Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Supporting Employment Consultants In Their Work With Job Seekers, Alberto Migliore

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This is a summary of the article "Supporting employment consultants in their work with job seekers: A longitudinal study" published in the Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation. The article highlights an urgent need for policy, practice, and research to identify and remove the roadblocks that prevent employment consultants from investing more of their time in core activities that lead to hiring.

The Percentage Of People Who Receive Vr Services Varies Greatly Across States, Alberto Migliore

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Receiving vocational rehabilitation services is a key step toward employment. However, the percentage of job seekers with intellectual disabilities who receive #VocRehab services varies greatly across states, from 93% in Vermont to 34% in Nebraska. Check out this new DataNote to see how your state compares

Vermont: Collaborating To Educate Self-Advocates About Alternatives To Guardianship, Jaimie Ciulla Timmons

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This promising practice describes Vermont’s statewide self-advocacy organization, Green Mountain Self-Advocates (GMSA), and their partnership with the Vermont Disability Law Project to organize legal clinics for people with IDD. These clinics have enabled self-advocates to get high-quality, easy-to-understand information about alternatives to guardianship they might not get anywhere else.

Getting To Know Job Seekers, Alberto Migliore

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Getting to know job seekers is one of the five elements of the comprehensive model of employment supports. But why is it so crucial for career success?

Building Trust, Alberto Migliore

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In this brief, you’ll find tips about building trust with job seekers as a first step toward finding the optimal job match.

A Purpose In Life: Why Employment First Matters To Self-Advocates, Self-Advocates Becoming Empowered, Green Mountain Self-Advocates, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

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Self-advocates with intellectual disabilities describe Employment First efforts in their states, and why those efforts are important.

Self-Advocates Becoming Empowered asked leaders in the self-advocacy movement to describe the impact of Employment First in their states. The authors spoke with 21 peer leaders across the country and asked, “What does Employment First mean?”

Rrtc On Advancing Employment For Individuals With Idd: State Of The Science Paper – State Level Strategy And Policy, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

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Since the introduction of supported employment in the Developmental Disabilities Act of 1984 and the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1986, there has been continued development and refinement of best practices in employment services and supports. Progress includes demonstration of creative outcomes for individuals with significant support needs, including customized jobs and self-employment, community rehabilitation providers that have shifted emphasis to integrated employment, and states that have made a substantial investment in Employment First policy and strategy. Despite these achievements, the promise of integrated employment has not been realized for many individuals with intellectual/developmental disabilities (IDD). The number of individuals supported …

Rrtc On Advancing Employment: Bringing Employment First To Scale, John Butterworth, Amie Lulinski, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

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In July 2017, ThinkWork conducted a State of the Science session the The Summer Leadership Institute hosted by The Arc of the United States.

State Of The Science Paper – Delivering The Most Effective Employment Supports: Organizational Design And Capacity Building, Brief Summary, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

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This brief aims to share information learned from two studies: 1) interviews with employment consultants; and 2) a Delphi process to determine what characteristics are most critical for organizational transformation from facility-based to community-based integrated employment for people with IDD. The relationship between study findings will be explored and a relational model will be introduced.

State Of The Science Paper – Engaging Families, Brief Summary, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

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This brief summarizes a paper (State of the Science: Engaging Families, 2017) that explores the role of families in individuals’ employment outcomes through a scoping literature review, as well as findings from a qualitative study involving family members and individuals.

Organizational Transformation That Supports Community Employment, Amie Lulinski, Tibisay Guzmán, Avery Valins, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

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A presentation at the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD) Conference in Harford, Connecticut, on June 27, 2017.

How Is Guardianship Status Related To Employment Status For People With Idd? Findings From The National Core Indicators Adult Consumer Survey (Bringing Employment First To Scale, Issue No. 10), Kelly Nye-Lengerman, Caro Narby, Sandra Pettingell, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

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Many individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, or IDD, have a legal guardian who assists them in making life decisions about housing, health, and employment. A recent analysis of data from the National Core Indicators (NCI) Adult Consumer Survey has found that people with IDD who were represented by a legal guardian were less likely to have paid employment than people who were their own legal guardians.

This finding may help us understand the role that legal guardians play in access to employment. If guardianship is a potential barrier to community-based work, then guardians need to be directly engaged in …

What Is The Relationship Between Gender And Employment Status For Individuals With Idd? Findings From The National Core Indicators Adult Consumer Survey (Bringing Employment First To Scale, Issue No. 9), Kelly Nye-Lengerman, Caro Narby, Sandra Pettingell, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

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Gender-based discrimination is a persistent problem in the workforce. Like their peers without disabilities, women with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) often have less opportunity to achieve employment outcomes as compared to their male counterparts.

