New Mexico is a location chosen as a targeted community through the Vocational Rehabilitation Technical Assistance Center: Targeted Communities (VR-TAC-TC) or Project E3. Project E3 will partner with State VR Agencies and local community partners to improve outreach and employment-related services to underserved people with disabilities in this community.

New Mexico is one of the Mountain States. The landscape ranges from deserts, to mesas, to high, snow-capped mountains.  New Mexico has large Native American and Hispanic populations.

The discovery of oil in 1928 led to oil and gas production in New Mexico.  More recently, several industry clusters are growing and thriving, thanks to competitive incentives, world-renowned laboratories and research facilities, an innovative entrepreneurial scene, and a highly skilled workforce. A few of these include customer service centers, solar technology and renewable energy, and microsystems and nanotechnology.

New Mexico’s disability rate in 2014-16 was 10% in the state and 13.5% among Hispanics. The state’s poverty and unemployment rates are higher than national averages.

The state-federal vocational rehabilitation system in New Mexico faces many challenges as it strives to serve people with significant disabilities and promote competitive integrated employment. Project E3 will provide intensive technical assistance to two regions of the state:

POPULATION

POVERTY RATE

UNEMPLOYMENT

DISABILITY RATE: Albuquerque

Within the targeted communities, Project E3 will focus on improving vocational rehabilitation service outcomes for these populations:

These populations are characterized as:

The effects of lack of financial capability for these populations often translate into:

Following are some of the key strategies being developed and implemented to address the targeted populations’ challenges and barriers to employment.

• Outreach and Engagement Strategies:Use existing networks to engage and build bridges between community programs to enhance understanding of the vocational rehabilitation program.
• Individual Placement and Support:This supported employment model will give people with mental illness the help needed to work successfully at competitive jobs. Competitive jobs are positions that are available to anyone which pay at least minimum wage.
• Counselor Motivational Interviewing (MI) Training: Provide opportunities for vocational rehabilitation counselors to access training on Motivational Interviewing.  Motivational interviewing is an evidence-based counseling method used to help people resolve ambivalence and develop internal motivation to change behavior.
• Benefits Counseling: Provide information on Social Security program rules and how employment impacts benefits. The goal is to help people make informed choices about employment. 
• Employer Network: Promote employer awareness of the benefits of hiring people with disabilities and encourage them to provide work experience for people with disabilities.  Work with employers to develop more inclusive workplace practices.

Project E3 will provide New Mexico’s state Vocational Rehabilitation agencies and their partners with the skills and competencies needed to effectively and efficiently address barriers to competitive integrated employment and community integration encountered by persons with disabilities in these regions.

We will leverage promising practices, knowledge, and experience gained from this project to expand employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities from underserved and economically disadvantaged populations throughout New Mexico and across the United States.

For further information about the New Mexico community activities: