Advancing Employment for Individuals with IDD Creating a comprehensive model for change

July, 2015

Holistic Perspective

State Policy

& Strategy

Community

Rehabilitation

Provider

Practices

Individuals &

Families

Employment

Supports

Individual

Employment

Outcomes

Holistic Perspective

Federal Policy

Community

& Labor

Market

Workplace

State Policy

& Strategy

Community

Rehabilitation

Provider

Practices

Individuals &

Families

Employment

Supports

Individual

Employment

Outcomes

Where it fits: ICI Affiliated Projects

RRTC on Advancing

Employment

Access to Integrated Employment

AIDD

Research & Evaluation Systems Change

Partnerships in Employment Systems

Change / AIDD

Employment Learning Community

AIDD RRTC Demand Side Strategies / NIDRR Florida EmployME First

Florida DD Council

RTAC VR Program Management / NIDRR

ExploreVR.org NIDRR

College of Employment Services

AT Programs Data Center RSA

Employment Consultants’ Role NIDRR: RRTC/CL

Job-Driven Vocational Rehabilitation TA Center

RSA

Training

Service

ICI Employment Services DDS, MRC, Schools

State Employment Leadership Network

Member funded

Community Life Engagement / NIDRR

Employment is a lifelong conversation and information and support are available on a “just in time” basis

Types and pathways for information and support are effective and accessible

Strand 1•Individuals and Families

What we know

Young adults with IDD expect to work

Families shape expectations around employment

Families provide logistical support

Family knowledge around employment is limited

Systems have a hard time interacting with families

Approach

Scoping Literature

Online/In-person Focus Groups

Develop and test a strategy that

Engages individuals and families early and often

Focuses on the best ways to provide just the right amount of information at just the right point in time

“…Regardless of the job seeker’s level of motivation, skill, experience, attitude, and support system, his or her ability to get a job will often depend on the effectiveness of employment specialists…

Simply stated, if (the employment specialists) are good, job seekers get jobs. If they are not, the barriers to employment for job seekers can become insurmountable…”

(Luecking et al., 2004, p. 29)

Strand 2 • Improving employment supports: Achieving consistent implementation of best practice

28%

12%

10%

9%

9%

7%

6%

5%

5%

5%

3%

1%

Adm duties (e.g. office work, meetings, etc)

Other

Reviewing job ads in newspapers, internet,…

At JS' workplace (e.g., job coaching,…

With job seekers for career planning

Traveling with job seeker

At work sites for job exploration

With case managers, other professionals

Outreach not on behalf of a specific JS

With employers for job dev. negot.

With employers, after hire

With family members/acquaintances

Percentage of weekly hours spent in support activities by 49 employment consultants over a period of two weeks

Limited implementation of best practices

53%

53%

53%

51%

39%

34%

33%

27%

18%

16%

Reviewed classified ads

Made cold calls to employers

Approached past employers

Attended business events*

Asked employers about related businesses

Involved family members or acquaintances

Knocked on doors of businesses*

Negotiated job descriptions

Searched without referrals in mind*

One-Stop Career Centers

Percentage of employment consultants performing job search activities for most or all job seekers (N=163; 28 states)

Multi – element interventions improve outcomes

5.5 jobs 7.8 jobs

(+2.3)

Training &

Mentorship

5.2 jobs 4.1 jobs

(-1.1)

Con

trol

Inte

rven

tion

Higher Hourly earnings: + $1 (p<.10)

Higher weekly work hours: + 6.7 (p<.05) Butterworth et al, 2012

Baseline Post Baseline

Strand 2 • Employment Supports

A flexible model that accounts for variations in individual preference and need

A scalable approach to improving employment outcomes

Approach

Study 2.1. Learning from outstanding, employment consultants:

Interviewing 16 employment consultants, job seekers, family members, and supervisors

Study 2.2. Improving the implementation of effective employment support practices:

Randomized trial 100 employment consultants

• online training

• data-based performance feedback

• peer supports

Activity Log for Smart Phone

1. What key benchmarks do you watch?

2. How do you track progress in implementing effective employment support practices?

Community conversation

Strand 3 • Community Rehabilitation Providers

To understand CRP characteristics that promote transformation

Provide tools to CRPs to enable change

Model for supporting organizational restructuring in an efficient/scalable way

Supporting CRPs to Evolve Their Service Delivery Framework

Through:

Creation and assessment of a model framework for building the capacity of CRPs,

Development of a toolkit to guide organizational transformation to provide high-quality integrated employment services, and

Demonstration of an efficient scalable strategy (a facilitated, peer-to-peer learning community) for supporting organizational transformation across networks of CRPs.

