Best Practices in employment supports: Where do we go with ......Oct 04, 2019 · they are good,...
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Best Practices in employment supports: Where do we go with what we know? Kelly Nye-Lengerman, MSW, PhD Boggs Center-DD Lecture Series October 4, 2019
Transcript of Best Practices in employment supports: Where do we go with ......Oct 04, 2019 · they are good,...
Best Practices in employment supports:
Where do we go with what we know?
Kelly Nye-Lengerman, MSW, PhD
Boggs Center-DD Lecture Series
October 4, 2019
Hi, I’m Kelly
• Researcher
• Trained as a Social Worker
• Study employment, poverty, transition, policy, and person centered practices
• Worked as a DSP, job developer, case manager, director—inclusive and segregated settings
• My moto: Because nice matters
Acknowledgements
Today’s agenda
• What do we know?
• What have we tried?
• What have we learned?
• Where do we go next?
• Putting it all together.
Graphic source: Helen Sanderson & Associates
Sharing a message: Why not both?
Sharing data
Sharing stories
WHAT DO WE KNOW?
What’s the context?
Number in day and employment services
0
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
600,000
700,000
1990 1993 1999 2004 2008 2012 2017
Non-work
Facility-based work
Integrated employment
What do you mean by employment?
Competitive, integrated employment (CIE)
• At least minimum/prevailing wage
• Paid for by the employer
• Co-workers mirror broader society
• Job seeker’s preferences are met
• Career advancement opportunities
• Ongoing support if needed
What makes CIE hard to achieve?
• Low expectations for people with disabilities
• Antiquated service models
• Incongruent funding with policies
• Shortage of trained, competent workforce
• Misinformation and fear of risk
• Benefits protection and security
• Lower participation in post-secondary training/education
• ........
• ........
Typical trajectory
Education
Employment
Economic well-being
(Insert here)
Education level (ages 18-64)
No disability Any disability Cognitive disability
Less than HS diploma
10% 20% 24%
HS diploma/equiv.
25% 34% 36%
Some college/2 year
32% 32% 29%
BA or higher 34% 14% 11%
Source: American Community Survey 2016
Employment rate (age 21-64)
No disability Any disability Cognitive disability
Employed w/ less than HS diploma
66% 22% 15%
Employed w/ BA or higher
80% 57% 43%
Not employed but looking
19% 8% 8%
Source: American Community Survey 2016
Source nTide, UNH, 2019.
Poverty & earnings (ages 18-24)
No disability Any disability Cognitive disability
Poverty rate 11% 27% 32%
Annual earnings
$45,300 $40,300 $35,00
Annual household income
$68,700 $43,300 $36,900
Source: American Community Survey 2016
Employment is a pathway out of poverty
Employment is a pathway to community living
Relationships
Employment
Health &
WellbeingEducation
Family
Faith
What is community living & participation?
A complex and evolving construct related to individual preferences, contexts and cultural and linguistics
lenses
– where and with whom a person lives;
– if and where a person works;
– the financial resources available to the individual;
– what a person does during the day;
– their quality of relationships with others;
– what and with whom a person does things of personal interest,
– an individual’s health (physical and emotional);
– if, where and with whom they meet their spiritual needs;
– their interest and opportunity to engage in learning and personal growth;
– their opportunities and ability to make informed decisions about and determine the direction of
their own life, and
– their human right to assume roles and responsibilities as a citizen (e.g. neighbor, taxpayer,
voter).
Having a job: A valued social role
Valued social roles: is when a person does something regularly that is important to other people. Context: A valued social
role must be perceived by others as being important. Something that is valuable to
the person but is not valued by other people is not a valued SOCIAL role.
Social role valorization: “…people who have devalued social roles, or very few or
marginally valued ones, have a much harder time obtaining the good things of life available to those with valued social
status…”
Image Source: Openclipart
Another typical trajectory?
Experience to try
Dignity of riskOpportunity
to contribute
Valued social roles "social
currency"
Think-Pair-Share
Putting the pieces together
Employment
HousingSocial connections
Healthcare
Transportation
WHAT HAVE WE TRIED?
Focus on employment consultants and their practices
What is an Employment Consultant ?
Professionals who assist job seekers with disabilities explore,
find, and maintain employment.
Business consultant
Who’s out there?
• 32,000 employment support professionals
• 5,400 employment programs
• Potentially 300,000 more support professionals currently
in day programs
(Bogenschutz, Nord, & Hewitt, 2015; Haines, Domin, & Butterworth, 2013; Hiersteiner et al., 2018; President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities, 2017)
“…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
they are good, job seekers get jobs. If they
are not, the barriers to employment for job
seekers can become insurmountable…” Employment consultant
Luecking, R. G., Fabian, E. S., & Tilson, G. P. (2004). Working relationships: Creating career opportunities for job seekers with disabilities through employer partnerships. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes., p. 29
Employment consultants are key
Why research? Don’t we already “know?”
The Scientific Method as an Ongoing Process ~ Image by ArchonMagnus
Celebrating 10 years!
• Employment consultants (EC) survey (2009)
• Pilot activity log (2013)
• Community Rehabilitation Programs survey (2014)
• Employment consultants Interviews (2015)
• Daily survey (2016)
• Daily survey intervention study (2017-2019)
• Secondary data analysis (2019-2020)
• Employment consultant interviews (2020)
• Development of Daily Survey app (coming in 2020)
• Advanced EC and Org. intervention (2021-2023)
Supporting wholistic quality
Provider Organization
“culture & infrastructure”
Employment Consultant
“daily practices & activities”
Ask the audience
• What do you want to know about employment
consultants?
• What do you think are the most important support
activities?
Image Source: Openclipart
Key goals in research with ECs
• What do employment consultants do?
• How do employment consultants make decisions?
• What is the relationship of practice to outcome?
• How can we provide implementation support ?
– Data-based feedback
– Reflective practice
– Microlearning, mobile learning, personalized learning
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
Employment practices research
Step one: Clear practice guidelines
Who did we ask?
Employment Consultants
Supervisors of ECs
Job SeekersJob Seeker
family members
What did we ask?
Semi-structured interviews
• How do you find jobs?
• How do you train employment consultants (ECs)?
• What skills are critical for ECs?
• What makes a good EC?
• How do ECs show respect?
• What did the EC do to help you find a job?
Preparing the Ground
•Building trust
•Involving families
•Setting boundaries
Getting to know
• Process & approach
• Raise expectations
• DevelopSkills
Finding jobs
• Look for tasks, not jobs
• Be creative
• Networking
• Social media
Activity Themes
Building Trust: The relationship between the job seeker and the employment consultant begins with
breaking down the walls that sometimes divide support professionals from the people whom they
serve.
Involving Families: Families’ involvement was reported as instrumental for gaining new perspectives
on job seekers’ personal lives and what is likely to work for them. Involving families from day one
also minimizes FM’s concerns about the ability of the JS to succeed in the workplace. An ongoing
open communication from day one helps to build the foundation of trust, and demonstrates that the
ECs is working to ensure the safety of the job seeker.
Setting Boundaries: Finding successful employment sometimes means ECs managing the
relationship with family members. Educating family members early on about the EC’s role in the job
search process prevents accidental interceding and encourages them to see beyond their
expectations for the JS.
Preparing the Ground
“So always listen to the individual first and make sure that
their voice is heard because it's very easy for that voice to get
lost amongst agencies, the family, the state, the employer, if
they're employed, other various community members and
team members…And it's not fair for that individual because
of their services to only be 10 percent of that team. Their voice
needs to be weighed more than any other.”
Preparing the Ground
• Process and Approach: Seeing the person in their natural spaces doing normal or typical things. Getting to know what makes the person tick-- their passions, their values, their strengths and challenges, and their vision for themselves. Using a person-centered interpersonal approach means that ECs should not even look at medical or behavioral records when learning about a person.
• Raise Expectations: Exposing a JS to new or different environments which may be out of their comfort zone.
• Develop Skills: increase job seekers’ exposure to situations that are similar to job interviews or that can help job seekers become more comfortable in work environments.
Getting to know job seeker and developing
skills
“....Now that we've done a better job at discovery… a better
job at matching people in their jobs, now the job coach’s role
has really shifted to sort of connecting the person directly with
the employer. And our goal is that the employer takes on the
role of supporter and teacher and supervisor. And that has
worked out really well, and we've seen a huge difference as far
as people being happier in their jobs, the employers being
happier with their employees.”
Getting to know job seeker and developing
skills
• Look For Tasks, Not Jobs: Looking for tasks means examining the tasks that together make up a job and seeing which tasks can be singled out and combined in different ways to develop a new job.
• Be Creative: Often EC’s don’t think about businesses with a specific job proposal in mind. Rather, they aim at developing natural relationships with the business. One EC started out as a customer of a business for a long time before even asking about employment opportunities there.
• Networking: Personal, professional, and social networks can play a critical role in connecting job seekers to employment opportunities and the broader community. These networks can be leveraged for personal introductions, informational interviews, job leads, hiring, job carving, and developing natural supports.
• Social Media: We heard mixed opinions about using social media. An EC expressed concerns about the risk that ECs spend too much time behind computers at the expense of time that could be spent out in the community, meeting real people face-to-face. At the same time, she was in favor of promoting the use of social media for marketing the program and services as well as for promoting events.
Finding Jobs
“I’d say that the most important thing is to maintain an open-
mindedness to the possibilities. The individuals we support,
it’s very easy to say, “No, no, no, there’s no jobs out there,
there are no jobs that fit,” push yourself to work harder at
being creative and more open-minded, and looking for the jobs
behind the jobs.“
Finding Jobs
Key findings
• Build trust with the job seeker and their family
• Find out what the job seeker wants out of life and seek out employment that fits their vision for themselves
• Make decisions about your support strategies based on the JSs’ individual preferences and support needs
• Be creative in your job search. Look for tasks, not jobs
• Network with employers and community business partners
• Involve the job seeker in every step of the process and maintain contact after hire
Clear practice guidelines
Let’s watch: Green Mountain Self Advocates
https://icimedia.wistia.com/medias/p6toc79xoi
Application of knowledge and scale up?
What we know
Application to field
Scale up
Translation and dissemination with technology
Improving employment
support practices
Gain new knowledge
Insight in to
practices
Just in time learning
Connection to peers
Intervention model
Daily surveyCommunity of
practiceOnline learning
Customized
1:1 TA
Data based feedback, Microlearning, Reflective practice
Daily Survey: Using tech to collect data
• What primary support activities are
implemented?
• Who is the primary interaction with?
• Where do these interactions take
place?
Once each work day, at a random timeJune 2016 to May 2019
WHAT: Primary support activity
(2.4 hours per day)
What could be improved?
• Increase the blue zone
• Optimize supports after hire
• Streamline administrative tasks
• Address non-employment supports
Ask the audience
• What would it take to increase the time invested in
supports leading to hire?
• Specializing in assessment only, or business development
only, or job coaching only. What’s the best approach?
WHERE is the support provided?
What could be improved?
• Increase time in businesses
and community settings:
• Situational assessment
• Networking to find jobs
• Touring businesses
• Informational interviews
Ask the audience
• What are the challenges and benefits of investing time in
workplaces to get to know job seekers, touring businesses,
informational interviews, other?
• What would you tell to a new colleague who asked for
advice about strategies for spending more time in
community settings with job seekers?
WHO: Interactions with?
What could be improved?
• Increasing interactions with employers
• Involving family members and the social circle of friends of
job seekers
Ask the audience
• Could you talk about your strategies for expanding your
network of employers?
• How do you approach employers and develop relationships
with them?
• What would you tell to a new colleague who asked for help
about engaging with employers?
60
Finding jobs
What could be improved?
• Increasing job negotiation
• Investing in networking
• Minimizing browsing job ads
Ask the audience
• What would you change in the way you invest your time, and
why? (e.g. in Getting to know job seekers, Finding jobs, other supports before hire)
• What would it take to make the change?
• What would be the first thing that you would change to
improve how we support job seekers achieving their goals?
Another example: Activity over time example (N=61 ECs, Jun 2016 to May 2017)
Using data for individual feedback & performance
I enjoy the feedback from other
employment specialists, I enjoy the
videos and online training …
Participants said …
Data for everyone!
Daily Activity Reporting
Feedback for employee
Data for funding source
Outcome tracking
Information for organization
Trends and support
Ask the audience
• Is anyone collecting data on employment outcomes,
support activities?
• How are you using your data?
WHERE DO WE GO FROM
HERE?
Applications of our knowledge
Reflections on using technology and data
• Importance of reflecting on implementation. Time spent:
1)on supports that lead to hire;
2) in businesses;
3)interacting with employers;
4) connecting with family members
• Including data in decision making
• Micro, mobile, personalized learning as a support of
traditional training.
