National Data

Provider Transformation Efforts outlines ODEP’s work providing support for employment service providers for people with disabilities. The report reviews the Workforce Innovation and Opportunities Act (WIOA) provisions related to competitive integrated employment (CIE), and summarizes the final report of the WIOA Advisory Committee on CIE for Individuals with Disabilities. Next the report outlines the successes and challenges faced by ODEP’s provider transformation efforts. Finally, the report overviews the Data and Resources to Inspire a Vision of Employment (DRIVE) website’s provider transformation resources and how to access ODEP’s provider transformation tools.

The purpose of this report is to:

~~The Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), and the LEAD Center are pleased to release this Guided Group Discovery Facilitator Guide - Veterans Edition. The purpose of Guided Group Discovery is to lay the foundation for competitive integrated employment as a Universal Design that can benefit all job seekers. For some people, Guided Group Discovery leads to Customized Employment. For everyone, the process assists job seekers in identifying employment that would be a good fit both for them and an employer. The process of Guided Group Discovery results in a positive written description of each job seeker that provides insight into the settings and circumstances in which he or she is most likely to be successful. The information in their Blueprint for Employment, described herein, is used to facilitate an employment planning process that matches Veterans with businesses to meet the needs of both.

This Guided Group Discovery - Veterans Edition Facilitator Guide is designed to train people to facilitate Guided Group Discovery sessions with Veterans, people with disabilities, and/or others who experience barriers to employment. LEAD Center has supported pilot projects implementing Guided Group Discovery in American Job Centers (also known as One-Stop Career Centers) in collaboration with a variety of partners, including Veterans services, vocational rehabilitation, developmental disabilities, behavioral health, Centers for Independent Living, homeless services providers, and others. By facilitating groups with partners, job seekers can get support from multiple systems and the agencies can leverage each other’s resources.

~~The Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), and the LEAD Center are pleased to release this Guided Group Discovery Facilitator Guide. The purpose of Guided Group Discovery is to lay the foundation for competitive integrated employment as a Universal Design that can benefit all job seekers. For some people, Guided Group Discovery leads to Customized Employment. For everyone, the process assists job seekers in identifying employment that would be a good fit both for them and an employer. The process of Guided Group Discovery results in a positive written description of each job seeker that provides insight into the settings and circumstances in which he or she is most likely to be successful. The information in their Blueprint for Employment, described herein, is used to facilitate an employment planning process that matches people and businesses to meet the needs of both.

This Guided Group Discovery Facilitator Guide is designed to train people to facilitate Guided Group Discovery sessions with youth and/or adults with disabilities, and/or others who experience barriers to employment. LEAD Center has supported pilot projects implementing Guided Group Discovery in American Job Centers (also known as One-Stop Career Centers) in collaboration with a variety of partners, including vocational rehabilitation, developmental disabilities, behavioral health, Centers for Independent Living, homeless services providers, and others. By facilitating groups with partners, job seekers can get support from multiple systems and the agencies can leverage each other’s resources.

Guided Group Discovery materials include a Facilitator Manual, an accompanying PowerPoint slide deck and a Participant Manual, all of which can be downloaded from LEAD Center’s website at www.leadcenter.org.

~~"Since the inception of ODEP's Employment First State Leadership Mentoring Program (EFSLMP), ODEP has facilitated Provider Transformation (PT) and prioritized competitive,integrated employment for people with disabilities. This Issues Brief correlates EFSLMP’s PT techniques to the well-established principles and practices of the Technology Transfer model of knowledge dissemination and integrates provider perspectives in the discussion. Providers from eight sample states were interviewed regarding how they absorbed and adopted guidance from EFSLMP to realign their policies and practices supporting PT. This data was mapped to the principles of Technology Transfer, and recommendations were made about how ODEP's knowledge dissemination strategyfosters more efficient and sustainable provider transformation."

~~We recently launched the State Strategic Planning Manual. This guide will give states the strategies and tools neededto create their own strategic plan to implement Employment First and to increase competitive integrated employment outcomes for people with disabilities. We are soliciting feedback from our Community of Practice on how we can improve the Manual. Below are the following links:• EFSLMPState Strategic Planning Manual• FeedbackForm

We look forward to receiving your input.