Toolkit Pilot Testing

Through the Chapters of The Arc the Strand 3 team will use a combination of key informant interviews and an on-line survey in order to comprehensively field-test the CRP Organizational Transformation Toolkit. The establishment of field-tested products will lead to a scaling-up of practices to ensure proper design and effectiveness.

Provider Employment Leadership Network (PELN)

The PELN will incorporate guided self-assessment, the development of goals and an action plan, and sharing and learning with CRP peers using a facilitated community of practice (COP). It is a cost-effective scalable intervention that supports CRPs to transform and rebalance their organizations to prioritize integrated employment.

Provider Employment Leadership Network (PELN)

Members will attend the annual PELN Leadership Institute in Washington, DC hosted by The ARC. The Institute will emphasize the goals of peer relationship building, sharing self-assessment results, and collaborative organizational work plan development. The summit’s content will be based on the toolkit sections.

How Chapters of The Arc Can Be Involved

Through:

Creation and assessment of a model framework for building the capacity of CRPs,

Development of a toolkit to guide organizational transformation to provide high-quality integrated employment services, and

Demonstration of an efficient scalable strategy (a facilitated, peer-to-peer learning community) for supporting organizational transformation across networks of CRPs.

Strand 4 • Aligning policy and practice at the state level across agencies

National policy

Expansion of Employment First policies

44 states with initiatives

32 states with policy or directive

But…

Inconsistent and competing priorities

Integration across systems

High-Performing Framework

www.thinkwork.org

Understand the essential components of high performing cross-agency employment service systems

Systems intentionally align practices with a priority for employment and bring components to scale

Strand 4 • State Policy and Practice

State IDD agency policy and practices: Policy analyses

Service definitions: Changing CMS rules and expectations on community and employment

Case management guidelines and strategies

Managing service quality and fading of supports

Interagency collaboration with VR and Education

Engaging individuals and families

Planning for Organizational Change

T-TAP Lessons Learned

Goals

Resources

Whole Person

Partnerships Expectations

Organizational

Change

Outcomes

Just Do It

What’s Your BHAG?

60 jobs in 2006

100% of individuals supported …

Work in “integrated” settings.

Are compensated for work performed;

Work at least 80% of the days and/or hours in their Individual Plans;

Receive ongoing Career Planning and Development

Have a contingency plan for layoffs and terminations

What are your program goals?

For employment?

For community engagement?

Other?

Communicate Expectations

Policy

Outreach

Celebration

Terminology

Policy

We will only support individuals in individual jobs

We will not accept new referrals to our workshop

We will target community employment for all new referrals

Inclusion - The Arc Policies Related to Rights

Adults should have the opportunity to: •Have relationships of their own choosing with individuals in the community, in addition to paid staff and/or immediate family; •Live in a home where and with whom they choose; •Have access to the supports that they need; •Engage in meaningful work in an inclusive setting; •Enjoy the same recreation and other leisure activities that are available to the general public; and •Participate fully in the religious observances, practices, events, and ceremonies of the individual's choice.

Employment - The Arc Policies Related to Life in the Community

Position People with I/DD should have the supports necessary from individuals and systems to enable them to find and keep community jobs based on their preferences, interests, and strengths, work alongside people without disabilities, receive comparable wages, and be free from workplace discrimination.

Outreach

How are expectations communicated?

In what ways is it clear that it is not business as usual?

How is a day defined?

Resources

Other Travel

without

Travel

Non-work Support

Workshop support

Job Develop-

ment

OTJ Support-Individual

OTJ Support-Group

Off Job Support

What staff positions and roles exist?

What competencies and training are required?

How are staff allocated?

Just Do It

We have a ‘strategic’ plan. It’s called doing things.

Herb Kelleher

Southwest Airlines

Discovery

Person centered planning

Whole life planning

Situational

assessment

Job shadowing

30 Day Placement Plan 30 day

placement plan

What is the pathway to employment and how long does it take?

Collaboration

Nurture Partners

What community partnerships are in place?

How does the program use families, circles of support, and other person based

partnerships?

Consider the Whole Person

How are community supports integrated with other formal supports including

residential?

How does the program support individual relationships as the location of services

changes?

What is the role of peer-to-peer supports?

www.ThinkWork.org