Resource Ownership Basics

You get a FREE learning module! You get a FREE learning module!  Everyone gets a FREE online learning module! This holiday season, our gift to you is an online learning module on Resource Ownership. We know: It was the first thing on your list this year! (Santa told us!)


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Resource Ownership is a customized employment, job creation technique. By owning machinery, equipment, tools, or other types of capital, individuals can produce products or offer services of value to other businesses or to consumers, leading to the creation of a business-within-a-business strategy.

This short module introduces the concept and process, offers several examples, gives you tips on negotiation with employers, and includes an activity that will walk you through creating an employer agreement. Griffin-Hammis and Associates and the Center on Community Living and Careers created this training with funding from Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation Services.

You can get started with “Resource Ownership Basics” here: http://expand.iu.edu/browse/cclc/courses/resource-ownership-basics. For additional instructions on how to access the module, click here: IU Expand/Resource Ownership Basics Instructions

The “Resource Ownership Basics” training will take 1.5 hours to complete: 30 minutes of instruction through the module and an hour for the associated exercises. After completing the entire module, you will also receive a Certificate of Completion, which you can use if you need to demonstrate training hours!

We encourage you to work with your supervisor or a colleague to consider if Resource Ownership is an avenue you could pursue for a job seeker on your caseload. If it is, use the process you’ve learned here as a roadmap.

The VR Technical Assistance and Training team appreciates you and all that you and your agencies do to support positive employment outcomes for job seekers across Indiana. We hope you enjoy the holidays, and we wish you the best in the coming year.  We look forward to seeing you then!

Work It!

This month’s Shared Solutions is all about work experiences--not to be confused with Trial Work Experiences! You may have seen the September 2017, webinar focusing on Trial Work Experiences and…this is not that! Work experiences and Trial Work Experiences are very different activities meant for very different outcomes. 

Employment specialists, job seekers, and Vocational Rehabilitation counselors can use work experiences throughout the Discovery process. Are you confused yet? Read on for more information about the use and benefit of work experiences. 

Nuts and Bolts 

Work experiences, which are often underused, offer your job seekers the opportunity to explore varying interests through first-hand learning and real work exposure in an integrated, competitive, community-based employment setting. They can be invaluable for those job seekers who have little to no work history as a means to honing in on preferences, skills and support strategies for success. As vocational themes emerge during Discovery, work experiences can help refine employment interests and guide future job development. In fact, a work experience can often result in a formal offer of employment or pave the ground for the development of a customized position. 

Keep in mind, a work experience:

• is completed individually with a 1:1 employment specialist to job seeker ratio
• may last for as long as 12 weeks in total
• may be developed across a variety of businesses during those 12 weeks
• may be paid or unpaid, depending upon agency decision making 
• requires the provider to be onsite 75% of the time over the course of the work experience

And Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation Services includes necessary time for work experience development, reimbursed at an hourly rate. 

A work experience can be a win-win proposition for all parties, including the business community. Leveraged with attention to job seeker strengths, a work experience is a way to introduce job seeker contributions, discern needed support strategies, and build business relationships. In other words, it can be used as a positive introduction for the job seeker who might otherwise struggle with competition among other applicants. 

VR offers flexibility by offering three work experience levels: 

• Work Experience A (1-5 hours work per week) reimburses the provider at a rate of $200 per week
• Work Experience B (6-10 hours work per week) reimburses the provider at a rate of $325 per week
• Work Experience C (11 + hours work per week) reimburses the provider at a rate of $450 per week

'Liability?' You Ask

Proposing a work experience with local employers can become tricky when those employers begin expressing concerns about liability issues. Employment specialists, armed with the appropriate information, can easily allay these concerns.

When VR has authorized a work experience (A, B or C) and both you and your job seeker have a clear vocational interest area in mind, the work experience can provide additional guidance and valuable learning. When you talk to an employer, you'll propose a "work assessment" or "work try out," a condition that does not represent a hiring relationship. work experiences occur while Discovery is still ongoing. As such (not a hiring relationship), the employer faces no more liability than they would otherwise face when any visitor is at their worksite. (Note that this is the same situation for students involved with Pre-Employment Transition Services.) 