• Individual and organizational interventions cannot be done
in silos
Increasing provider capacity
“Organizational transformation cannot
occur without a strong workforce of
employment consultants, and
employment consultants perform their
most effective work within a high-
functioning organizational culture that
has a shared mission and vision among
all of its stakeholders."
Focus & Values
Infrastructure
EC Practices
Implications for organizations
• Promote capacity-building through:
– Employment programs’ effectiveness
– Employment consultants’ excellence
– Streamline administrative tasks
– Use funding to shape services
– Promote innovation and using technology
– Leveraging data for outcomes and performance
Implications for government/funders
• Service design
• Quality assurance
• Funding
• Provider qualifications
• Capacity building
• Reporting requirements
• Use of technology to reduce administrative burden
Future directions
• Investigate how employment consultants make decisions
about the supports that they provide to job seekers.
• Make the daily survey publicly available. Use the closing
screen to share data-based personalized resources (Tips,
tools, videos)
• Investigate how funding, data tracking, employment
consultant practices, and the literature align.
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
What should I take away from this?
Take away #1 Yes, all
All means all. Full inclusion means everyone.
Photo credit: Creative Commons
Think inclusion
Image source: golfclub.info
Take away #2 Language of raised expectations
Words
ActionsHabits
Take away #3 Competence first
People with disabilities are be successful in employment and
post secondary education
Assume competence first.
Presuming competence
Image Source: Inclusion Lab, 2016
Take away #4 Honoring dignity & risks
Experiences, taking risk, and having opportunities to try, lead
to development of social currency. Experiences matter.
Photo credit: Creative Commons
Power of experiences
A recipe for humans:
– 2 C. experiences;
– 1C. willingness to try
– ½ C. taking risks;
– 1 T. failure;
– 1 tsp. self awareness
Graphic Source: Creative commons
Take away #5 Design for all
Move beyond accommodation and provide access through
universal design.
Source: Association for Higher Education Access & Disability, 2018
Accessibility with universal design
Universal Design is the design and composition of an
environment so that it can be accessed, understood and used
to the greatest extent possible by all people regardless of their
age, size, ability or disability.
The goal of UDL is to use a variety of methods to remove any
barriers to learning and give all people equal opportunities to
succeed. It’s about building in flexibility that can be adjusted
for individual strengths and needs.
Take away #6 Invest early
Investments in the social-emotional development young
children and family support have significant ROIs. Start early.
Photo credit: Creative Commons
Tools for life
Soci
al E
mo
tio
nal
D
evel
op
men
t
Interactions with peers & adults
Relationships with peers & adults
Identity of self
Recognition of ability
Expression of emotion
Empathy
Emotional regulation
Impulse control
Social understanding
Photo credit: Creative Commons
The take away: In review
1. All means all
2. Language of raised expectations
3. Presume competence first
4. Honor dignity & risks
5. Design for all
6. Invest early
Graphic source: openclipart
Thank you
What we do and say today
has an impact on all of our
tomorrows. Make your
words and actions count
for good.
Funding disclosure
This work was supported by grants from the National Institute
on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research
(NIDILRR), U.S. Department of Education (RRTC on
Community Living & RRTC on Advancing Employment).
Grantees undertaking projects under government sponsorship
are encouraged to express freely their findings and
conclusions. Points of view or opinions do not, therefore
necessarily represent official NIDILRR policy.
Acknowledgements
Some of the data for this presentation are from a project carried out in partnership
between the University of Minnesota and the University of Massachusetts Boston
Thank you also to our colleagues at the for their contribution: Alberto Migliore, John
Butterworth, Oliver Lyons, Jill Eastman, Paul Foos, Jennifer Bose, Melanie Jordan,
Mark Hutchinson, Allison Cohen-Hall, Lara Enein-Donovan, and Uchenna Nwangwu,
Amy Gunty, & Kelly Nye-Lengerman.
Visit us: www.ici.umn.edu
ThinkWork: www.thinkwork.org
Contact information
Kelly Nye-Lengerman, Ph.D., MSW
612-568-7293
Institute on Community Integration (UCEDD)
Research and Training Center on Community Living
University of Minnesota
214 Pattee Hall, 150 Pillsbury Drive SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455
