Stabilization--STAT!!

You may have heard doctors on TV medical shows screaming, “I need something, STAT!” You probably knew from their voice and expression that they wanted something right now. Well, yelling, “STAT” for job stabilization is not exactly best practice and may actually be more harmful to the individuals we support every day.

Stabilization, in layman’s terms, is the point at which an individual has reached their greatest level of independence on the job. Although they may not do every task perfectly every time, they have reached their maximum ability. (Note that stabilization may look different for every employee. Some employees, for instance, may still need some assistance at certain tasks but with that accommodation, they’ve reached stabilization.) 
Stabilization occurs when 1) the coaching and modeling you’ve provided to an employee has helped them learn their tasks and workplace culture, and 2) when natural supports are in place.  

Since there’s a Milestone payment affiliated with stabilization, many employment specialists are often in a rush to move a job seeker along, so they can bill for the work they’ve done and move on to the next step. But challenge yourself to step back and think before screaming, “Stabilization - STAT!”  Trust us: You have plenty of time.

Slow Down! Devote Time to Those First Steps

After the job seeker you’re supporting finds a job that seems to be a good fit, they’re ready to use their skills and talents. Your first steps, as an employment specialist, are to support this new employee with learning new job tasks, performing daily duties, and following policy and procedure. Your next steps include supporting the employer as they train the new employee. You’ll also be helping the employee learn the workplace culture and helping the employer and employee as they build natural supports.

The new employee may need assistance getting to know people in their workplace. They may need to understand different work styles of co-workers and supervisors. There may be unwritten rules of the workplace that you’ll need to spell out. Some off-site skills, such as addressing transportation needs to get to and from work, could be fundamental to successful long-term employment. These essential items can be overwhelming to some, and yet, second nature for others. So, take time to address each need as it surfaces.

During the first four weeks or 30 days of employment, take time to make keen observations and listen to an employee’s needs. Take each hurdle they face as a mere “bump in the road.” Address those needs and challenges as creative goals that will increase the individual’s confidence.

Putting those goals in writing to demonstrate how you will support that person is the thrust of the Employment Support and Retention Plan (ESRP). (See “Helpful Links,” below.) The ESRP is where you will continue to identify those areas of support the employee needs to achieve independence. This is also the time that you will identify and discuss how you plan to support that new employee through the strategies and techniques that you will use. Remember that the focus of these first weeks is always progress and never perfection.

And another reminder: You don’t have to do this all alone. Let workplace co-workers and supervisors help support, teach, and coach the new employee. (See the Shared Solutions post, “Don’t Alienate Your Natural Supports.”) Your presence and expertise can make the difference not only for the new employee, but also for the business. You are the professional consultant to the business, supporting their decision to hire the individual and making this partnership work for them, too. 

The Signs of Stabilization

How do you know when your new employee has achieved stabilization?  Per the VR Manual (p. 29), ask yourself:

1. Has the employee made significant progress in gaining independence on the job during the period of supports?
2. Do you have evidence that supports have faded, even if fading has not been entirely linear (i.e., periods of ebb and flow)?
3. Is there strong potential for the individual to become more independent, resulting in additional fading* of supports?
4. Is the employee meeting the employer’s performance standards with as little support as possible and as is likely for that individual?
5. Why do you believe the employee has achieved their highest level of independence? What other evidence do you have?
6. Are you confident that an employee receiving supported employment will be able to maintain their job with appropriate extended services?

Adapted from the VR Manual of Employment Services, (Version 5.0, February 2019, page 29).

Tah Dah!

Stabilization means that even if the individual doesn’t do every job task perfectly every time, they’ve reached their greatest level of independence on the job. Just remember: DO NOT RUSH THIS! Be certain you are ready for your “tah dah moment.” With supported employment services, you have up to 24 months to provide support to your new employee!