Community rehabilitation providers can also side-step the issue of employer liability by offering to pay the wages of your job seeker during a work experience. The job seeker in this instance may be covered by the provider's workers compensation and general/catastrophic liability coverage. If, however, the provider decides not to pay the job seeker during a work experience, the job seeker may still be covered under the provider's general liability insurance. Consult your agency's human resources department for guidance. They may also be able to provide you with proof of insurance coverage, which you can, in turn, show to the potential employer willing to host a work experience. For more information on liability, see the article from the State Employment Leadership Network, listed below under "Resources."

The Benefits of Work Experiences 

Work experiences can be an additional, effective tool in your toolkit. It is another option during Discovery and before jumping into formal job development. Immersing your job seeker in these opportunities provides an abundance of benefits including: 

• a way to “try out” vocational themes and related work skills
• a lens into support and teaching strategies likely to help your job seeker succeed
• business relationships across a wide variety of community stakeholders
• self-confidence

Using work experiences also helps you, as an employment specialist, “warm up” to job development activities as you practice negotiation skills.

Resources

The Manual of Employment Services from Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation Services. (Find the entry for Work Experiences on p. 8.)

Unpaid Work Experiences, Volunteering, and Internships: What's Allowed a fact sheet from the State Employment Leadership Network, updated in February 2017. 

Get your work experience groove on and get out there!

_______________________________________________________

Meeting Your Employment Training & Technical Assistance Needs

Effective September 1, 2017, Indiana community rehabilitation providers and agencies can obtain customized, programmatic training and technical assistance as part of the VR Establishment grant training plan. Or, providers—in Indiana or out of state—can pay for technical assistance with private funding. 

The Center on Community Living and Careers (CCLC) is now offering customized technical assistance and training to address the specific needs of your employment program or agency.

This is not a one-size-fits-all training approach. Training and consultation, delivered by CCLC’s Technical Assistance & Training Team, can include guided practice, field-based mentoring, hands-on skills practice, virtual technology, and one-to-one support--you name it! We’ll work with you to develop the right training plan for your agency. 

Find more information in our Employment Training & Consultation flyer.  Call us! We look forward to hearing from you!

Help! You Need Somebody

Today's earworm, provided by John, Paul, George, and Ringo: 

"Help! I need somebody. Help! Not just anybody. Help! You know I need someone. Help!"

Feeling like you need some help? 

Whether it's hand-holding to complete an ESRP, a little job development insight, or ongoing management support, we’re here for you. To address those unique needs, our experienced Technical Assistance and Training Team at the Center on Community Living and Careers can deliver field-based mentoring and hands-on skills practice, and we can work with your staff one-on-one or via virtual technology. In the past two years, we’ve worked with employment providers around the state on a number of topics critical for both agency and supported employee success! See our flyer for topics.

And most importantly, we’re flexible. Working together, we can create a training and technical assistance plan as a component of your Establishment Contract, or you can purchase our services separately. 

Here are what a few providers had to say about working with us…

"You are to be commended for your continued efforts to improve outcomes for those we serve and restore financial stability to our employment services. The management team can see the results of your efforts, as our revenues in VR services are slowly climbing. The technical assistance and support is making a difference. Thank you for working diligently to learn and implement new strategies for our consumers and our placement service. We have many exciting opportunities before us in the next year to continue our quality improvements." --Southern Indiana Resource Solutions

"Working with the technical assistance grant was incredibly successful for our team. In the 18 months prior to assistance, we averaged $225 a month in SE billing. Since the assistance on SE began, we are averaging just under $1,000 a month over the last eight months. [The TA team] also assisted us with improving our productivity as a department by providing tools and insights that we were missing. The employment specialists were averaging just over 50% productivity prior to assistance. Since then, the employment specialists as a group are averaging over 81% in their productivity (84% over the last three months)."  --Carey Services

"The technical assistance provided to [our organanization] was extremely helpful in our transition to the current VR service delivery model. Our TA listened carefully to our questions and concerns, and then developed training modules to specifically address them. The trainer…worked hard to make sure the training was meaningful to our staff." --Easterseals Crossroads

"The TA Program provided our Employment Specialists with one-on-one teaching, coaching and mentoring which increased our knowledge and understanding of the VR process. Through this relationship, we also gained confidence which led us to provide better services to our clients. Thus we used our time more efficiently and effectively which led to more appropriate jobs secured for clients. It was an important collaboration and partnership for our department; one that I would highly recommend to anyone who wants to help their Employment Specialists learn to match the right jobs with the right clients. It becomes a win-win for all." --Arc of Evansville

For more information on technical assistance and training consultation services, see our Employment Training and Consultation flyer and contact a team member soon! 

