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Articles 31 - 57 of 57
Full-Text Articles in Social Work
State Agency Promising Practice: Iowa’S Governance Group: Facilitating Partnerships That Support Integrated Employment, Allison Hall, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
State Agency Promising Practice: Iowa’S Governance Group: Facilitating Partnerships That Support Integrated Employment, Allison Hall, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
ThinkWork! Publications
In 1998, five state agencies formed the Governance Group. Partner agencies included: Iowa Workforce Development, Department of Human Services, Department of Education, Iowa Vocational Rehabilitation Services and Department of Human Rights. The group was developed in response to a Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) request for proposals that included an advisory group for systems change efforts to expand employment opportunities to individuals with disabilities. By 2000, the five original partners had expanded their efforts by agreeing to provide oversight and consultation to a Department of Labor (DOL) Work Incentive Grant and brought on two additional partners, the Department for the Blind …
State Agency Promising Practice: Massachusetts - Using A Collaborative, Person-Centered Planning Approach To Facilitate Community Employment, Jennifer Bose, Jaimie Ciulla Timmons, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
State Agency Promising Practice: Massachusetts - Using A Collaborative, Person-Centered Planning Approach To Facilitate Community Employment, Jennifer Bose, Jaimie Ciulla Timmons, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
ThinkWork! Publications
The Northeast Region Supported Employment Project was developed by the North Shore area office of the Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services in 2007. This pilot program, open to any individual with ID/DD who wanted to work, emphasized a person-centered planning approach to achieving the individuals’ goals for employment in the community. The project emphasized the individual’s choice of employment providers, collaboration with the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission (MRC), and use of an independent facilitator to support career and life planning. The project was spearheaded by two DDS administrators dedicated to communicating the value of community-based employment to the Department.
State Agency Promising Practice: Michigan’S Job Development Incentive, Jaimie Ciulla Timmons, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
State Agency Promising Practice: Michigan’S Job Development Incentive, Jaimie Ciulla Timmons, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
ThinkWork! Publications
Michigan’s Department of Community Health, Mental Health and Substance Abuse Administration (MDCH) has expressed a strong desire to improve the state’s employment outcomes among people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Set against this desire is a major obstacle: Michigan is among the states hardest hit by the continuing economic recession, with the highest unemployment rate in the nation. MCDH delivers supports through local Community Mental Health Services Programs (CMHSPs). These CMHSPs not only experience differences in employment rates but also have high variability in their funding levels and structures, payment methodologies, and reimbursement mechanisms. Local CMHSPs individualize their contracts …
State Agency Promising Practice: Maryland - Collaborating To Promote Self-Employment For People With Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities, Jennifer Bose, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
State Agency Promising Practice: Maryland - Collaborating To Promote Self-Employment For People With Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities, Jennifer Bose, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
ThinkWork! Publications
Self-employment has emerged as a viable option for individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities (IDD). To meet increased self-employment demands, Maryland’s Developmental Disabilities Administration (DDA), in collaboration with the Maryland Division of Rehabilitation Services (DORS), adapted services offered through the Reach Independence through Self Employment (RISE) program. The RISE program, funded by DORS, provides technical assistance and financial support to people starting their own businesses. DDA’s role in this self-employment initiative has helped people with IDD start a wide variety of businesses and achieve meaningful employment.
State Agency Promising Practice: Delaware’S Early Start To Supported Employment Pilot Project, Suzzanne Freeze, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
State Agency Promising Practice: Delaware’S Early Start To Supported Employment Pilot Project, Suzzanne Freeze, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
ThinkWork! Publications
The Early Start to Supported Employment (ESSE) pilot started in 2005 with the goal of providing a more seamless transition for students who would benefit from supported employment services when leaving school and entering the adult workforce. An interagency project team was established to guide the pilot work and ensure all required parties knew their role and shared information and equal responsibility within the project.
