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!)


via GIPHY

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!

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.

Job Ready, Set, Go!

Many people struggle with some level of challenge. Some challenges, though, can be a barrier to successful employment. In those cases, a job seeker will need some additional help. Job Readiness Training to the rescue! A new an underused service offered by Vocational Rehabilitation Services, Job Readiness Training can help consumers work on:

• getting to work on time; 
• appropriate dress and grooming; 
• increasing productivity; 
• soft skills development; and 
• social skills development. 

Taking a job seeker through the Job Readiness process before any training or job development begins, can help identify specific need(s) as well as the teaching techniques and strategies that you and the job seeker can use to develop essential skills. The job seeker gains insights about how to manage challenges related to his or her impairment as well as strategies for: 

• improving interactions;
• building meaningful work relationships; 
• influencing others’ perceptions of them; and 
• demonstrating ways to improve communication, teamwork, and interpersonal relationships. 

Skills to Pay the Bills: One Tool to Use with Job Readiness Training

You might find Skills to Pay the Bills: Mastering Soft Skills for Workplace Success helpful as you develop a Job Readiness Plan. This curriculum, developed by ODEP, focuses on teaching "soft" or workforce readiness skills to youth, including youth with disabilities. The curriculum is an introduction to workplace interpersonal and professional skills, and is targeted for youth, ages 14 to 21, in both in-school and out-of-school environments. However, it can be adapted to work one-on-one and with any age group. It’s also an excellent resource to help you plan for and organize content in any Job Readiness Plan.
The program provides engaging activities focused on six key skill areas:

• communication; 
• enthusiasm and attitude, 
• teamwork; 
• networking; 
• problem solving and critical thinking; and 
• professionalism.  

The activities are a great way to help individuals think about how they would react or respond to various workplace situations. Curriculum users will begin to recognize that these crucial skills are necessary for success both within and outside the workplace. Skills to Pay the Bills can be found at: https://www.dol.gov/odep/topics/youth/softskills/

Example: Working with A.J.

Employment specialist Warren Swanson is working with A.J., a young man participating in the Discovery process. Warren has discovered that A.J. is extremely shy and lacks self-confidence. Warren thinks this might be a significant barrier to successful employment and discusses the need for improvement with A.J. and the VR counselor. They decide a Job Readiness Plan, with a focus on improving A.J.’s soft skills, especially in the area of confidence, could be helpful. Warren decides the strategy is to adapt Lesson #10 “Turning Benefits into Features” from the Skills to Pay the Bills Communication Curriculum- Skill # 2 —“Enthusiasm and Attitude.”  

Just so you can see it in action, we staged a brief scene of Warren working through Skill #2 with A.J. 

And take a look at an initial Job Readiness Plan sample for A.J. 

If a consumer requires Job Readiness Training, you must identify it as a needed service on the IPE. Reach out to your VRC and job seeker to the discuss the possibility of Job Readiness Training.