Analysis of data from the 2012–2013 National Core Indicators (NCI) Adult Consumer Survey shows a disparity in access to community jobs between men and women. These data show that women are significantly less likely than men to have a paid job in the community. Among the sample of respondents who worked in a community setting, only about one third were women.

Beyond Training: Engaging Families In The Transition To Employment (Bringing Employment First To Scale, Issue No. 12), John Kramer, Jennifer Bose, John Shepard, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

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We conducted an extended search of trainings provided by state agencies and service providers that are targeted towards families. Trainings in the form of written material (handbooks, brochures and computer-based courses) or given in person by service professionals, peers and others have been found to raise expectations that family members with IDD can become employed in their communities. While an extensive review of these materials is beyond the scope of this brief, we surmise that they continue to be useful in changing families’ level of knowledge about employment possibilities, job search strategies, job accommodations, and benefits planning. However, training on …

Engaging Families Effectively: Results From A Forums And Facebook Group Qualitative Research Study, John Kramer, Jennifer Bose, Eric Mcvay, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

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Attendees learned how families have modeled employment and advocated for their children to have early work experiences similar to those of their peers without disabilities. Attendees heard how the service system and families have tried to engage across language barriers and socioeconomic differences. The strategies that currently exist to inform families about transition and employment will be discussed, and juxtaposed to the common themes found throughout focus groups and interviews around what they proposed would be the best timing of engaging families about transition services, the best methods of disseminating transition process knowledge, the knowledge gaps, and the strategies that …

Cle Promising Practices: Flexible Scheduling And Creative Staffing, Heike Boeltzig-Brown, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

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Headquartered in a small rural town in northern Maine, Katahdin Friends, Inc. (KFI) provides community employment and life engagement supports, as well as home supports, to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). A flexible approach to staffing and support scheduling helps KFI ensure customized daily support schedules that meet individual goals. This approach also allows individuals to interact with a variety of direct support professionals, which is important for having a more engaged and meaningful life in the community.

Cle Promising Practices: Braiding Community Employment And Life Engagement Services, Heike Boeltzig-Brown, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

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WorkLink is a program that braids community employment and life engagement services. The goal is to enable individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) to work while receiving wrap-around day supports, as needed. Started in 1996, WorkLink is a program of TransCen, Inc. and is based in San Francisco.

WorkLink clients do not have to give up day supports when deciding to pursue work. In addition to helping individuals establish and maintain meaningful community relationships, day supports are used to discover and explore vocational goals and job options. This information then helps guide individuals’ employment planning process.

Cle Promising Practices: Using Mobile Communication Technology, Oliver Lyons, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

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SEEC (Seeking Equality, Empowerment, and Community) is a Maryland-based provider of employment, community living, and community development supports to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Because SEEC has no central facility, having ways to maintain contact between staff and management is paramount. From prepaid cell phones in 2005 to outfitting every staff member with a tablet or a laptop today, SEEC has embraced mobile communication since it started its conversion. By pursuing non- disability-specific grants and reallocating resources, SEEC is able to maintain a mobile organization.

Cle Promising Practices: A Staffing Approach Based On Client Relationships, Heike Boeltzig-Brown, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

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Avenues Supported Living Services of Valencia, California was founded in 1997 by a husband- and-wife team, Scott and Lori Shepard. The agency provides supported living and community life engagement (CLE) services to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Key to Avenues’ success is a staffing approach that is grounded in client relationships.

Cle Promising Practices: Using Staff Networks To Build Community Membership, Oliver Lyons, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

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LOQW (Learning Opportunities/Quality Works) is a community skills training, service coordination, and employment services provider in northeast Missouri. LOQW operates several satellite offices in addition to its main office in Monroe City, MO. One of these satellite offices is located in Hannibal, MO, a city with a population of less than 18,000. But being located in a small city does have its advantages. One advantage is that a majority of the Hannibal staff has lived there for their entire lives, and they have countless connections in the area. Staff often use their own networks to bring people they support into …

Cle Promising Practices: Using Human And Social Capital To Decrease Dependence On Paid Supports, Jennifer Sulewski, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

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SEEC (Seeking Equality, Empowerment, and Community) is a Maryland-based provider of employment, community living, and community development supports to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Like many providers of individualized supports, SEEC has had to find creative ways to individualize supports even though its funding structures do not support 1:1 staffing. One way they do this is by deliberately building both human capital (community living skills) and social capital (relationships in the community). As skills and relationships are built, paid supports can be faded, thus making more efficient use of resources in the longer term.

From Sheltered Work To Competitive Integrated Employment: Lessons From The Field (Bringing Employment First To Scale, Issue No. 11), Amie Lulinski, Jaimie Ciulla Timmons, Stephane Leblois, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

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Community providers across the nation are embracing the transformation from facility-based employment supports to competitive integrated employment. While many providers believe in inclusion and Employment First for the individuals they support, some struggle to make their vision a reality. The process of organizational transformation can seem daunting without an understanding of the full range of tactics and approaches available.