State Agency Promising Practice: Connecticut Showcases Creative Jobs With “Employment Idol”, Monica Cox, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
State Agency Promising Practice: Connecticut Showcases Creative Jobs With “Employment Idol”, Monica Cox, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
ThinkWork! Publications
In 2007, the State of Connecticut’s Department of Developmental Services (DDS) partnered with the self-advocacy group People First of Connecticut to develop Employment Idol, an innovative project for promoting employment as the preferred outcome for individuals with intellectual/developmental disabilities (ID/DD) in the state. Spinning off the concept of the popular television show American Idol, Connecticut’s Employment Idol showcases the employment success stories of a select group of individuals with ID/DD.
State Agency Promising Practice: Oklahoma’S Outcomes-Based Rate Setting System, Susanne Freeze, Jaimie Ciulla Timmons, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
State Agency Promising Practice: Oklahoma’S Outcomes-Based Rate Setting System, Susanne Freeze, Jaimie Ciulla Timmons, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
ThinkWork! Publications
Oklahoma’s Developmental Disabilities Services Division (DDSD) realized the need for increased attention towards the goal of community-based employment for individuals they served. Initially, rates were based on a vendor’s costs of providing direct services such as job development and job coaching. It became increasingly apparent that claims for vocational services oftentimes reflected staff activities (e.g., job development, client assessment, and service delivery documentation), which may have been occurring without the direct involvement of the service recipient. In some situations, this resulted in long-term job development with little success in actually acquiring a job. In 1995, DDSD elected to focus on …
State Agency Promising Practices: Using Employment Data To Create Area-Specific Employment Goals In Massachusetts, Allison C. Hall, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
State Agency Promising Practices: Using Employment Data To Create Area-Specific Employment Goals In Massachusetts, Allison C. Hall, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
ThinkWork! Publications
In 2002, the Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services (DDS) developed a contractual requirement that employment service provider performance be tracked through outcome measures. As a result, DDS shaped its employment data collection system to focus on what it viewed as key outcomes for measuring success around employment. A confluence of factors including participation in the National Core Indicator project, a new Request for Responses (RFR) for Employment Support Services that emphasized performance measurement, and DDS’s intrinsic commitment to greater community employment supported the development of an employment data system that focused on individual outcomes. Data from this effort is now …
State Agency Promising Practice: Mandatory Situational Assessments In Tennessee, Allison C. Hall, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
State Agency Promising Practice: Mandatory Situational Assessments In Tennessee, Allison C. Hall, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
ThinkWork! Publications
Tennessee implemented its Employment First initiative in 2002 with a goal of making employment the first day service option for adults receiving supports from the Department of Mental Retardation Services. As part of the Employment First initiative, the state requires a periodic community-based work assessment for all individuals not currently employed in the community. State-contracted and independent individualized support coordinators ensure that individuals who are not in integrated employment participate in a community-based work assessment at least every three years. Since December 2005, employment providers can be trained in conducting situational job assessments and the importance of providing these opportunities.
State Agency Promising Practices: Reaching Target Employment Goals - The Five-Year Initiative From Florida’S Agency For Persons With Disabilities (Apd), Jennifer Bose, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
State Agency Promising Practices: Reaching Target Employment Goals - The Five-Year Initiative From Florida’S Agency For Persons With Disabilities (Apd), Jennifer Bose, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
ThinkWork! Publications
The state of Florida has implemented a five-year employment initiative for people with ID/DD. The goal is to enable at least 50% of adults (ages 18 to 55) receiving APD-funded day services as of July 1, 2004, to achieve community employment by July 1, 2009. APD-funded services include adult day training, supported employment, and non-residential supports and services. Florida is specifically targeting a total of 25% of individuals who were in Adult Day Training (ADT) on July 1, 2004, to be employed by July 1, 2009. The impetus for this five-year initiative was multifold. Governor Jeb Bush created a Blue …
State Agency Promising Practices: The Maine Employment Curriculum - Delivering Best Practices For Employment Support Professionals, John Butterworth, Jaimie Ciulla Timmons, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
State Agency Promising Practices: The Maine Employment Curriculum - Delivering Best Practices For Employment Support Professionals, John Butterworth, Jaimie Ciulla Timmons, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
ThinkWork! Publications
The University of Maine’s Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies (CCIDS), along with the Maine Department of Behavioral and Developmental Services (BDS) and the Bureau of Rehabilitation Services, developed the Maine Employment Curriculum (MEC). The comprehensive curriculum fosters best practices in employment supports for people with disabilities statewide by using a cadre of trainers who are supported by the Maine Employment Curriculum project staff. The Maine Employment Curriculum ultimately seeks an increase in the number of integrated, communitybased supports available and builds the capacity of the employment support provider community to achieve this goal.
