Welcome to the Employment First Webinar Series Allison Wohl Host - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Welcome to the Employment First Webinar Series

Presenters

 Allison Wohl

Executive Director of APSE

 David Mank

Indiana Institute on Disability and Community Indiana University

 Derek Nord

Institute on Community Integration University of Minnesota

 David Hoff

Institute on Community Inclusion University of Massachusetts

Host

E mployment First

The Road to Employment First

Evolving Mission: Thirty Years

• A safe place for people to go during the day.
• A place for people to go to learn daily living

skills.

• A place for people to go to prepare for work.
• A place for people to go to work with others

who have disabilities.

• Support for people to work in the community.
• Support for people with disabilities to choose

and prosper in community jobs.

Employment

• From impossible to possible …..
• From possible to beneficial …..
• From beneficial to allowed …..
• From allowed to preferred …..
• From preferred to expected …..

The Current Landscape

The Enforcer

“Any darn fool can make something complicated; it takes genius to achieve simplicity.”

• Woody Guthrie

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 age citizens with disabilities, regardless of level of disability.

• Employment First

Movement now in 45+ States

• 30+ States with an

Official Policy

Employment First 2015

 45+ states have some type of

“Employment First” movement

• About 2/3 of efforts are directed by

state policy units or are legislatively based

• About 1/3 of efforts are grassroots

based – i.e., outsiders working to influence state policy and practice

 At least 30 states have official

Employment First legislation and/or polices

30 States with Policies: A Closer Look

 14 have passed legislation  The remaining 16 are

Executive Orders, policy directives, etc.

 16 state polices are cross-

disability

• Remainder ID/DD

 Clear state policy:

Employment as FIRST PRIORITY

 Broadly focused on ALL

aspects of system: funding, data, quality assurance, polices and procedures, training/staff development, procurement, service providers, etc.

 May begin in grassroots, but

ultimately must be adopted and implemented by the system

EMPLOYMENT FIRST:

• John Wooden

"Ne ve r

mistake ac tivity for ac hie ve me nt."

Time for a Poll

Discussion: Employment First

 Where are we at?  Where are we going?  What’s getting in our way?

Disability Right Core Values are Constant

• Innate strengths

and capacity.

• Disability does

not need fixing.

• Separate is never

equal.

• Life in the

community is paramount.

• H.L. Mencken

“When somebody say it’s not about the money, it’s about the money.”

“If you c an’t

me asur e it, I’m not inte r e ste d.”

• Laurence J. Peter

Support Hours # of individuals in competitive integrated employment vs. alternatives Cost per placement Business vs. provider payroll Wages Dollars spent on integrated employment

• vs. alternatives

Hours Funding Sources

Making System Accountable

 Data system in

place that tracks

• utcomes: providers,

system, across systems

 Publicly available

employment “report card”

• System and individual

provider

“ A ship in harbor is safe --- but that is not what ships are built for. ”

 John A. Shedd