RRTC on Advancing Employment Bringing Employment First to scale
Check out the power point slides from our listening sessions at recent conference sessions. These presentations highlight findings among the three themes listed above.
RRTC on Advancing Employment
This project is home to research, training, and outreach activities that promote employment for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Browse all our publications below, or click on the activities links under numbers 1–4.
We are funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research in the Administration for Community Living in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The RRTC is a project of the Institute for Community Inclusion at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
Activities supported by the RRTC include:
(1) Choosing Work: Effective Knowledge Translation and Support for Individuals and Families
The goal of this line of research is to create a comprehensive information, outreach, and support framework for individuals and families that enables ready and timely access to information about employment throughout the lifespan. Research activities include a scoping literature review, online and in-person focus groups with individuals with IDD and their family members, and the development and testing of an intervention that promotes individual and family engagement in employment planning.
Contact: John Kramer (john.kramer@umb.edu)
Find presentations and publications from this project here...
(2) Increasing the Effectiveness of Employment Consultants
This work will define a model for employment support that incorporates research, practice, job seeker support needs, organizational culture, and personal resources. Project partners and staff will implement an intervention to improve the quality of services provided by employment consultants through online training, data-based performance feedback, and facilitated peer-to-peer support.
Contact: Alberto Migliore (alberto.migliore@umb.edu)
Find presentations and publications from this project here...
(3) Building Capacity and Supporting Organizational Transformation for Community Rehabilitation Providers (CRPs)
Project staff will develop a model framework and toolkit to support community rehabilitation providers in implementing an Employment First focus. The demonstration of an efficient, scalable strategy that enables CRPs to create change within their own organizations is a key feature of this research.
Contact: Jaimie Timmons (jaimie.timmons@umb.edu)
Find presentations and publications from this project here...
(4) Policies and Practices of High-Performing State Employment Systems
This research strand will define the characteristics of a high-performing state system that promotes cross-agency and resource integration. The strand will also identify effective state practices and policies that lead to employment outcomes, and will and describe Employment First policy implementation and outcomes at both the national and state level.
Contact: Allison Hall (allison.hall@umb.edu)
Find presentations and publications from this project here...
Project Team
- John Butterworth, Principal Investigator: john.butterworth@umb.edu
- Allison Hall, Co-Principal Investigator and Project Director; Lead, Policy Strand: allison.hall@umb.edu
- Cindy Thomas, Training and Technical Assistance Director: cindy.thomas@umb.edu
- John Kramer, Lead, Individuals and Families Strand: john.kramer@umb.edu
- Alberto Migliore, Lead, Employment Consultant Strand: alberto.migliore@umb.edu
- Jaimie Timmons, Lead, Community Rehabilitation Provider Strand: Jaimie.timmons@umb.edu
Resources
Webinars
- Organizational Transformation: From Workshops to Community Employment
- Employment Support Professionals: Leaders for Change
- Does All Mean All? Culturally Diverse Families and Access to Services
- Financial Well-Being: Reframing the Conversation
- Informed Choice and Employment First: What Does It Really Mean?
- "44" Series - Our webinar series takes a fresh look at issues and opportunities around employment for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). That’s why we call it "New Conversations About Integrated Employment." These webinars encourage creative thinking, and provoke reactions. Each conversation brings an original perspective to topics around IDD and employment.
Publications
- RRTC Fact Sheet
- Bringing Employment First to Scale: Integrating Research, Training, and Knowledge Translation
- Bringing Employment First to Scale: CRP Organizational Change
- Bringing Employment First to Scale: Policy and State-level Strategies to Promote Employment
- Bringing Employment First to Scale: Achieving Best Practice in Employment Supports
- Bringing Employment First to Scale: Knowledge Translation for Individuals and Families
- Bringing Employment First to Scale: Who are Employment Consultants? Characteristics of the workforce that connects jobseekers with intellectual and developmental disabilities to employment
- The Truth Comes From Us: Supporting Workers with Developmental Disabilities
- Bringing Employment First to Scale: Organizational Transformation: Guiding Principles for Community Provider
- Bringing Employment First to Scale: From Sheltered Work to Competitive Integrated Employment
Project Partners
Listen Up! Listening Session for the RRTC on Advancing Employment
Check out the power point slides from our listening sessions at recent conference sessions. These presentations highlight findings among the three themes listed above.
Bringing Employment First to Scale: From Sheltered Work to Competitive Integrated Employment
Community providers across the nation are embracing the transformation from facility-based employment supports to competitive integrated employment. While many providers believe in inclusion and Employment First for the individuals they support, some struggle to make their vision a reality. The process of organizational transformation can seem daunting without an understanding of the full range of tactics and approaches available.
44 Series - Ideal vs. Real
Watch the recorded webinar here. Employment consultants are the backbone of direct service. Their efforts can bridge the gap between job seekers with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and fulfilling jobs in the community. However, employment consultants' work isn't always given full recognition. And they face daily challenges. They must support job seekers, market agency services to employers, and balance job development tasks with administrative responsibilities.
APSE Employment First Statement
Read the statement here. These authors worked together to write a statement about what Employment First means and why it’s important.
How is guardianship status related to employment status for people with IDD? Findings from the National Core Indicators Adult Consumer Survey.
Read the brief here. This study examined data from a sample of 12,213 people with IDD who responded to the NCI Adult Consumer Survey in 2012–2013. The sample captures data from respondents in 26 states. The purpose of the study was to observe and describe different demographic characteristics among the respondents, and how those characteristics correlated to different outcomes. The findings of this study showed a correlation between legal guardianship and employment setting for individuals with IDD.
What is the relationship between gender and employment status for individuals with IDD? Findings from the National Core Indicators Adult Consumer Survey
Read the brief here. This study examined data from a sample of 12,213 people with IDD who responded to the NCI Adult Consumer Survey in 2012–2013. This sample captured data from 26 states. The purpose of the study was to observe and describe different demographic characteristics among the respondents, and how those characteristics correlate to different outcomes. Gender was one of the demographic categories included in the survey, and all respondents were categorized as male or female.
44 Series - Transformation to What? Getting Past the "Messy in the Middle" Stage
Watch the recorded webinar here. Have you and the individuals and families you support experienced this "messy" phase as your organization moves away from facility-based services to community employment? This transformation from segregated work settings is happening across the country, and can bring liberation and empowerment. But the process of change is not always easy or comfortable for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and their families.
44 Series - Organizational Transformation: From Workshops to Community Employment II
Watch the recorded webinar here. This webinar was so popular, we decided to run it again! Provider agencies across the country are transitioning from segregated “sheltered” workshop options to supporting integrated community careers for people with disabilities. This process of organizational transformation can be both exciting and challenging for provider staff and the people they serve.
Moving Mountains One Service at a Time
Download the slides here. Presented at APSE 2016. Ever wonder how state systems are working to achieve new levels of integrated employment outcomes? While states have worked to build supports for more than five decades to meet the needs of their constituents, a different playing field has emerged in recent years.