State Agency Promising Practice: Maine’S Peer- Support Training - Helping People With Id/Dd Transition Out Of Sheltered Workshops, Jaimie Ciulla Timmons, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
State Agency Promising Practice: Maine’S Peer- Support Training - Helping People With Id/Dd Transition Out Of Sheltered Workshops, Jaimie Ciulla Timmons, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
ThinkWork! Publications
In 2006, a new Maine law mandated the creation of a waiver program that promotes the expansion of supported employment programs for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (ID/DD). As a result, state funding for sheltered workshops was reduced for seven workshops and approximately 220 individuals throughout Maine. These individuals received funding under the new waiver program for community supports and supported employment services. As a result, Maine’s Department of Health and Human Service’s (DHHS) Office of Adults with Cognitive and Physical Disabilities (OACPD) developed a comprehensive work plan. A pilot project, which was included in this plan, focused on …
State Agency Promising Practice: Working Together - Collaboration Between Colorado’S Developmental Disabilities Division And Division Of Vocational Rehabilitation, Allison C. Hall, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
State Agency Promising Practice: Working Together - Collaboration Between Colorado’S Developmental Disabilities Division And Division Of Vocational Rehabilitation, Allison C. Hall, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
ThinkWork! Publications
In Colorado, counselors from the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation are housed on-site in Community Centered Board1 offices so they can provide direct services to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (ID/DD). The goal of the project was to serve 240 customers with ID/DD and provide 134 successful employment outcomes over a two-year period2. Streamlined services and enhanced communication emerged through a unique collaborative effort between the two entities.
State Agency Promising Practice: Washington - Promoting Public Sector Jobs For People With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities, Jean Winsor, Allison C. Hall, John Butterworth, Dana Scott Gilmore, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
State Agency Promising Practice: Washington - Promoting Public Sector Jobs For People With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities, Jean Winsor, Allison C. Hall, John Butterworth, Dana Scott Gilmore, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
ThinkWork! Publications
King County’s program to employ people with disabilities in county jobs is an example of Washington’s commitment to the use of innovative approaches to increase integrated employment. In 1989, a training resource funded by Washington State and the county Division of Developmental Disabilities, O’Neill and Associates, submitted a grant application to the Rehabilitation Services Administration to develop public sector jobs for people with developmental disabilities within the state. These jobs were to be concentrated in King County (Seattle area) government because of the availability of high-paying jobs with benefits. With the political assistance of a King County councilor, the County …
State Agency Promising Practice: Community Employment Training By And For Individuals With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities In Tennessee, Jean Winsor, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
State Agency Promising Practice: Community Employment Training By And For Individuals With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities In Tennessee, Jean Winsor, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
ThinkWork! Publications
Project Income was a joint venture between the Tennessee Microboards Association (statewide organization that supports individual microboards, which procure and oversee supports and services) and People First of Tennessee (a statewide selfadvocacy organization for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities). The focus of the project was to educate people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (ID/DD) and their families about the benefits of and opportunities for community employment.
