While there are a number of work incentives available for people with disabilities, finding the appropriate program can be a confusing and frustrating experience. People with disabilities often worry that they will lose medical coverage if they return to work, or they wonder if their employment will affect their Social Security or Medicaid benefits.

An invaluable resource for people facing such overwhelming questions is Dave Kromer, the Disability Program Navigator at the Cayuga Works One-Stop Career Center at Cayuga Community College. An expert on disability work incentives and services, Kromer is available to help direct people to the appropriate programs.

“I'm here to help people with disabilities access the programs that they need and to promote a return to work,” Kromer said. “Some people don't believe they can work without losing their benefits, so I'm here to guide them into situations where it's possible for them to have more money and still retain most of their benefits. Some of the core things that they need like Medicaid and Medicare, they're less likely to lose if they're in the proper program.”

In addition to helping people take advantage of available support services, Kromer assists disabled individuals with job placement, training and advocacy.

Although his primary responsibility is to help people access disability programs, Kromer stresses that the employment services he offers are available to anyone in the community; the disability program is part of a large network of community agencies working together to strengthen Cayuga County's workforce.

“We serve a universal population,” said Ted Herrling, director of the Cayuga Works Career Center. “We serve people who are unemployed, underemployed, employed, looking for better jobs, looking for different career choices, whatever.”

Although there are career counselors and specialists available, the Career Center is based on a self-help system. Job-seekers are therefore encouraged to use the center's resource room, a disability-accessible center that offers computers for searching job banks, resume software, a library for research on colleges and different types of employment, a telephone for the public to call employers and a fax machine for sending out resumes.

“We encourage self-help, but if people need more assistance than that, then we will provide it,” Herrling said.

In addition to guiding job-seekers, the staff at the Career Center is dedicated to helping employers navigate available resources.

“We try to give services to employers by listing their jobs and giving them information about tax credits, training opportunities and training proposals,#” Herrling added.

“Part of my job is to start enhancing relationships with employers,” Kromer explained. “We want people to know that we're here and that we can answer their questions. For example, sometimes businesses believe that it's overly expensive to hire the disabled. They worry about the cost of reasonable accommodations, but there are programs out there now that will give employers tax rebates to make the necessary changes.

“There are so many things available now to both the employer and the employee.”

Kromer wants businesses to know that in addition to accessing information, he can connect them with capable employees.

“It can be advantageous to an employer to hire a disabled person,” he said.

“Not only from a tax standpoint, but because they have a lot of abilities that could be assets to a business. There's a whole spectrum of disabled people -many of them have bachelors degrees and even masters degrees. Sometimes people think of disabled people as unable, but they're not unable at all.”

According to Herrling, the Cayuga Works Career Center came about as a result of the federal Workforce Investment Act.

“Back in '98, the Workforce Investment Act created a workforce development system in Cayuga County. By a system, what I mean is that agencies came together to form one system instead of having separate programs segmented out in the community,” he explained. “So the majority of our staff is from the Cayuga County Employment and Training Department and the New York State Department of Labor, but we have representatives from six other agencies that work here. For example, BOCES is here, Unity House, Seneca-Cayuga ARC, and we have a veterans rep. We're trying to get all workforce development services and issues under one roof.”

Although Kromer is the Disability Program Navigator, he is willing and able to guide anyone who comes into the center.

“Dave works with people with disabilities, but he also helps out anybody who comes in with the computers, the resource library, and faxing and sending resumes out,” Herrling said. “Basically what we're trying to do is cross-train staff so that when a person comes in, anyone in the center can talk to them and direct them to the right resource. We're trying to be seamless. We brought a lot of different agencies together, and we all work together to complete the job.”