More Help!

As always, you can find lots of resources here on Shared Solutions. To add to your toolbox, and in case you missed them, here are a few webinars we’ve hosted recently…

Please note that Google Chrome has recently discontinued its support for some software programs, which may impact your ability to access trainings recorded in Adobe Connect. If you experience difficulty opening a training, try switching to another browser, such as Firefox or Microsoft Explorer.

Trial Work Experiences 
CCLC and Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation Services join forces to help you learn more about the purpose and expectations of a trial work experience (TWE), as well as how to complete a TWE.

• Trial Work Experiences
• TWE Presentation
• TWE Report Example 1
• TWE Report Example 2

Changes to the Indiana Benefits Information Network 
Listen in to prepare for these upcoming changes and to learn more about how BIN liaisons provide valuable services to your clients with disabilities. Topics covered include:

• What is the Benefits Information Network?
• A New Referral Routing Form
• Timeframe Change
• Payments

Watch the entire webinar here:  

And read the Q and A from the webinar here.

Order of Selection: Straight Answers to Tough Questions

By now you’ve undoubtedly heard about the state’s new order of selection. However, you may still have a question or two (or three or more):

• Who does this impact? 
• How will it affect you and your job seekers?   
• How does it affect your job? 
• What does all this mean? 
• Why did Indiana need to do this? 

Explanations and Answers

On August 1, 2017, Indiana became the 35th state to implement order of selection for delivery of its vocational rehabilitation services to job seekers with disabilities. This was a tough decision to make. Family and Social Services Administration explains, “The Rehabilitation Act, as amended by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), requires a state vocational rehabilitation services (VR) agency to implement an order of selection when it does not have sufficient resources to serve all eligible individuals.” “Sufficient resources” can refer to both funding as well as personnel.

As a result and under federal requirement, Indiana VR is now using order of selection (you’ll see it abbreviated as OOS) to prioritize consumer services to individuals who have the most significant disabilities (MSD). Under order of selection, an eligible individual considered MSD is Priority Category 1. You can think of it as a sort of VR triage—a way for the state to put individuals who most need help at the top of the service queue. Once those individuals are served, if there is still adequate funding and available staff, VR can provide services for other individuals who are eligible for services but who are not MSD--either significantly disabled (Priority Category 2) or whose disabilities are considered nonsignificant (Priority Category 3). 

Things to know:

• Order of selection does not change how you work with your job seekers.  
• Order of selection will not alter the types of services offered to individuals who are already eligible for VR services. 
• If a job seeker was determined eligible for VR services prior to August 1 AND had an Individual Plan for Employment (IPE) in place at that time, he/she will still be eligible for services regardless of their diagnosis or the severity of their condition. 

What if a Client Does Not Qualify for VR Services? 

It doesn’t necessarily mean a job seeker is out of luck. VR will provide information to individuals about other resources in their community that may assist them in obtaining employment. These resources may include:

• Work One Centers, 
• Ticket to Work Employment Networks (see below), 
• Independent Living Centers, 
• college and university career centers and disability services offices, 
• the INDATA Assistive Technology program, and 
• other state or local resources.

How Can Employment Networks Help? 

An Employment Network (EN) is a private organization or public agency that has entered into an agreement with Social Security to provide certain services under the Ticket to Work program. ENs offer employment services, vocational rehabilitation services, and other types of support to beneficiaries (people receiving Social Security benefits) with disabilities. A Social Security beneficiary can contact any EN to see if the service and supports the EN offers are right for them. The beneficiary and EN must agree to work together and develop a plan that describes the beneficiary's employment goal and outlines the services and support the EN will provide to help the beneficiary reach the goal.  

What do ENs have to do with order of selection?  If you work for an employment provider that is also an EN, you may be able to assist some of your clients via Ticket to Work. Social Security beneficiaries who are not considered MSD and who, therefore, may not be eligible to receive services at this time from Indiana VR, may be able to “assign their Ticket” to an EN and work with that organization or agency to receive similar employment services. 

Resources

For more information on the Ticket to Work program, see Social Security’s web page, Ticket Overview. 

