen, MS, OT/L, Lead Assistive Technology Specialist, Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services
Carrie Clawson, OTD, OT/L, ATP, Assistive Technology Specialist, Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitation Services
Patti Drescher, OTD, OT/L, ATP, Assistive Technology Specialist, Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitation Services

Vocational rehabilitation is encountering increasing numbers of clients with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Yet much has changed in our understanding of ADHD—its neurology, its functional impact across the lifespan and the strategies that can best support individuals in work and daily life. This engaging session will introduce updated information about ADHD, including executive functioning, emotional regulation, medication realities, strengths‑based approaches and workplace accommodations.

The session will also highlight the essential role DARS Assistive Technology Specialists play in supporting DARS clients—through individualized assessments, device trials, customized cognitive‑support tools and training that helps clients build external structure and consistent routines. Attendees will leave with fresh insights and practical tools to better support VR clients in achieving meaningful and sustainable employment outcomes.

Preparing Educators to Engage in and Support CIE for Transition Age Youth

Whitney Ham, Ph.D., CRC, BCBA, Training and Technical Assistance Provider, Virginia Commonwealth University - Rehabilitation Research & Training Center
Carol Schall, Ph.D., Co-Director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Autism Center for Education, Virginia Commonwealth University - Rehabilitation Research & Training Center

Research in transition best practices indicate that students who work in high school report better post-school employment outcomes compared to students who do not. However, at this point in time there is no structure for schools and service providers to follow in order to support paid employment while students remain connected to the school system. This session will share information on a new study, Learn to Earn, that aims to build a bridge between school-based transition staff/ educators and adult service providers such as employment specialists and Vocational Rehabilitation Professionals.

Presenters will share the current strategies in place to provide training and technical assistance to school staff in order to promote transition-age youth (TAY) with disabilities to access competitive integrated employment (CIE). The ultimate goals of this program are to increase opportunities and preparation for CIE as well as build the capacity of educators to better support students in their transition to adulthood and employment.

8:30 – 10:30 pm

Trivia Night

Sponsored by Virginia APSE