 

When the employee has reached stabilization, you’ll complete the Stabilization Notification Form. On this form, you’ll share what you’ve done; any anticipated changes to the schedule, routine, or needs; and/or any additional needs for accommodations, modifications or assistive technology items. Once all team members and your VR counselor are in agreement and sign off on the form, your new employee has achieved stabilization! That’s when your 90-day clock starts. At the end of those 90 days, you may bill for Milestone 3.

Reaching stabilization is a huge deal! You assisted your newly-employed job seeker in learning their tasks, adjusting to their new role, and finding natural supports in their workplace. Over the next 90 days of their employment, your focus will shift from overseer to observer. 

Celebrate and do a TAH DAH with your new employee, because, together, your work was AMAZING!

*Stay tuned. We will discuss the fine art of fading in a future post.

Helpful Links

Stabilization Notification Form

Employment Support and Retention Plan Form

Employment Services Authorization Request Form 

VR Employment Services Manual 2019

The Guardianship Alternative: Supported Decision-Making

Supported Decision-Making is a new alternative to guardianship for people with disabilities and for seniors. With Supported Decision-Making (SDM), an individual who needs assistance chooses supporters they trust and specifies how they want to receive help. 

They can also decide when they need support and when they don’t. For instance, one person may only want assistance for financial planning; someone else may want assistance with health care, paying bills, choosing personal assistants and providers, and any legal matters. The supporters provide assistance, but the person using SDM retains final decision-making authority. Having and using SDM can help promote an individual’s self-determination and independence.

SDM is really a partnership of support, allowing a person to remain the primary decision maker, and it does not remove the individual’s civil rights. In contrast, guardianship does remove some civil rights. Those rights affected by court-appointed guardianship could include the right to marry, the right to buy a home (or enter into contracts), the right to decide where to live, and more. However, it's important to know that an individual who is living with full guardianship—also known as a ward or “protected person”—still has some rights. They can vote, challenge their guardianship, get a different guardian, and visit family and friends.

New Legislation

Governor Eric Holcomb signed new legislation in April supporting the independence of people with disabilities. Indiana now becomes the eighth state to have a Supported Decision-Making law. One component of the new law requires that less restrictive alternatives, including Supported Decision-Making, be considered before a court will appoint a guardian. 

The author of Senate Bill 380, Sen. Eric Koch (R–Bedford), noted that the new legislation “puts Indiana at the forefront of state policy that supports the independence of those with disabilities. No longer will guardianships be the only alternative. Our courts will now have more options to ensure that only the least restrictive option is used in situations where our fellow Hoosiers need some extra help.”

The EST/VRC Angle

Whether you’re a VRC or an employment consultant, SDM may impact the way you engage with participants. Since individuals and families now have more choices available to them for support--ranging on a spectrum from SDM (affording more autonomy) to full guardianship (providing extensive protections)--you'll want to check with your job seekers and the employees you support to find out how they make their decisions. 

One example of how you could have a role in the issue of rights and decisions is when you're working to provide Pre-Employment Transition Services (Pre-ETS) to students in transition. It’s critical to facilitate a discussion with students about their rights and options as they approach age 18. You can have this discussion in a group setting or one-on-one with a transition-aged student. Supported Decision-Making education could be provided as “instruction of self-advocacy.” In fact, this type of Pre-ETS instruction is categorized as “training on self-awareness, disclosure of disability, and knowing individual rights and responsibilities,” which is one of the five required Pre-ETS activities. Educating yourself about SDM will help you talk with and guide the students, parents, case managers, and other participants you work with each day. 

Good Timing: Mental Health Awareness Month

Indiana’s decision to become a Supported Decision-Making state could not come at a better time. It’s National Mental Health Awareness Month. 

SDM can be a tangible way for people with mental health conditions, like OCD, bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia to regain a sense of control, to increase self-advocacy skills, and to create a more direct path to self-determination. People living with mental health issues often experience a sense of isolation, have difficulty expressing thoughts and emotions, face challenges of choice and decision-making and struggle with feelings of adequacy. Having a supportive circle of people (or even just one key supporter) can go a long way toward increasing quality of life, even if the mental health challenge is short term. 