For more information about how to become an Employment Network, visit Social Security’s web page, Becoming an Employment Network, or contact the VR Technical Assistance and Training Team at CCLC to help with consultation. 

Need more information on order of selection?  Read through Indiana Family and Social Services Administration’s, Order of Selection FAQ information sheet.  

UPDATE: The Family and Social Services Administration has compiled a list of community agencies and organizations that may be able to assist job seekers who are affected by order of selection.  Scroll through FSSA's Community Resources. 

Indiana Employment How-To Nuts and Bolts: In Print and Online

This month’s Shared Solutions is short but sweet—and very valuable. It’s all about finding the information you need as an employment specialist. In addition to the fact sheets, training information, documentation tools, and links to state and national organizations on the CCLC website, the newly revised Hoosier Orientation Handbook on Employment is now available, both online and in print.

Indiana employment specialists face a steep learning curve when stepping into new positions with community employment providers around the state. The third edition of The Hoosier Orientation Handbook on Employment, published by the Center on Community Living and Careers (CCLC), walks employment specialists and consultants through:

• Interactions with job seekers and employers
• Job development and customized employment
• Advocacy organizations and resources
• Benefits and work incentives
• The Discovery process for getting to know a job seeker
• State and federal laws that govern employment practice for job seekers with disabilities

The 98-page, FREE handbook complements existing training that specialists and consultants receive at their workplaces and through other organizations, including Employment Specialist Training, offered through CCLC. Each chapter of the book concludes with key points, critical thinking prompts, and more information for readers. The book also contains an extensive glossary and list of abbreviations and acronyms. 

Book It!

Members of CCLC’s VR Technical Assistance and Training Team will distribute copies of the Hoosier Orientation Handbook to individual providers and Vocational Rehabilitation offices, at trainings, and at statewide advocacy and information conferences throughout the year. 

Meanwhile, click here to see an online version of the Hoosier Orientation Handbook on Employment, which is available on the CCLC website under the Resource/Publications tab. 

Looking for specific information on an employment topic on the CCLC website or in the Hoosier Orientation Handbook?  Contact us, we’d be happy to help!

Sandy Block seblock@indiana.edu 

Kelley Land kelland@indiana.edu

Jackie Tijerina jtijerin@indiana.edu 

And finally, if you’re a program manager interested in customized, flexible, hands-on consulting support for your team, stay tuned!

The Visual Resume: Helping Your Job Seeker Compete

The visual resume, sometimes called a presentation portfolio, might just be your job seeker’s leg up, that boost that gets them over the wall or in the door. Combined with your efforts to individualize job opportunities and negotiate “good fit,” the visual resume can help your job seeker compete and get that job! 

Implementation of Indiana’s Order of Selection for VR services will begin August 1. That means your agency and staff will partner with those job seekers who VR regards as having a “most significant disability.” People with the most significant disabilities, including physical and communication challenges, often experience additional barriers to employment, because they have difficulty representing themselves and demonstrating competence or their ability to contribute when meeting employers. Visual resumes allow job seekers to show an employer what they’ve accomplished and what they can do.

Breaking Down Barriers & Making Your Job Easier

A visual resume not only assists your job seeker, it can also give job developers a competitive edge. If you’re responsible for job development, you’ll need to balance the use of sales and marketing strategies with the need to represent people as individuals who have unique contributions and skills. The gap between sales and individual representation is the visual resume. 

Placement can be a daunting task that is sometimes even more complicated when a job seeker has behaviors or traits of disability that are obvious. Sometimes it’s difficult for people to see beyond those obvious impacts of a disability. Humans tend to categorize people when they are very different from “typical,” and employers are humans. The visual resume can help counter employer resistance and bring about understanding: “Different” is not a liability, but an asset!  

Visual resumes hold so much potential, in fact, that Wisconsin is the latest state whose Vocational Rehabilitation system pays an outcome fee for its development. That’s because a visual resume can be the means of helping an employer see both what a job seeker can do as well as how that person might be able to meet the business’s employment needs, the crux of customized employment. How exciting is that?!

When Demonstration Beats Conversation

So, what is a visual resume? It’s a customized, visual presentation of your job seeker – that’s it! You can use PowerPoint or another type of presentation software or video to introduce your job seeker to an employer and to “show off” your candidate at his/her best. 