The Institute for Community Inclusion (ICI), in conjunction with The Arc of the United States, is conducting research to better understand the transformation process and to guide the development of tools and resources for providers seeking to transform their services. As …

Assisting Job Seekers With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities: A Guide For Employment Consultants (Bringing Employment First To Scale, Issue No. 13), John Butterworth, Alberto Migliore, Jennifer Bose, Oliver Lyons, Kelly Nye-Lengerman, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

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Interviews with employment consultants reveal 5 key elements for supporting job seekers with disabilities. This brief describes 5 key elements for supporting job seekers with intellectual and developmental disabilities in finding individual paid employment:

1. Building trust
2. Getting to know the job seeker
3. Addressing supports planning
4. Finding tasks/jobs
5. Providing support after hire

A checklist organized around these 5 key elements makes it easier for employment consultants to understand and implement these support practices.

Engaging Individuals And Families Around Employment, John Kramer, Nancy Nickolaus, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

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No abstract provided.

Statedata: The National Report On Employment Services And Outcomes, 2016, Jean Winsor, Jaimie Ciulla Timmons, John Butterworth, John Shepard, Cady Landa, Frank A. Smith, Daria Domin, Alberto Migliore, Jennifer Bose, Lydia Landim, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

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This report provides statistics over 25 years from several national datasets that address the status of employment and economic self-sufficiency for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The authors use abbreviations for both intellectual disability (ID) and intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in this report. This is because data sources vary in the specific target groups that can be described. Please refer to each chapter for the disability definition used in that chapter. We provide a comprehensive overview that describes national trends in employment for people with IDD, and the appendices provide individual state profiles with data from several sources. …

Siblinghood Through Disability Studies Perspectives: Diversifying Discourse And Knowledge About Siblings With And Without Disabilities, Ariella Meltzer, John Kramer

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Research about siblings where one has a disability has historically focused on the psychological outcomes of siblings of people with disabilities and has very rarely asked people with disabilities about their sibling relationships. This research focus represents the common individualizing approach and under-representation of people with disabilities that disability studies has argued against. Tracing the history of research about siblings and disability through de/institutionalization and towards current broader theories in disability studies, this article suggests that a range of disability studies perspectives can usefully de-individualize and expand research about siblings where one has a disability. Through examples of how materialist, …

Trends In Employment Outcomes Of Young Adults With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities, 2006-2013, John Butterworth, Alberto Migliore, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

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This report summarizes the employment and economic outcomes for young adults with intellectual disabilities between 2006 and 2013 in the nation’s 50 states and the District of Columbia (DC). Data are reported separately for two age groups: 16 to 21 years old, and 22 to 30 years old. Data are from the American Community Survey (ACS), the Rehabilitation Services Administration 911 (RSA-911), and the National Core Indicators (NCI).

Caregiving, Services, And Advocacy Among Siblings Of Individuals With Disabilities, John Kramer, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

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In today’s presentation, we will make a case for how and why a critical disability studies perspective would deepen and strengthen our knowledge about the lifelong experiences of siblinghood. We have a wide range of goals today and will present for you some of our current thinking on this relatively small, but expanding interest in sibling-disability research. First, we highlight how sibling disability research has differed and been narrower in focus than other research about siblings where neither has a disability and trace the reason for this to institutionalisation and deinstitutionalisation. We then identify the impact of the overwhelmingly psychological …

Emerging Practices, Transition: Funding Mechanisms (Issue Number 5 Of 8), Jean Winsor, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

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In October 2011, the Administration on Developmental Disabilities awarded grants to lead agencies in six states: California, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, and Wisconsin. Two additional states, Alaska and Tennessee, received grants in October 2012. These states proposed activities to spur improved employment and post-secondary outcomes for youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). The Institute for Community Inclusion and the National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disabilities Services are providing training and technical assistance (TA) to the eight state projects through the Partnerships in Employment (PIE) Training and TA Center.

Partnerships project work is framed by the High …

Emerging Practices, Transition: Interagency Collaboration (Issue Number 1 Of 8), Jean Winsor, Cady Landa, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

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In October 2011, the Administration on Developmental Disabilities awarded grants to lead agencies in six states: California, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, and Wisconsin. Two additional states, Alaska and Tennessee, received grants in October 2012. These states proposed activities to spur improved employment and post-secondary outcomes for youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). The Institute for Community Inclusion and the National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disabilities Services are providing training and technical assistance (TA) to the eight state projects through the Partnerships in Employment (PIE) Training and TA Center.

Partnerships project work is framed by the High …