State Agency Promising Practice: Pennsylvania’S Employment Newsletter - A Communication Strategy To Promote Employment, Jennifer Bose, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
State Agency Promising Practice: Pennsylvania’S Employment Newsletter - A Communication Strategy To Promote Employment, Jennifer Bose, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
ThinkWork! Publications
The State of Pennsylvania’s Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) created a monthly newsletter called The Employment Update, which covers state- and nationwide news about the employment of people with disabilities, including intellectual/developmental disabilities. The Employment Update is sent via email to state agency contacts and a large stakeholder community, including individuals with disabilities, service providers, state associations, employers, advocacy groups, family members, representatives from academia and others. The Employment Update contains information about employment trends, employment policy, trainings and conferences throughout Pennsylvania and nationwide. The newsletter also contains information about employment grants and project activities, including links to articles covering …
State Agency Promising Practices: North Carolina - Using An Outcomes-Based Long-Term Vocational Services Funding Model, Allison C. Hall, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
State Agency Promising Practices: North Carolina - Using An Outcomes-Based Long-Term Vocational Services Funding Model, Allison C. Hall, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
ThinkWork! Publications
In North Carolina, counties have been consolidated into Local Management Entities (LMEs). These entities contract for services with community providers and provide oversight on access, utilization, best practices, and community collaborations. The Mecklenberg County LME established the Best Practices Community Committee, comprising service providers, individuals and family members, advocacy agencies, community partners, interested community volunteers, and LME staff. Sub-committees addressed several areas, including employment. Based on their recommendations, a pilot project that uses an outcome-based funding model for follow-along employment services was developed. Follow-along employment supports are ongoing supports that are necessary to assist a person with an intellectual/developmental disability …
State Agency Promising Practice: Delaware’S Early Start To Supported Employment Pilot Project, Susanne Freeze, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
State Agency Promising Practice: Delaware’S Early Start To Supported Employment Pilot Project, Susanne Freeze, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
ThinkWork! Publications
The Early Start to Supported Employment (ESSE) pilot started in 2005 with the goal of providing a more seamless transition for students who would benefit from supported employment services when leaving school and entering the adult workforce. An interagency project team was established to guide the pilot work and ensure all required parties knew their role and shared information and equal responsibility within the project.
State Agency Promising Practice: Oklahoma - Contracting With Industry For The Provision Of Job Coaching Supports, Monica Cox, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
State Agency Promising Practice: Oklahoma - Contracting With Industry For The Provision Of Job Coaching Supports, Monica Cox, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
ThinkWork! Publications
Contracts with Industry, implemented in the 1990s as the Natural Supports Initiative, is a program option that allows the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS) Developmental Disabilities Services Division (DDSD) to contract directly with businesses to provide job coaching supports that become a part of the natural workplace. Individuals participating in this program are employed by a business and are paid minimum wage or better. The name change to Contracts with Industry was an effort to distinguish the program from other DDSD employment options that involve employment service providers and paid job coaches.
State Agency Promising Practice: Wisconsin’S Job Development Mentors Project, Jaimie Ciulla Timmons, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
State Agency Promising Practice: Wisconsin’S Job Development Mentors Project, Jaimie Ciulla Timmons, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
ThinkWork! Publications
Sponsored by Wisconsin’s Department of Health and Family Services (DHFS) through the use of Medicaid Infrastructure Grant (MIG) funds, Wisconsin’s Job Development Mentors Project (JDMP) pairs three seasoned job developers with four community-based employment support providers that cover 12 counties throughout the state. JDMP is designed to create a state-wide infrastructure for professionals who are responsible for developing jobs for individuals in supported employment while at the same time, working towards increasing the pool of well-trained job developers around the state of Wisconsin.
State Agency Promising Practice: Washington - Collaborating With A Community College And A Supported-Employment Agency To Facilitate The Transition From High School To Community Employment, Jean Winsor, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
State Agency Promising Practice: Washington - Collaborating With A Community College And A Supported-Employment Agency To Facilitate The Transition From High School To Community Employment, Jean Winsor, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
ThinkWork! Publications
Beginning in 2006, the Shoreline Public School District in King County, Washington partnered with Shoreline Community College to offer an off-campus transition program for young adults with intellectual disabilities and developmental disabilities (ID/DD) residing in the Shoreline School District. While participants are still in high school, the Community Based Transition Program offers a structured transitional step between their traditional day and post-secondary education as well as employment in the community. Funding for the classroom space on the college campus, the special education teacher and the education support staff are all provided by the school district. The school also proposed that …
State Agency Promising Practice: Working Together To Convert The Last Sheltered Workshop In Vermont To Individualized Supports, Jennifer Sullivan Sulewski, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
State Agency Promising Practice: Working Together To Convert The Last Sheltered Workshop In Vermont To Individualized Supports, Jennifer Sullivan Sulewski, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
ThinkWork! Publications
Vermont’s Division of Disability and Aging Services (DDAS) and Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) worked with a local service provider to convert its congregate day services to community employment. Implementation Between 1987 and 2002, DDAS and DVR worked with several providers to close down sheltered workshops and move people into community supports.