How people are represented to employers frequently makes a difference in whether a person gets a job or not. According to Marc Gold & Associates, “When the visual resume was pilot tested in 20 states across the country, the feedback from employers was that it increased their comfort level with hiring someone with a disability and enabled them to see a person with a disability within their business.” 

Visual resumes can be especially helpful for job seekers who have:

• little to no formal work experience.
• clearly obvious and overt impacts of disability. 
• difficulty expressing themselves in conversation.

With pictures, video, and text, the visual resume highlights and demonstrates:

• strengths
• work experiences (both formal and informal)
• tasks performed and skills demonstrated during these work experiences
• interests 
• work-related skills 
• a customized task list of potential contributions (used as the basis for negotiating a customized job description)
• certificates, recommendations

Visuals are important! You should collect pictures and videos throughout the Discovery process and pull them together as a wrap-up or summary of what you’ve learned about your job seeker. If you remember to take pictures and discrete videos throughout Discovery, visual resume development doesn’t take much time! 

Resource Time!  

Start with this Visual Resume Builder guide. Keep in mind, while you may use a standard template (PowerPoint), each visual resume will be as unique as each job seeker.

Next, watch this video to get an idea of how an Indiana employment specialist uses a visual resume for her client, Mark. And listen as Mark describes how a visual resume can help a potential employer understand who he is and what he can do. 

For reference, here's Mark's complete visual resume.

And finally, there are lots of examples of visual and video resume examples on the internet. Do a search to find inspiration. We thought you might enjoy Elizabeth J.'s creative video resume. 

Situational Assessments: 'Just Do It!'

Here on the blog, we’ve talked a lot about interviewing your job seeker, businesses, and people who know the job seeker well, all in an effort to learn about that person’s strengths, interests, and what might be a good job match.

Eventually, it’s time for less talk and more action. Situational assessments, a billable service that falls under Discovery in the Employment Services Model, are an opportunity for your job seeker to DO things they’re interested in, test their skills, build relationships, and have fun! Situational assessments take you one step closer to figuring out what that great job fit is going to be. Even more, you’re supporting the job seeker in developing relationships with people who have similar interests. This is great not only because it might help with getting a job, but also because you’re building the job seeker’s community connections!

Before: Setting up a situational assessment

Set up an experience where the job seeker is actively engaged and doing things. If you can’t take a picture or a video of it, it’s not a situational assessment! When setting up a situational assessment, there are several points to consider to ensure that the activity is meaningful and will help move Discovery forward. Situational assessments should:

• …be an individualized activity: That same-old standard assessment, say bagging groceries at the grocery store next to your agency, won’t achieve the purpose of the Discovery process, which requires you to link one activity to the next based on the strengths and interests of the job seeker. If you develop individualized situational assessments based on what you’ve learned so far (think strengths, skills, and interests), you have the potential to learn so much more and get one step closer to an individualized job.  

• …happen where and when it makes sense: It’s best when situations are as natural as possible.  
• Ask yourself if a person not receiving services would engage in the activity you’re developing.

• If it’s a volunteer situation, would a person normally volunteer at the location?

• Discovery activities should occur where a job seeker lives, shops, and socializes and NOT in a sheltered setting. If you learn that your job seeker loves making cookies with her sister, the first situational assessment might be wherever she and her sister make cookies. Once you’ve verified skills, you may see if these skills generalize to other settings, like the bakery down the street. 

• …have a goal and a purpose: You should be able to identify the purpose of the situational assessment, and what you hope to get out of the activity. If you can’t put it into words, reconsider the activity.

• …assess multiple skills: We know it takes a lot of work to set up Discovery activities. Even though you can bill for the time it takes to set up activities, it’s wise to develop opportunities that assess different skills. You and the job seeker will be more efficient with your time!

• …build on strengths: Like any other Discovery activity, we are working toward matching job seeker strengths and skills with employer needs. When developing situational assessments, consider what conditions will help the job seeker be successful and appear competent. Do your homework to identify these strengths and be sure you know how you can effectively provide support when and if it’s needed.

During: You watch; they do

Get out of the way! Support the job seeker completing tasks and building relationships as much as needed, but don’t insert yourself in situations where you’re not needed.  There’s always a balance: do what it takes to ensure that the job seeker appears competent, but don’t step in when unnecessary. If you’re hovering, co-workers, supervisors, or others may mistakenly perceive your presence to mean that the job seeker needs more help or support than they really do. Be a wallflower and fade into the background!

