Carol Blessing

Overview

Carol Blessing, LMSW is a Senior Extension Associate with the K. Lisa Yang and Hock E. Tan Institute on Employment and Disability. Since joining the faculty in 2000, Carol has been responsible for leading system’s impact projects aimed at supporting the full inclusion of people with disabilities in typical community life. Throughout her career she has worked with individuals living with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities, including those incarcerated in New York maximum security prisons, with individuals living with psychiatric disabilities, with families and with service provider staff/personnel.

Teaching Statement

Carol provides consultation, training and technical assistance in system change/system impact approaches to support disability service entities in designing and implementing individualized, community-based supports for individuals living with disability.
Carol has earned national and international recognition for her expertise in person-centered planning/practice and most notably, the design and implementation of a blended distance learning community of practice course of study called Citizen-Centered Leadership, http://www.cclds.org

Research Statement

The focus for Carol''s research has been to study the efficacy of the Citizen-Centered Leadership blended learning model design and its impact on shifting the quality of life and community-based experience for individuals with disabilities.

Service Statement

Carol provides disability service design and implementation consultation and training services to a broad audience within the disability service delivery system under a variety of sponsored and fee-for-service contracts. Currently, she sits as a member of the Resource Advisory Council with the New York Alliance for Inclusion and Innovation and as a subject matter expert (employment) for the Mental Health Association of New York Business Advisory Council.0

Publications

Journal Articles

Book Chapters

• Carol J Blessing, Thomas P Golden, Sukyeong Pi, Susanne Marie Bruyere, Sara VanLooy. 2012. Vocational rehabilitation, inclusion, and social integration.. in Oxford Handbook of Rehabilitation Psychology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2012.

### Areas of Expertise

Disability

Disability and rehabilitation

Supported employment