~~This “Provider Transformation 2.0” manual resulted from valuable feedback ODEP received from over 150 providers who participatedin the initial “Provider Transformation Webinar Series” in 2017, and the “Provider Transformation 2.0 Webinar Series” that followed in 2018. Across the nation, many providers have moved past the beginning stages of transformation. Providers who are alreadyon the road to transformation still seek more advanced knowledge and strategies to help them tackle issues they encounter along the way. These agencies include agencies well down the path to transformation, those recently engaged in the effort, and also thosewho launched an earlier effort that may have stalled along the way. This Provider Transformation 2.0 Manual will support those providers who are in the midst of transformation with modules that offer an in depth look at specific areas of organizational changethat are central to transformation. The modules in the 2.0 Manual include:

Module 1: Redesigning Your Organization: Structure, Processes and People             (Authors: Karen Lee, M.Ed. CESP and Thomas Wilds, M.A.)

Module 2: Staff Development, Recruitment, Restructuring             (Authors: Gail Fanjoy, M.A. and Dale Verstegen, M.B.A.)

Module 3: Staff Training Specifics            (Authors: Gail Fanjoy, M.A. and Genni Sasnett, M.A.)

Module 4: Effective Stakeholder Engagement            (Authors: Pat Rogan, Ph.D. and Sean Roy, M.S.)

Module 5: The Importance of Effective Advocacy for Better Policy: Collaboration, Coalitions, Communities of Practice, and Capacity Building at the Local Level         (Authors: Karen Lee, M.Ed., CESP and Rachel Pollock, J.D.)

Module 6: Financial Planning for Transformative Change        (Authors: Rachel Pollock, J.D. and Genni Sasnett, M.A.)

~~The Guide for Creating Successful Memorandums of Understanding (MOU's), based on best practices developed in states through ODEP’s EFSLMP, will assist state agencies in writing multi-agency agreements in a timely manner. This guide provides a step-by-step process that walks agencies through MOU development by illustratingwho should be at the table, key areas to include in an MOU, strategies for completing the MOU, and tips for implementing the MOU effectively.

This brief discusses actions that American Job Center (AJC) staff can take to make their services more accessible to autistic people1 and others with psychosocial, cognitive, intellectual, and developmental disabilities (DD); this supports the creation of a neurodiverse, skilled workforce.2  The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA)3 emphasizes the role4 of America’s OneStop Centers (otherwise known as AJCs) to promote equal opportunity and increase access for job seekers with barriers to employment, including people with disabilities (PWD).5 According to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), AJCs are “the go-to destinations for people in search of career counseling, job connections, and similar employment-related services.”

~~The Employment First State Leadership Mentoring Program (EFSLMP) recently launched the Provider Transformation 2.0 Webinar Series, a new technical assistance opportunity. These webinars are designed for community rehabilitation providers (CRPs) who have already begun to transform their service delivery model to one with an emphasis on competitive, integrated employment as the priority outcome for individuals served. Even though the call for participation in the live webinar series is closed, the webinar recordings will be shared with the EFSLMP Community of Practice. The webinars are available for review

~~This webinar explores how strategic planning lays the groundwork for creating a financial model that propels and sustains transformation.It also addresses sustaining organization through creative funding and advocacy 

~~The objectives of this webinar are:

Understanding the advantages of collaboration and how to identify collaboratorsUnderstanding how to identify and analyze public policy that promotes or prohibits transformation and collaborate to create system’s change through policyLearning to build a collaboration to try/implement best practicesHearing ways others have collaborated on best practices and impacting policies 

~~The Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), and the LEAD Center are pleased to release resources for Guided Group Discovery. Guided Group Discovery materials include a Facilitator Manual, an accompanying PowerPoint slide deck (Introduction and Course), and a Participant Workbook.

The purpose of Guided Group Discovery is to lay the foundation for competitive integrated employment as a Universal Design that can benefit all job seekers. For some people, Guided Group Discovery leads to Customized Employment. For everyone, the process assists job seekers in identifying employment that would be a good fit both for them and an employer.

~~This webinar addresses such questions as:

Why engage stakeholders?Engage in what?Who to engage?How to engage them with strategies for working with each stakeholder group.How to assess stakeholder satisfaction. 

~~The objectives of Webinar #3 include:• Building internal staff training capacity for best practice in employment and meaningful community integration• Shifting staff responsibilities from caretaking to connecting• Developing effective job descriptions• Questions that lead to quality outcomes• Scheduling community-based supports• Staff work day schedules• Transportation solutions• Rural perspectives on service delivery 

~~This webinar has information on shifting from care to support services, the process of change in an organization that is needed to facilitate this shift, and staffing issues including recruitment, development, and training.