Observe skills, strengths, preferences, and best ways to support a job seeker. In some cases, it may be helpful to take pictures or video of the job seeker completing tasks. You could use these later to develop a visual portfolio (an alternative to the traditional resume) that allows a person to shine with the skills they have.

Let’s watch Sherri and Corbin, below, for an example of a situational assessment. 

• How and why did Sherri set up this specific situational assessment?
• Where was Sherri during the situational assessment?
• What did Sherri do?
• What are some skills Corbin demonstrates?

After the clinic, Corbin and Keith debriefed. This was an opportunity to hear what Keith, an expert in the field, thought of Corbin’s skills. It also gave Sherri a chance to observe additional skills and learn more about Corbin’s knowledge of the game and coaching that she may not have had a chance to see on the court. 

• What skills, strengths, and knowledge does Corbin demonstrate?
• What do we learn from Keith?
• What would you want to learn more about?

(Special thanks to Sherri Negri from Easterseals Crossroads, to Corbin, and to sports director Keith from the Hendricks Regional Health YMCA.)

After: Now what?

Move the Discovery process forward: You should be able to identify activities or information that led you to the situational assessment and you should be able to take next steps in the process based on information that you learned during the assessment.

Record what you’ve learned in the Discovery Profile. See the sample, below.

Record strengths and skills. In this case, Corbin demonstrates several skills and competencies.

Sample Discovery Profile skills/observation entry.  Click here to see a larger version.

Getting to Know You: Talking with People Who Know Your Job Seeker

“Getting to know you. Getting to know all about you.” 

Let’s all channel our inner Julie Andrews as we introduce you to interviewing people who know your job seeker well. (Okay, so technically she never played Anna in The King and I , but you get the picture!*)

Gertrude Lawrence as Anna in 1951

If you are a regular Shared Solutions reader (and we certainly hope you are), you’ve seen our two previous posts about two other types of Discovery interviewing: 1) meet and greet interviews and 2) informational interviews with potential employers. This post refers to a third type of interview, this time with people who can help you get a better picture of your job seeker’s interests and strengths.

This critical step in the Discovery process helps you learn more about the job seeker. Oftentimes, you can find out a lot more about a person’s strengths and skills from people who care about them or who have known them for a long time. As you get to know your job seeker, he or she may mention people they are close to or relationships that are important. Sometimes, you will have to ask your job seeker questions to identify these important people. Frequently, the people mentioned as being close to your job seeker are staff (paid); sometimes they are friends and relatives (unpaid). The next step in the process is to contact these individuals (with the job seeker’s permission). 

Choose both paid and unpaid individuals in the job seeker’s life. You will learn different attributes and hear about different experiences from these types of relationships. Also, make sure that these are positive people in the job seeker’s life, who have a vested interest in the job seeker. 

The following chart shows you guiding questions and quality indicators of interviews with people who know the job seeker well. You can find the entire Discovery Quality Indicators document at https://www.iidc.indiana.edu/styles/iidc/defiles/CCLC/Discovery%20translation%20chart_updated%20August%202016.pdf 

Guiding Questions

Quality Indicators

·        Those who are interviewed have a vested interest (positive) in the job seeker ·        ES identifies “lifelines,” both paid and non-paid people who are important in the job seeker’s life, and includes these people in interviews.

·        ES interviews people who know the job seeker well. These interviews should include those who are identified by the job seeker, as well as those who are not paid to support the job seeker. ·        ES engages in “Smooth Listening,” and asks questions at the appropriate time. ·        ES uses interviews to gain positive information including job seeker strengths and successes. ES does not capture negative or unhelpful information. ·        ES frames challenging needs in a positive supportive manner. ·        Unhelpful information is not kept or included in documentation (Discovery Profile). ·        ES finds or identifies skills and interests to use as a jumping off point for planning future activities.

How can you get the most out of an interview? 

Here are some tips:

• Do your homework. Think about the questions you want to ask ahead of time. This may be related to why you are interviewing the person to begin with. Are you trying to learn about a particular interest or skill? Or just trying to learn more?
• Ask open-ended questions.
• Let the person you’re interviewing take the lead in the conversation.
• Ask clarifying questions to learn more about specific skills and strengths.
• Meet the person at a time and location that’s convenient for them. Sometimes this might mean meeting someone after they finish work for the day, or for coffee on their way into work! 

