WHY EMPLOYMENT FIRST?

1

• WHY EMPLOYMENT FIRST?
• Presentation to the DBHDS State Board
• October 13, 2011
• Presented by Lee Price, Director, ODS
• Adam Sass, DBHDS Employment Specialist

2
Brief History of DD/BH Employment in Virginia

• 1970s
• Vocational Rehabilitation Dept. (Now DRS)
  established many sheltered workshops across the
  Commonwealth
• This model currently exists in Virginia in both
  the public and private sector
• Was developed on the premise that this model
  would teach work skills to individuals with
  disabilities
• Is supported by many in Virginia because of its
  convenience and its ability to provide some level
  of service to many people
• Is controversial nationally and in Virginia
  because it tends to keep people in sub-minimum
  wages and is a form of congregate service

3
Brief History of DD/BH Employment in Virginia

• 1980s
• Supported Employment Model was introduced and
  began to grow in popularity and practice
• Matches individuals with jobs and provides the
  support to help them to succeed
• Virginia began to emerge as a leading state in
  the supported employment movement
• VCU developed RRTC (Rehabilitation Research and
  Training Center) as a leading promoter of
  supported employment nationwide
• Widespread national and state endorsement of the
  model
• Offers more challenges to providers than
  alternatives

4
Brief History of DD/BH Employment in Virginia

• 1990s
• Medicaid funding provided alternatives for day
  support activities
• ID and DD Waiver funded Day Support and SPO
  funded Club House model for individuals with
  behavioral health needs now offer convenient
  hours of day time activity
• Medicaid Transportation pays for transportation
  to and from Medicaid funded services
• Unintended consequence of these services was a
  reduction in the supported employment enrollment
  by individuals supported through the DBHDS and
  CSBs/private providers

5
Recent Activities

• 2009 DBHDS joined the State Employment
  Leadership Network (SELN) offered through NASDDDS
• Formed the Virginia SELN Advisory Committee made
  up of stakeholders from across Virginia and
  across departments
• Established, through the Creating Opportunities
  Employment Work Groups the goal of an Employment
  First policy for the Commonwealth
• Established a single position at DBHDS for an
  Employment Specialist for both DS and BH
• Governor McDonnell endorsed an Employment First
  Initiative
• Held the Employment First Summit in Virginia
  Beach on October 4 and 5
• More than 200 in attendance
• Well received by all

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Principles of Employment First

• Employment Is
• Community based, working with mostly non-disabled
  peers (integrated)
• Competitive Wages (minimum or better)
• Doing basically the same tasks as non disabled
  co-workers

7
Principles of Employment First

• Integrated Employment is work providing a minimum
  or commensurate wage and related benefits in a
  typical work setting where the employee with a
  disability has opportunity to interact with
  non-disabled co-workers, has an opportunity for
  career advancement and is preferably engaged full
  time.

8
Why Now?

• It is the next step on the path of a
  person-centered culture in our support system
• People with disabilities want to work
• Work provides
• Fulfillment
• Meaning and purpose to ones life experience
• A means of self-support leading to
• Greater self-esteem
• Less reliance on a state-funded system

9
Why Now?

• Employment is part of the changing landscape in a
  national movement
• Washington state maintains that, after over 10
  years of an employment first policy, 80 of the
  individuals in their DD system have jobs
• All systems are shifting toward supporting people
  toward greater independence and less reliance on
  a lifetime of full support

10
Benefits to the Employer

• Employers choose People w/Disabilities
• People with disabilities who are supported on the
  job represent a rich pool of talent with a strong
  work ethic and stable long term employment.
• Non disabled co-workers learn that people with
  disabilities are just like them.
• Attendance at the job by all workers increases
  when a person with a disability is employed.

11
Where We Want to Go

• Virginia Employment First Policy Statement
• proposed by SELN 3-10
• Virginians with disabilities have the right to
  work. With that right, they have the
  responsibility to use their skills to contribute
  towards their own self-sufficiency to the degree
  that is reasonable as well as the opportunity to
  fully participate in their community.  
•  

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Summit Outcomes

• Promote Employment to Individuals
• Change the way we do business
• Increase Connections with Employers
• Engage school age children early and
  consistently on employment related issues to
  prepare them for employment after graduation
• Educate, talk it up

13
Next Steps

• We would like the Board to consider a DBHDS
  Employment First Policy
• We will offer regional training around the
  Commonwealth on the cultural and practical
  changes we can all make now
• We will examine all funding strategies to insure
  maximum incentives for achieving an Employment
  First reality
• Continue to advance the person-centered thinking
  culture in Virginia through training and policy
  that promotes true assessment of individual
  desires and access to the lifestyle and
  opportunities of their choice