Good Things Happening

 

Recently, Job Squad, Inc. acquired a new Customized Employment Grant through the State of West Virginia for Kanawha County.  We have been busy meeting other agencies in the Charleston area to work as a team in providing Customized Employment for individuals with disabilities.  There are many individuals in the community searching for employment, and Job Squad is there to help.  Through the process of Discovery, we begin working with each individual to find out who the person really is.  We observe their skills and talents in their personal environment and apply these skills and talents in an employment environment. 

 

Customized Employment individualizes the employment relationship between employees and employers in ways that meet the needs of both.  It is based on an individualized determination of the strengths, needs and interests of the person with a disability, and is also designed to meet the specific needs of the employees. Customized Employment assumes the provision of reasonable accommodations and supports necessary for the individual to perform the functions of a job that is individually negotiated and developed. 

 

Contacts are being made and appointments set in Kanawha County, West Virginia, through the services that Job Squad, Inc. provides.  Stay tuned as we begin posting pictures and information about each individual job seeker that we are working with.

The Missing Person in Person Centered Planning

Title XIX Waiver I/DD have changed many times over the years and will continue to change based on federal mandates and the change in social perceptions.  The changes that have been occurring most recently have the appearance and possibility of being changes for the worse.  The WV I/DD Waiver program will be making some changes for the 2015 year. The one that stands out the most is due to budgetary planning and cutting costs: the 1:1 apartment settings will be greatly reduced and not encouraged.  The program does offer a review and comment period; however, will this really allow for the change to be dismissed?  The waiver program is supposed to be based on person centered planning; however, budgetary needs far out weigh the needs of the person.  In addition, people will be forced to live in ways they do not want and it could be negatively impacting their independence.  Folks receiving services already have very little choice in their own lives and the ones they do have will be even further reduced.  Choices and independence will be based on what the roommate wants to do as well, and if the roommate doesn’t want to do something, then they won’t do it.  This is not how the process should work.  This is not beneficial to anyone.  The pocketbook outweighs the needs of the individual.  It makes more sense to the powers that be to cut residential services that promote independence and growth rather than discouraging people from sitting for 6 hours a day in day habilitation settings doing puzzles and coloring pictures.  This train of thought is infuriating.  Individuals and their families need to be aware of the upcoming events and demand that the person be reinstated into the decision making process.  As team members we see more and more that people’s rights are being reduced and more restrictions are being implemented. If the program is going to move forward, then the people the program is supposed to be serving needs to have a chance to speak out and make the program work for them.

Good Things Happening Everywhere

I recently came across a story of a restaurant owner in New Mexico that was both exciting and refreshing and thought it was worth passing on.  Please review the attached link below to see the story of Tim.  Tim is a person with a disability that wanted more from life.  His childhood dream was to be a restaurant owner, and with the support of his family he was able to make that dream come true!

http://timsplaceabq.com/about-tim

SRV TRAINING

An important benefit in being involved with the Job Squad community includes educational training.  A few months ago, Brian Connaughton and I attended the Social Role Valorization (SRV) PASSING training provided by the WV Developmental Disabilities Council (DDC).  SRV is a set of approaches designed to enable devalued people in society to experience the Good Life.  These approaches are best used by persons who clearly believe that devaluation of a party is wrong, and who are prepared to work to overcome this.  SRV’s many strategies, derived from practical experience and from what research has revealed, is to help devalued people achieve valued social roles.  It finds that this is the most powerful way to work against devaluation and its negative effects and provides a wide variety of techniques and approaches for doing so.

PASSING is the acronym for 'Program Analysis of Service Systems' Implementation of Normalization Goals. PASSING assesses only the social role valorizing quality of human services, and is especially applicable to services to people with disabilities and/or people devalued for other reasons (eg. group residences, child development centers, special education programs, vocational programs, on-the-job training, rehabilitation settings etc.). Settings such as these will be evaluated by the participants as part of this workshop.

The training is aimed at persons who are or aspire to be leaders in human services, especially in their local area, and especially in bringing about adaptive change. Additionally, the workshop is intended to support individuals who either are, or who are likely to become, deeply committed to devalued people and who wish to use SRV as a guide in their support of those persons. Such support may take many forms but one is an understanding, at a technical level of the changes necessary within human services if people are to experience better lives.

To learn more about SRV and SRV PASSING, go to:  http://www.socialrolevalorization.com/index.html

A Win/Win for Brett and Ernie

Twenty one year old Brett Lantz was referred to the Ties to Employment project (through a Developmental Disabilities Council grant) by the agency that provides waiver services to him.  When Brett lived at home, he had spent time working with his dad on a small self-employment business of taking apart old fire extinguishers and selling the parts to recycling establishments. He had an interest in similar work and some skills and experience using tools and machinery.  During the Discovery process, themes that emerged for Brett included working outdoors, working with tools and machinery, and working with vehicles. 

When Ernie Richards at Mountaineer Automotive in Clarksburg was contacted, he agreed to have Brett come in for a paid work experience.  There was an instant bond between Brett and Ernie. 

Ernie turned out to be an excellent mentor for Brett,  teaching him the skills needed for a variety of jobs at his garage including detailing vehicles, checking and changing oil, checking tire pressure and filling tires, charging batteries, and taking an engine apart for replacement of various parts. 

        

When asked about needs he had for his business, Ernie told us that he was turning away a lot of business because he did not have the ability to provide new tires for his customers.  He was interested in purchasing a tire changing machine and tire balancer.  After working for several weeks with Brett, he felt sure that this was a task that Brett could learn to do.  Using the concept of Resource Ownership, Brett purchased the machines for the business through a Compensating Balance Loan with CWVTEL Credit Union and Job Squad, Inc.  Brett will own the equipment which will be used to bring increased business to Mountaineer Automotive, allowing Ernie to hire Brett.  Starting the third week in October, Brett will be on the Mountaineer Automotive payroll starting at 12 hours per week at minimum wage. As business increases with the new machinery and Brett gains skill in using it, Ernie has agreed to gradually increase Brett’s hours up to 32 hours per week.

A follow-up post will focus on Brett’s success in using the new equipment and his integration as a new employee at Mountaineer Automotive.