~~Presented by Karen Lee and Tom Wilds, this webinar covers the historic and current mission, goals and paradigms of support for the employment of persons with disabiilties.   The speakers then cover transitioning to future support programs with Employment First, Competitive Integrated Employment and the Workfprce Innovation Opportunities Act of 2014 (WIOA)

~~The Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and the LEAD Center are pleased to release this Facilitator’s Guide to Self-Guided Discovery. For many years, ODEP has worked to strengthen the capacity of the nation’s workforce development system to improve employment outcomes for people with disabilities, using Customized Employment (CE) approaches as a universal strategy. With the implementation of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) and ongoing systems change efforts like Employment First, formal adoption and implementation of Customized Employment policies and practices are increasingly occurring in state and local age` ncies to improve employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities and other significant barriers to employment. Customized Employment’s signature strategy, Discovery, offers an approach for job seekers with barriers to employment that is consistent with some of the most widely accepted strategies for successful career development.

~~This webinar, given by Sarah Murphey and Kurt Smith, is on the complexities of transforming into a person-centered, community-based service model.

~~This webinar, given by Jeannine Pavlak, discusses various options for funding to support competitive, integrated employment. These  include state funding, rate reimbursement, and using multiple funding streams.  Ticket to Work is also discussed.

~~This webinar, presented by Rick McAllister, discusses the recruitment, development, and retenion of staff who will effectively promote competitive, integrated employment.

~~A critical priority for the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), is to invest in systems change efforts that result in increased competitive integrated employment opportunities for individuals with significant disabilities. This priority reflects growing support for a national movement called Employment First, a framework for systems change that is centered on the premise that all citizens, including those individuals with the most significant disabilities, are capable of full participation in competitive integrated employment and community life. Under this approach, publicly-financed systems are urged to align policies, regulatory guidance, and reimbursement structures to commit to competitive integrated employment as the priority option with respect to the use of publicly-financed day and employment services for youth and adults with significant disabilities. Many states have formally committed to the Employment First framework through official executive proclamation or formal legislative action. Now, interest is gaining with community rehabilitation providers (CRPs).ODEP recognizes that many CRPs desire to align their organizational policies in support of an Employment First approach but may not yet possess the knowledge, skills, abilities and/or resources necessary to lead and facilitate such change. To address this need, ODEP has initiated the Employment First State Leadership Mentoring Program (EFSLMP) Provider Transformation Webinar Series, six (6) ninety-minute webinars led by national subject matter experts. Through our contractor, EconSys, EFSLMP is providing the impetus for selected CRPs to pursue systems change to fully implement the Employment First approach as the primary service delivery system for people with the most significant disabilities. 

~~To Facilitate Voluntary Compliance with Federal Law, Regulation and Guidance Designed to Prevent the Unnecessary Segregation of Persons with Disabilities by Entities Administering Public Funds this tool has been created to assist Governors and State Administrations in understanding and voluntarily meeting their obligations under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12131-12134, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. § 794 et seq.  Both federal laws prevent the unnecessary segregation of persons with disabilities.

This tool is specifically focused on assisting Governors and State Administrations in understanding and voluntarily meeting their obligations in relation to the provision of publicly-funded employment and non-work day services to persons with disabilities.

For further interpretation of these laws, see Olmstead v. L.C., 527 U.S. 581, 591 (1999).  Also see Statement of the United States Department of Justice on Enforcement of the Integration Mandate of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Olmstead v. L.C. (June 29, 2011) which can be found in Appendix A of this document.

Please carefully review the Instructions page(link is external) on how to use this digital assessment tool prior to beginning any sections.

~~Institute for Community Inclusion, University of Massachusetts BostonFederal and state policy have helped to ensure opportunities for people with disabilities to have meaningful jobs in their communities, as well as a path out of poverty and toward self-sufficiency. Yet, despite these efforts a gap remains between people with and without disabilities, and the gap widens further for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).This far-reaching, national data-collection project examines how and why persons with disabilities and IDD are often underemployed or unemployed, receive lower wages and live in poverty when compared with those without disabilities. The findings demonstrate an increasing need for policies, such as Employment First, and initiatives that prioritize employment, both of which can lead to improved outcomes and greater levels of self-sufficiency for the disabled and people with IDD. 

~~Addressing the topic of organizational assessment, this webinar covers:

The Why of assessmentThe general evaluation cycleWhat to measure: The macro and microCollecting informationSupporting your workforce to collect dataAnalyzing and using the dataSharing the stories and celebrating 

~~The Vision Quest Replication Manual is a useful guide for helping develop systemic policy change. “Vision Quest” is a nine month process that involves three stages: assessment, development, and implementation. By using the Vision Quest process, states have crafted Employment First legislation and executive orders as well as multi-agency memorandum of understanding to move forward goals of WIOA. This guide explains, month by month, how to accomplish systems change and explains Vision Quest’s applicability in a wide variety of policy arenas.