And, of course, we have a video example for you!
     

(Special thanks to Sherri Negri from Easterseals Crossroads and Wayne Soehnlin from Special Olympics for taking time to work on the video.)

What happens after you interview someone?

Document it! After each interview, take what you learn and complete the different sections that make sense in the Discovery Profile. For example, in the video Sherri verified that basketball and coaching are interests. She also identified skills and support strategies she will need to learn more about. You may also learn about barriers or non-negotiables that the person you are interviewing has identified. 

Interviewing others who know the job seeker well is billable through the Employment Services Model, so make sure you’ve captured that information in the Discovery Profile.

Use the information to plan next steps! 

Each Discovery activity should be building on what you learned from the last activity. Use what you learn in your interviews to inform future activities. For example, Sherri and Corbin may want to go and speak with coaches and people involved with basketball to learn more about what it takes to be a coach, and how to get paid to do it. (Note: These are great opportunities for informational interviews!) It would also be great if Corbin could demonstrate some of his skills in these areas, perhaps in a situational assessment. (Spoiler Alert: This will be the topic of our next Shared Solutions.)



*Okay, you musical geeks, yes Julie Andrews sang the part of Anna in The King and I for a 1992 Hollywood Bowl concert that co-starred Ben Kingsley.  And now you know. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8j2DZ7_xTJQ 

The Suggestion Box is Now Open

If you’re like us, sometimes it’s hard to remember what you had for breakfast, let alone that resource you saw somewhere (Darn! Was it online/in an email/in a journal/during a presentation/on the back of the cereal box??) that you meant to bookmark but, of course, didn't, and was it two months ago or two weeks ago? 

To jog that mushy memory a little, we thought we'd give you a reminder of what’s here on the blog. Note that on the right side of your screen, we've started creating on ongoing list of resources we've shared--cheat sheets, videos, fact sheets. (Sure, go ahead. You can look now; we'll wait.) Please take these resources, share them with your colleagues, and use them to help make your job easier! 

And now that Shared Solutions has been popping up in your email for the past several months, we wanted to check in to get your input. Here are the past posts:

• Charting Your Course: Employment Services Activities Guide and Discovery Translation Chart
• Don’t Work for Free! Maximizing Billing
• Informational Interviewing: Another Tool in Your Discovery Toolbox
• Job Ready, Set, Go! Job Readiness Training
• The Art of the Ask: Obtaining Authorizations for Supported Employment and Short-Term Services
• Bubbling Up New COLA Info
• ‘What’s up?’ An In-Depth Look at the Meet and Greet

We want to hear from you! What can we do for you?  Please take this quick (we promise!) survey and share what you’ve loved, what hasn’t been your cup of tea, and what would be most helpful to you.  http://go.iu.edu/1v3X

‘What’s up?’ An In-Depth Look at the Meet and Greet

Hi. How are you? Nice to meet you. Tell me about yourself. 

Come on, dive in; the water’s great! The Meet and Greet, also known as a home visit, is

your “jumping off point.” During that first visit with a new job seeker, you may find or identify skills and interests to use as an initial starting point for planning future Discovery activities. If you’re able to establish a rapport and go deeper, the things you learn in a Meet and Greet may also prevent you from jumping to conclusions and help you avoid premature job identification and selection.  

In this post we’re going to find out how to get the most bang for your buck with a Meet and Greet.

Home Sweet Home

When beginning Discovery, we strongly recommend starting the process at your job seeker’s home, especially if that’s where he or she is most comfortable. Anytime a person feels more at ease, they will be more willing to share about themselves! You’ll also have the advantage of observing the job seeker’s surroundings, which can reveal how they spend their time and can help you learn about interests and strengths. Making these observations can be a great way to start a conversation. You may learn about things that the job seeker might not think to mention and that you’d never discover while sitting in your office!  

If your Meet and Greet can’t be at the job seeker’s home, choose a location in the job seeker’s community where they’d prefer to talk, such as a library, coffee shop, or church. While you won’t get the benefits of observing where the job seeker spends a lot of time, you will still be in a space that’s more comfortable to the job seeker. For many people, a visit to your office feels like visiting the doctor or dentist!  And that makes us all a little uneasy, right?