SDM can be a way for people to join forces with others when facing possible guardianship issues. Losing personal autonomy and choice does not need to be yet another “challenge.” Encouraging a meaningful conversation about supported decision-making and providing education about this option would be an excellent step in the right direction, especially during National Mental Health Awareness Month! 

Resources

• Adult Guardianship in Indiana: The Basics--questions and answers from Indiana Disability Rights
• Supported Decision-Making in Action video--a video series from Indiana Disability Rights
• Supported Decision-Making infographic from AARP--illustrating the processes and differences between guardianship and SDM
• Transitioning from Adolescence: Alternatives to Guardianship--a video from the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community 
• WINGS - Working Interdisciplinary Networks of Guardianship Stakeholders--a fact sheet for families
• Guardianship Resources—additional resources, including those for legal professionals

Our Team is Growing!

The Center on Community Living and Careers would like to welcome three new members to our Employment Technical Assistance team!

• Cecilia Buckley--Most recently a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor in VR's Bloomington office, Cecilia also worked as a VRC in Wisconsin and has expertise in both traumatic brain injury and blind/visual impairment and is a wealth of information about supporting VR participants.
• Brady Foster Powers--Brady joins us from Help the World Foundation, where he was CEO. He's also held a number of other provider leadership positions in Indiana and with Ohio support services organizations.
• Stephanie Gage--Stephanie worked as a career assessment counselor and Benefits Information Network (BIN) liaison for nine years. As our new BIN coordinator, Stephanie brings expertise in work incentives, Social Security, and the Ticket to Work program. 

Cecilia, Brady, and Stephanie join existing team members Jackie Tijerina and Sandy Block and will be working with and supporting providers and VR personnel around the state. 

Questions?  Contact us at employta@indiana.edu   

Pre-ETS: Singing the Same Tune

You may be working with high school students, teachers, or families who are already receiving Pre-Employment Transition Services (Pre-ETS), or you may be getting questions from students and families who are curious. Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation funds Pre-ETS and works with the agencies and community employment programs that provide services to schools. Your agency may be included among the existing Pre-ETS providers. Currently, not all schools and communities are offering Pre-ETS, but the list is growing. Students receiving these services may learn more about potential career paths or even get some work experience before they leave school!

Altogether Now!

With the implementation of VR’s order of selection last summer, the applications and eligibility process can be confusing to students, teachers, families, (and us too!).  We’ve all had questions about how order of selection affects participation in Pre-ETS services, and when to refer a student to VR. 

As a result, VR created a fact sheet for educators, which the Center on Community Living and Careers shared with teachers along with a decision flow chart to clarify how order of selection affects Pre-ETS. (Side note: Half of our center works with you and all-things-employment; the other works with secondary teachers and all-thing-transition. We’re a versatile group!) Since Pre-ETS is really a blending of both worlds—education and employment—we thought you might want to see that same information. Review the fact sheet and flow chart, below. They certainly helped us understand all of the moving parts!

Fact sheet: Pre-Employment Transition Services & Order of Selection

Flow chart: Pre-ETS flowchart 

Resources for Your Conductor

While we’re on the subject, does your agency provide Pre-ETS services? If yes, share the following information with the person running the show! 

The Workforce Innovation Technical Assistance Center (WINTAC) works with state VR programs and their partners to effectively implement the requirements of WIOA, including Pre-ETS programming. They house a number of resources you can use to implement required activities, as well as clarification and information on relevant topics like internship programs. 

Here are a few we’re pretty excited about:

• CRP Pre-ETS Guidebook: Strategies for CRPs to Collaborate on Pre-ETS: This handbook provides a comprehensive look at providing Pre-ETS, from factors to consider when hiring staff, to tools and resources for each of the required activities. 

