At the beginning of the transformation process, Penn-Mar recognized the importance of robust strategic planning to understand what the organization needed to do differently to transform. Therefore, Penn-Mar created the 2020 Strategic Plan, a 5-year plan to help focus the organization, and to strategize about how to achieve their objectives.
The Institute for Community Inclusion (ICI) partnered with The Arc of the United States to identify ten elements of successful organizational transformation to competitive integrated employment. They asked four providers who successfully closed sheltered workshops to provide implementation strategies that they used according to each of the ten elements. Based on the information gathered from these providers, the attached brief will:
The decision to close a facility-based program requires courage and a willingness to take concrete and often risky steps toward that goal. As more organizations develop strategic plans that include the goal of closing a facility-based program, it is our hope that these summaries will provide both guidance and the determination to take substantive steps in the change process. This volume summarizes the themes that were repeated across the experiences of these organizations.
These three case studies are part of a larger study of six organizations that have closed a sheltered workshop or a nonwork, segregated program and replaced it with integrated employment or other integrated, community-based activities for individuals with disabilities. The organizations vary with respect to size, geographic location, and the characteristics of persons receiving supports.
Continuing the expansion of integrated employment opportunities requires a clear understanding of the organizational and systems factors that influence change and expand access to integrated employment. This monograph will focus on change at an organizational level in four organizations that were engaged in a change process during 1998 and 1999.
Expanding participation in integrated employment is a key goal for both state agencies and individual community rehabilitation providers. The Training and Technical Assistance for Providers project, or T-TAP, was funded by the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Disability Employment Policy to identify strategies that support movement from facility based services, and in particular employment at less than the minimum wage Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), to customized employment in integrated community settings.
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.
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.
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.