Employment First: Making it a Reality

September 13, 2012

What is employment…

We know it when we see it!

20+ years in the making…

“Thousands of adults labeled ‘severely handicapped’ are currently enrolled in sheltered workshops, work activity centers, or adult day care programs. Their placement is not a result of their inability to learn the skills necessary to obtain and maintain employment in integrated environments. Rather it is the function of our inability to design service systems responsive to their learning needs. Our central thesis is that sheltered environments should be phased out in favor of employment opportunities in integrated settings.” (McLoughlin, Garner, & Callahan, 1987)

Stuck on an Escalator

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47rQkTPWW2I&feature=related

Employment First – What is it?• General Theme:Employment in the community is the first/primary

service option for individuals with disabilities

APSE Statement on Employment First

Employment in the general workforce is the first and preferred outcome in the provision of

publicly funded services for all working aged citizens with disabilities, regardless of level of

disability.

Employment First Beliefs

• Working is fundamental to adulthood, • Defines who we are• Quality of life • Exercise our freedoms and choices as citizens

• We need everyone to work for business and communities to prosper

• For individuals with disabilities, work is a means toward rehabilitation.

Employment First ValuesValue #1- Presumption of EmploymentCitizens with complex disabilities should

have the right to enjoy their lives as much as other citizens do

Working is fundamental to adulthood, quality of life issues; earning the means to exercise our freedoms and choices as citizens

We need everyone to work for communities to prosper

Value #2: Integrated Employment

• Regular employment in the workforce - on the payroll of a company (unless self-employed) at minimum or prevailing wages and benefits.

• Employment where integration and interaction with co-workers without disabilities and customers is assured.

Value #3: Control & Power of Supports

• Social Capital represents the resources available to individuals through their social affiliations and membership in community organizations.

• It refers to aspects of social relationships that act as resources for individuals and facilitates collective action for mutual benefit

- Al Condeluci

The Consequence of Choice

• In the name of “choice”, we have supported services that promote

• Long-term dependence (poverty)• Low status (under or unemployed)• Limited competence (no challenge)• Little respect (segregation)

Value #4: Focus on Capacity & Capabilities

Discovering a individual’s strengths and uncovering their employment-related goals and experiences is the place to start. Assisting the student to explore answers to the following key questions will help guide the process.

• What life experiences have I had? • What are my strengths, interests, and preferences? • What do I have to offer to an employer? • What is important to me in a job? • What motivates me to work? • What supports will I need to be successful?

Killer Concepts

•Ready•Realistic•Never

Value #5: Commensurate Wages & Benefits

Integrated employment is successful when there is a negotiated fit between the applicant’s strengths, passion and needs, and the “specific needs of an employer and their business

Money, money, money…

• Federal cuts in programs are expected to continue

• States will need to focus on return on investment (ROI) and cost benefit analyses to provide more with less

• Integrated employment has consistently shown less cost per person than facility based or other group models of employment

Wise use of public dollars

Segregated services are not cost beneficial (cost is more than benefit in public dollars)

Integrated employment: for each dollar invested more dollars are returned in taxes paid, fewer government benefits paid and program costs (Cimera, 2001)

We have the $$It’s how we use it that matters

Vocational Rehabilitation Social Security Work Incentives

PASS IRWE Ticket to Work

School District IDEA DiscretionaryFunds

Medicaid WaiverPrivate PayCombination

Value #7: Importance of Community

Value# 6: Importance of Relationships

Value #8: Systems Change

The organization (system) should never be more important than the individual

Systems Change

• Shift focus from prevocational programs to employment specific services

• Incentivize transformation of segregated business model

• Implement phase out of subminimum wage provisions under 14(c)

Employment First in 2012

• 30+ states have some form of “Employment First” movement• About ¾ of efforts are directed by state

policy units or are legislatively based• About ¼ of efforts are grassroots based

(i.e., outsiders working to influence state policy and practice)

Employment First in 2012• 19 states have official Employment First policies

• 7 states have passed legislation: (California, Delaware, Kansas, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Utah, Washington)

• 12 have a policy directive, Executive order or similar policy (Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee)

• 13 states have Employment First initiatives underway (Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Texas, Wisconsin)

What We’ve Learned…

• Systems change must fit within the overall culture of the state

• Systems change requires both:• Big picture perspective and leadership• Willingness to get into the “nitty gritty”

policy and practice details• Slow and steady wins the race• It’s not one thing, it’s a lot of things

Employment in the community cannot be viewed as an “add on” or something “extra”

It must be viewed by everyone as a core component of the service delivery system.

How to Begin…

Leadership

Take the initiative Get started Push the agenda

TIP: Anyone can take the lead…

What to Say…

Messaging

Clear and consistent Frame the argument Keep it simple

TIP: Don’t get sidetracked…

Involve Everyone

MarketingGet the word out Expand stakeholder support

Include business All disability groups

TIP: Gain broad consensus…

Continue to Gain Momentum

Action Task Force/Work Group Summit/Briefing Materials/Document

TIP: Build on energy and excitement…

Move Beyond Talking

Public Policy Agency level State level Legislative level

TIP: Address problems along the way…

Turn Policy into Practice

Implementation Address issues Service delivery practices Data and accountability

TIP: Be prepared…

Dare to step away from the status quo!

Employment First: Where are we headed?

• Individuals with complex disabilities fully accepted and supported in the general workforce

• Individuals with disabilities expected to go to work

• Major evolution of service delivery system• End of the “guarantee” 9-3 day program• Individuals with disabilities increasingly part of the

economic mainstream• Individuals with disabilities making full use of their

skills and abilities

We’re far too patient with the passage of time for people with disabilities…Time is as precious for a person with a disability as it is for all of us.”

~Gerry Provencal

We believe…

• That all individuals can and should be contributing members in their communities

• That everyone deserves the opportunity to find and develop their passions and interests

• That local economies benefit from individuals who purchase good and services…And pay taxes

• That individuals with disabilities, families, employers, employment agencies, schools, and entire communities CAN come together to include individuals with disabilities in all aspects of life

At first people refuse to believe that a strange new thing can be done, and then they begin to hope it can be done, then they see it can be done – then it is done and all the world wonders why it was not done centuries ago.

-Francis Hodgson Burnett

The Future of Employment First!