CAP Outreach Methods Revisited in FY 2011

In an effort to help our staff at PA CAP become re-energized and re-focused on outreach and to remind us of why we must continue to increase our outreach efforts, one of our CAP advocates put together a short refresher on our outreach mandate. This was compiled into a handout called, “creating the connections”. This document helped us to revisit some tried and true outreach techniques. Some of these techniques include attending conferences, hosting exhibit tables, requesting that VR and CIL offices host a CAP presentation or event, contacting radio and TV stations for potential community advertising, writing articles for newsletters and websites, coordinating outreach efforts and mailings with other disability groups, and last but not least, lots of networking!
As we revisited some of these techniques, our CAP director was asked to participate in a local community TV program called “In focus”. This program highlights community programs and events. During the program, we had a unique opportunity to explain the services CAP provides to a wide audience.
While looking at outreach efforts, we were reminded of “who” we outreach to. In addition to the obvious contacts such as VR CIL staff, VR vendors, other programs and projects funded under Title I of the Rehabilitation Act, and Careerlinks across the state, we also need to outreach to other programs and organizations that serve people with disabilities. Some examples of these are welfare offices, rehabilitation hospitals, veterans centers, and small business development centers.
Reviewing our outreach methods also showed us that we needed to update our methods to reflect new technology. With this in mind, we made new additions to our PA CAP website and increased posts to our Pennsylvania Client Assistance Program facebook page.
We recognize that good outreach efforts using a variety of methods serves as a valuable “lifeline” connecting us to the disability community, our clients and potential clients.