State Agency Promising Practice: The Tennessee Employment Consortium (Tec) - A Statewide Collaboration For Change, Jean Winsor, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
State Agency Promising Practice: The Tennessee Employment Consortium (Tec) - A Statewide Collaboration For Change, Jean Winsor, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
ThinkWork! Publications
The Tennessee Employment Consortium (TEC) is a statewide organization focused on increasing the number of Tennesseans in integrated employment. The consortium comprises volunteers from the state’s Division of Mental Retardation Services (DMRS) and Division of Rehabilitation Services (DRS), the Tennessee Council on Developmental Disabilities, the ARC of Tennessee, the Center on Disability and Employment at the University of Tennessee, community rehabilitation providers (CRPs), family members, and other stakeholders. TEC’s ability to organize collaborative activities across state agencies, advocacy organizations, and CRPs has played an important role in increasing integrated employment outcomes.
State Agency Promising Practice: Shifting Resources Away From Sheltered Workshops In Vermont, Jennifer Sullivan Sulewski, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
State Agency Promising Practice: Shifting Resources Away From Sheltered Workshops In Vermont, Jennifer Sullivan Sulewski, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
ThinkWork! Publications
Over six years, regulations in Vermont gradually restricted and eventually prohibited the use of state funds for sheltered workshops or enclaves. Concurrent with the change in funding regulations, the state worked with providers to convert the remaining sheltered workshops in Vermont.
State Agency Promising Practices: Washington State’S Working-Age Adult Policy, Allison C. Hall, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
State Agency Promising Practices: Washington State’S Working-Age Adult Policy, Allison C. Hall, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
ThinkWork! Publications
Washington’s Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD) has recently issued a new policy which went into full effect on July 1, 2006. This policy “designates employment supports as the primary method of furnishing state-financed day services to adult participants.” Emphasizing community employment as the primary service option, the policy further states that: “services for persons under the age of 62 that do not emphasize the pursuit or maintenance of employment in integrated settings can be authorized only by exception to policy” (WA DHSH, DDD, “County Services for Working Age Adults” Policy 4.11). Initially adopted in 2004, this policy does not eliminate …
State Agency Promising Practices: Employment First! Making Integrated Employment The Preferred Outcome In Tennessee, Jean Winsor, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
State Agency Promising Practices: Employment First! Making Integrated Employment The Preferred Outcome In Tennessee, Jean Winsor, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
ThinkWork! Publications
The Tennessee Division of Mental Retardation Services (DMRS) implemented the Employment First! initiative in 2002. The goal of Employment First was to make employment the first day service option for adults receiving supports funded by DMRS, Medicaid, or the state. Employment First set the standard that employment was the preferred service option for adults with mental retardation and developmental disabilities (MR/DD).
State Agency Promising Practice: Integrated Employment Outcomes Through Person-To-Person Technical Assistance: New Hampshire, Allison C. Hall, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
State Agency Promising Practice: Integrated Employment Outcomes Through Person-To-Person Technical Assistance: New Hampshire, Allison C. Hall, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston
ThinkWork! Publications
New Hampshire implemented an innovative technical assistance model that promoted organizational change to expand individual employment opportunities. This person-to-person change began at the micro level but “trickled up” through organizations across the state. In 2000, realizing that the state’s growth in integrated employment had stalled, the Bureau of Developmental Services invested aggressively in expanding its intervention strategy by recruiting a community provider to work directly through the bureau. The bureau hired John Vance-the director of ACCESS, a small individualized support organization in New Hampshire-half-time to provide individualized technical assistance to providers across the state. As part of the bureau, Vance …