Give a shout for Elaine…..

Over a year ago, Job Squad began working with Elaine to find employment.  Through the “Discovery” process, we found that she likes keeping her immediate environment neat and clean.  She enjoys household tasks that many people take for granted.  After completing an Informational Interview at the Holiday Inn, Elaine was hired as a Laundry Assistant.  We did a Job Analysis of the laundry room position and determined which tasks Elaine was able to perform.  We were able to customize the position in areas where Elaine could do parts of tasks which ultimately assisted current staff to move on to other duties that were not getting completed.  


The middle of April 2013, Elaine was honored by the Management team and her co-workers at Holiday Inn for her one year of service.  She received a pin and recognition of her quality work.  Elaine stated that this is the first time she has worked this long in any position that she’s held. Her supervisors say that Elaine is a big help in the laundry room and because of her skills and interests in other areas of the hotel, she has begun to branch out in additional job duties. Over the past year, it has not always been an easy road for Elaine to maintain employment, but through the support of her employer, service providers, and family and friends, she has made this significant accomplishment. Elaine’s family and friends have confirmed that Elaine has developed self-confidence and independence because of her employment over the past year.  Elaine’s experience is proof that employment works for individuals with disabilities and can be a positive change in a person’s life. 
 

Resource ownership: A tool for employment success

Jimmy Manno used Resource Ownership, a technique pioneered by Griffin-Hammis Associates, to create his job. A previous blog entry, Jimmy and the forklift, discussed the details of the Resource Ownership relationship with Bob and Robin Sharp, owners of Grafton Farm & Home Supply.

Job Squad has been receiving training and technical assistance for the last 2 years from Griffin-Hammis, Associates (GHA), through a grant provided by the West Virginia Developmental Disabilities Council (WVDDC). We used the knowledge and skills gained through our relationship with GHA and the WVDDC to facilitate Jimmy's job creation.

In order to financially qualify for the Medicaid Waiver, Jimmy needed to spend funds related to a life insurance policy in his name. He used these funds to negotiate paid employment by purchasing a fork lift, which saved the owners thousands of dollars in operating costs.

Jimmy has been hired as an employee for over a year now; he states that he loves working with the owners and his co-workers at the store. Bob commented that it is a good fit for Jimmy, his personality and job skills have been an asset. He takes pride in his accomplishments and he enjoys working with public.

Jimmy's daily routine consist of getting up early going to exercise at the local gym, and then off to work. He enjoys cleaning the floors, rolling the oats and assisting the customers with their purchases. Jimmy gets very excited when talking about his job, and he loves being able to see his friends and neighbors. When asked if he would like to do anything different he responded "no, this is my job."

Jimmy's father is very pleased with Jimmy's overall success! He commented not only on the advantage of resource ownership considering a small business's needs, but also on the huge avantage it has been for his son."Jimmy has had fewer seizures, and appears to be much happier. This experience can be compared to that of a perfect marriage, everyone wins."

Job Squad and Ohio's Assets and Neighbors Initiative

Job Squad is partnering with many accomplished organizations and individuals on The Ohio Assets and Neighbors Initiative. The Initiative was created by the Ohio Rehabilitation Services Commission as part of its effort to refocus on Ohioans with the most significant disabilities using Customized Employment and Economic Development Approaches. Self-Employment (microenterprise) is a major emphasis.

Some of the partners: Griffin-Hammis Associates, Corey Smith of Via of the Lehigh Valley, Steve Savage, Patty Cassidy, Roger Shelley, Grant Revell of VCU, Jack Peeler, Don Lavin...

Check out the Powerpoint below for an overview of the project

Assets and Neighbors Initiative

View more presentations from Russell Sickles.

COACH and CUSTOMIZED EMPLOYMENT: A PROMISING COLLABORATION

On April 29, 2010 I attended a very interesting training entitled IEP's From Start to Finish. One of the presenters spoke about using the COACH program for children with disabilities. The program has shown great promise and is appropriate for students from 3 to 21 years of age with moderate, severe, and profound disabilities (or "differing abilities"). It was interesting to note the similarities between this program and the Customized Employment approach Job Squad uses to assist our job-seekers in finding employment opportunities. Some of the main aspects of the program include a focus on family, collaboration among schools, support persons, and other agencies and professionals involved in a student's life. With COACH, the focus in on family, support persons, interests, social activities, educational, support needs, and career goals (especially for high school age students). In other words, the focus is on the whole person and not a "system". It is important to note that "family" is defined as adults who live with and care for the student. The family (and student, if appropriate) determine the goals to focus on for each year. The following is a summary of important questions and answers that explain more about the program:

How does COACH fit into IEP development?
A: COACH is meant to be used as one part of an overall approach to planning an appropriate education for a student with disabilities. Therefore, it is appropriately considered an IEP planning tool and has proven to be a useful component of transition planning (e.g., preschool to kindergarten; grade to grade; school to postschool). The information generated using COACH is designed to develop an appropriate, individualized education program. COACH is
Not designed to determine eligibility for special education
Not designed to provide a comprehensive assessment profile
Not designed to assign grade or developmental levels
Not designed to be used to the exclusion of other planning tools
Not designed to justify segregation of students with disabilities
COACH is meant to assist in educational planning by
Identifying family-centered priorities
Identifying additional learning outcomes (e.g., general education)
Identifying general supports to be provided to or for the student
Identifying priorities into IEP goals and objectives
Summarizing the educational program as a Program-at-a Glance
Organizing the planning ream to implement the program
Scheduling participation in general education classes/activities
Planning and adapting lesson plans to facilitate learning
Evaluating the impact of educational experiences
Typically, COACH is used to assist in the identification of IEP goals and objectives and to provide some information to document a student's present level of functioning in reference to selected goals and objectives. The planning activities conducted using COACH are then documented in the IEP.