• Internship Programs Under The Fair Labor Standards Act: This fact sheet provides general information to help determine whether interns and students working for “for-profit” employers are entitled to minimum wages and overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). 

• The Path to Independence: Mobile Apps to Support Transition-Age Youth: Tips from the Pacer Center to support students with disabilities. 

• For these resources, and many more, check out the WINTAC site: http://www.wintac.org/topic-areas/pre-employment-transition-services/resources

And a one, and a two, and a….Sing out, Louise!

Don't Alienate Your Natural Supports

The right workplace supports can do wonders to help you avoid an alienating experience for your job seeker. Employment program leaders, service professionals, and service innovators (that's you!) wanting to improve outcomes for employees with disabilities often rely on natural supports. 

What are natural supports and what can they do? How do we identify them in a workplace? And what can we do to encourage their use? 

The Institute for Community Inclusion defines natural supports as those that:

• already exist within a workplace or community system;
• are consistent with the workplace culture;
• are typically available and/or perceived as usual; and
• occur typically in the workplace, or can be facilitated by a job coach.

In short, natural supports are all about taking advantage of what is already there! In order to develop and encourage natural supports, however, you'll need to plan ahead, make use of some key strategies, and know what to avoid. 

Beware of Becoming an Intruder from Planet Z

Keep in mind, some employment support practices can sabotage naturally available supports, either by keeping others out ("exclusionary" practices) or, by pushing ourselves into situations ("intrusive" practices) where we become unwanted. 

Unfortunately, exclusionary practices occur routinely and include:

• failing to consider a company’s typical hiring/onboarding/orientation and training routines;
• presenting ourselves as the “expert” in all things related to the job seeker;
• failing to include co-workers throughout the employment process;
• ignoring or overlooking workplace social routines, such as shared break and lunchtimes with others; and
• creating tasks or schedules that are markedly different from other employees'. 

Adding to a failed recipe for successful natural supports development, employment specialists often have an intrusive presence. Defined as causing disruption or annoyance, intrusive actions include:

• dismissing typical ways and means used by the employer,
• taking complete control of all training at all times,
• remaining physically close to an employee at all times,
• providing verbal and physical prompts when they’re not really required, 
• providing workplace supports only when a provider needs to generate revenue,
• not using systematic instruction and data-driven teaching strategies, and
• failing to fade employment specialist supports in the workplace.

Use the Force for Good

The good news is this is changing – hooray for the heroes! (Scully and Mulder, Han and Chewie, the Avengers--there are lots of team players in good sci-fi.) We’re hearing and reading about stories from across Indiana and around the globe that provide excellent examples of enduring, natural supports. You have the power to nurture and create these same lasting and naturally occurring supports in the workplace for the employees you support. Here's how you can practice the development of natural supports:

• Act as a single member of a larger teaching and support team led by the employer.
• Let employers and co-workers know that you're a consulting mentor and “friendly guide,” an ally. (For instance, you could suggest the development of a peer-to-peer mentoring opportunity in the workplace.)
• Adopt an unobtrusive presence and approach.
• Encourage co-worker involvement.
• Provide enough, but not too much support.
• Use data-driven instruction, and be sure to fade your supports.
• Develop collaborative off-site supports.

X-Files: Resources You Can Use

• Check out this short video, from an Indiana employment specialist, about the importance of using natural supports in the workplace:

Our thanks to Barbara Goffinet, with Southern Indiana Resource Solutions, for allowing us to share her words of wisdom this month.

• Natural Work Place Supports Quality Checklist  This handy, still relevant checklist was first published by Syracuse University in 1993 as an appendix to Developing Natural Supports in the Work Place: A Manual for Practitioners (Murphy et al., 1992). Scroll to Appendix A.

For more tips and strategies on developing natural supports as well as insights on how intrusive and exclusive behaviors impact workplace supports, enroll in Advanced Supported Employment training this summer! Watch your email for more information, or see the Employment Specialist Trainings page on the Center on Community Living and Careers website. 

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!

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.

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.

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