Whether you meet the job seeker at their home or somewhere else that they choose, it can be helpful if the job seeker invites important people in their lives. This will vary from person to person, of course. Sometimes we can learn a lot about a person’s strengths and interests from their partner, parent, or sibling!  This could happen at that first meeting, or down the road when you all get to know each other a little better.

Let’s see what a Meet and Greet looks like in action:  

Video 1: Intro 

Frank, the job seeker, and Dawn, his employment consultant, are just sitting down to begin the conversation. Pay careful attention to how Dawn asks questions, to her body language, and to how she responds to Frank. You will be able to see the following:

• The employment consultant asks permission to take notes.
• They’ve completed intake prior to this meeting.
• The employment consultant uses the visit(s) to establish and build rapport and trust.

Video 2: What are you most proud of?  

Dawn lets Frank lead the conversation by confirming what Frank has to say, and by encouraging Frank to expand on what he’s sharing. Dawn does not lead the discussion or structure the meeting as an interview. Rather, she’s promoting an open-ended conversation.

Video 3: Expanding on an interest 

Here, Dawn is observing and learning from Frank. She’s capturing likes, preferences, dislikes, and what makes Frank tick. Notice that Dawn continues to engage with Frank in a way that puts him in charge, and that encourages him to share what he’s passionate about.  

These videos illustrate what it looks like to really build a relationship, and they demonstrate the specific skills Dawn engages in to be successful. 

Okay, we hear you saying, “Easier said than done!” You’re right. But if you’re still nervous, here's a handy dandy Tips and Tricks resource to help guide your conversation. 

The Meet & Greet Home Visit: Tips and Tricks for Making You and Your Job Seeker More Comfortable


Many thanks to Frank and to Dawn from Sycamore Services for sharing their conversation with us!

Bubbling Up New COLA Info

Every year, usually in October, the federal government announces the latest Cost of Living Adjustment, fondly referred to as COLA. The new rates are based on the Consumer Price Index, which is really a measure of the average change in prices for the nation’s goods and services. 

Ah, but why should you or your consumers care? 

It’s because Social Security’s substantial gainful activity (SGA) level and many of its work incentives are based on the annual COLA rate. In 2017, for instance, that means a consumer eligible for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) earning less than $1,170 per month may still be eligible for benefits after his or her Trial Work Period. The new 2017 SGA level for workers who are disabled is $1,170; it’s $1,950 for workers who are blind.

The recent COLA increase led to a modest increase in the SGA, which means your consumer can now earn $40 more per month ($480 per year) and still qualify for benefits. The bottom line: When the SGA increases, many consumers can earn more and continue to be eligible for benefits.

COLA also affects recipients of Supplemental Security Income (SSI). In 2016 the maximum SSI payment did not increase, but for 2017 it rose a modest .3%, to $735, due to the new cost-of-living rate. 

Students with disabilities who are working make up another group affected by COLA if they’re using the Student Earned Income Exclusion. In 2017, Social Security ensures that working students can keep more of their SSI check by not counting up to $1,790 per month ($7,200 annually) of earned income when calculating a student’s monthly SSI payment. 

Why, you ask, is the rate increase so small if the economy has improved? Okay, let’s get a little benefits nerdy here. COLA is based on “quarters of coverage” and is averaged over two years. In October 2016, when they set the new rate, it was based on the third quarter of 2014 through the third quarter of 2016. Improvements to the economy (and therefore increasing prices for goods and services) that have occurred more recently won’t be reflected in the COLA rates until 2018 or 2019. 

We get it: It’s complicated. That’s why Indiana has resources for workers with disabilities and the people who support them. That means you!  

Benefits Information Resources

• 2017 Changes to Social Security (including COLA)
• 2017 Work Incentive Fact Sheets
• Need a refresher on all-thing-benefits?  Check out the Center on Community Living and Career’s Benefits Information Network trainings page. There you’ll find a save-the-date flyer for all of our 2017 certified BIN trainings and a link to registration for our February 22-23 workshop, “Social Security and Other Federal and State Benefits: Learning the Basics.” 

Have more questions? Contact a Benefits Information Network (BIN) liaison. There are now certified BIN liaisons in place at 62 of Indiana’s 96 community rehabilitation providers. For a referral to a BIN liaison, contact the Center on Community Living and Career’s Kelley Land (our benefits guru) at kelland@indiana.edu.