In the article, Severe Disabilities (Education and Individuals With Severe Disabilities: Promising Practices), June E. Downing and Stephanie MacFarland elaborate on the absolute necessity of active family involvment in developing and implementing an educational program for students).

"Given the importance of meeting individual needs that reflect cultural differences, religion, experiences, and language, active family involvement to assist with assessments and determining instructional programs for a particular student is a recommended practice (Downing 2008; Turnbull et al. 2006). When students are unable to speak for themselves, which is often the case for students with severe disabilities, information from family members regarding expectations at home, skills and interests of the student, concerns, and future goals serves to guide educational programs. The home-school relationship is vital, and specific approaches have been developed to facilitate this bridge, such as these seminal approaches: Person Direct Support (O'Brien et al. 2005), and Choosing Outcomes and Accommodations for Children (Giangreco et al. 1998). These approaches to obtaining information from families are designed to keep the individual student as the focal point, with those closest to the student using their in-depth knowledge and caring for the person to guide their comments and hopes for the future"

Downing JE, MacFarland S. 2010. Severe Disabilities (Education and Individuals with Severe Disabilities: Promising Practices). In: JH Stone, M Blouin, editors. International Encyclopedia of Rehabilitation. Available online: http://cirrie.buffalo.edu/encyclopedia/article.php?id=114&language=en

All parties involved in a student's life are interconnected. Every component, whether it is educational, career goals, social life is of equal importance and one should work together to strengthen the other. For instance, teachers can greatly assist career counselors in providing valuable work experiences for students by open sharing of information (the COACH profile is a useful tool for this since it shows all the individual's goals, support needs, social needs, etc.. on 1 page). This profile is similar to the Vocational Profile we use at Job Squad to learn more about an individual. It is especially important to get differing perspective about an individual from the people they are closest to and obtain detailed information. This open sharing of information is beneficial all parties in assisting students in setting and achieving goals and in linking careers with the actual coursework they are doing.

Next posting: Discover how to assist students in linking educational experiences with career experiences!

Demand...and Personal Genius

In the March 29th issue of Time Magazine, the focus is on the current recession and how employment will rebound across the country. President Obama, in his State of the Union address called jobs his " No. 1 focus and proposed repurposing bank-bailout money to lend to small businesses, which would then, presumably, generate jobs".

Though this statement sounds really good, this strategy will not necessarily solve the unemployment problem in the U.S. in the long term. The federal government may be able to assist with creating jobs in the short-term by hiring people directly or buying goods and services. However, if we are to create more jobs in the long run, it is not this simple. To create and sustain employment, there must be a demand for services and products. We need to get back to basics, so to speak, and realize that small business and the law of supply and demand are at the heart of job creation in this country.

The issue becomes how to create demand in the current economy? The answer lies in creating products or services that are unique in the sense that they offer something better. Where are these unique services and products offered? They will be offered by individuals and small businesses across this nation and by utilizing people's "personal genius" and making connections in communities.

It stuck me that approaches such as Customized Employment just make sense, whether the state of our economy is in the black or in the red. According to this article, the projected annual growth in employment over the next four years "will rebound differently across the U.S. In West Virginia, it is projected to grow less than 1.5 percent. Additionally, West Virginia is a state with the highest rate of "disability" and one of the highest unemployment rates. This is why we really need to "think outside the box" and find solutions to our unemployment crisis.

This article gives us reason to hope-in the example of how one man created a business five years ago and now has $120 million a year in sales. HomeAway was born out of one man's solution to a dilemma. He was puzzled as to why he could not go to one website to find a comprehensive list of houses for rent, so he and a business partner set up their own site. This is the stuff of what we term "personal genius"-seeing a need and fulfilling it by using our innate talents and perservering.

When reading this, I thought of the wonderful talents the job-seekers I have worked with have and of how excited I am to be assisting them in their endeavors, whether this includes wage or self-employment, or educational attainment. Each of us has this inside of ourselves, even if we don't always see it and finding this can unlock may doors. Doors that may have been closed to many of us for any number of reasons-prejudice, misunderstanding, labels people have place on us and so on.

There is reason to be cynical right now with the sad shape the country is in economically speaking. There is also reason to be positive and to learn from the experience. Let's begin listening more and talking less. Let's embrace people's personal genius and help them to put it to good use in order that they may make better lives for themselves and for others. Let's put America to work one person, one business at a time!

Quality of Employment

There has been a growing amount of debate about the idea of quality versus quantity in the job market. According to a recent Gallup poll, one in 10 Americans believe now is a "good time" to find a "quality job."

Americans Agree: Quality Jobs Remain Hard to Find

One of the reasons that customized employment is a successful tool for people with disabilities, is the job seeker has the opportunity to make a job outside of the job descriptions that the business may already have in place. There can be some job carving, where different tasks at the site are patched together to make a job for the individual that is more about quality.

Modeling based on Gallup's Job Creation Index suggests that the U.S. unemployment rate is likely to exceed 10.0% when reported on Feb. 5. The job market is only becoming more competitive as people, who have experience, education, etc...are being forced into the field to compete for employment. In general, the people that we serve at JSI either lack education/experience or they have other barriers, which makes the typical resume/application process impractical for them.

By working with the person to discover a job that suits their needs, the job fit is typically better and it raises the quality of employment for the individual.