Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey Liberty Plaza, 335 George Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901

rwjms.rutgers.edu/boggscenter p. 732-235-9300 f. 732-235-9330

Kelly Nye-Lengerman, PhD Research Associate

Institute on Community Integration University of Minnesota

Minnesota, MN

Best Practices in Employment Supports: Where Do We Go with What We Know?

October 4, 2019 APA Hotel Woodbridge, Iselin, NJ

The attached handouts are provided as part of The Boggs Center’s continuing education and dissemination activities. Please note that these items are reprinted by permission from the author. If you desire to reproduce them, please obtain permission from the originator.

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Best Practices in employment supports: Where do we go with what we know?

Kelly Nye-Lengerman, MSW, PhDBoggs Center-DD Lecture Series

October 4, 2019

Hi, I’m Kelly

• Researcher

• Trained as a Social Worker

• Study employment, poverty, transition, policy, and person centered practices

• Worked as a DSP, job developer, case manager, director—inclusive and segregated settings

• My moto: Because nice matters

Acknowledgements

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Today’s agenda

• What do we know?

• What have we tried?

• What have we learned?

• Where do we go next?

• Putting it all together.

Graphic source: Helen Sanderson & Associates

Sharing a message: Why not both?

Sharing data

Sharing stories

WHAT DO WE KNOW?

What’s the context?

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Number in day and employment services

0

100,000

200,000

300,000

400,000

500,000

600,000

700,000

1990 1993 1999 2004 2008 2012 2017

Non‐work

Facility‐based work

Integrated employment

Who’s employed?

American Community Survey

(www.StateData.info)

What do you mean by employment?

Competitive, integrated employment (CIE)

• At least minimum/prevailing wage

• Paid for by the employer

• Co-workers mirror broader society

• Job seeker’s preferences are met

• Career advancement opportunities

• Ongoing support if needed

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What makes CIE hard to achieve?

• Low expectations for people with disabilities

• Antiquated service models

• Incongruent funding with policies

• Shortage of trained, competent workforce

• Misinformation and fear of risk

• Benefits protection and security

• Lower participation in post-secondary training/education

• ........

• ........

Typical trajectory

Education

Employment

Economic well‐being

(Insert here)

Education level (ages 18-64)

No disability Any disability Cognitive disability

Less than HS diploma

10% 20% 24%

HS diploma/equiv.

25% 34% 36%

Some college/2 year

32% 32% 29%

BA or higher 34% 14% 11%

Source: American Community Survey 2016

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Employment rate (age 21-64)

No disability Any disability Cognitive disability

Employed w/ less than HS diploma

66% 22% 15%

Employed w/ BA or higher

80% 57% 43%

Not employed but looking 

19% 8% 8%

Source: American Community Survey 2016

Source nTide, UNH, 2019.

Poverty & earnings (ages 18-24)

No disability Any disability Cognitive disability

Poverty rate 11% 27% 32%

Annual earnings

$45,300 $40,300 $35,00

Annual household income

$68,700 $43,300 $36,900

Source: American Community Survey 2016

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Employment is a pathway out of poverty

Employment is a pathway to community living

Relationships

Employment

Health &

WellbeingEducation

Family

Faith

What is community living & participation?

A complex and evolving construct related to individual preferences, contexts and

cultural and linguistics lenses

– where and with whom a person lives;

– if and where a person works;

– the financial resources available to the individual;

– what a person does during the day;

– their quality of relationships with others;

– what and with whom a person does things of personal interest,

– an individual’s health (physical and emotional);

– if, where and with whom they meet their spiritual needs;

– their interest and opportunity to engage in learning and personal growth;

– their opportunities and ability to make informed decisions about and

determine the direction of their own life, and

– their human right to assume roles and responsibilities as a citizen (e.g.

neighbor, taxpayer, voter).

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Having a job: A valued social role

Valued social roles:  is when a person does something regularly that is important to other people. Context: A valued social 

role must be perceived by others as being important. Something that is valuable to the person but is not valued by other 

people is not a valued SOCIAL role.

Valued social roles:  is when a person does something regularly that is important to other people. Context: A valued social 

role must be perceived by others as being important. Something that is valuable to the person but is not valued by other 

people is not a valued SOCIAL role.

Social role valorization: “…people who have devalued social roles, or very few or marginally valued ones, have a much 

harder time obtaining the good things of life available to those with valued social 

status…”

Social role valorization: “…people who have devalued social roles, or very few or marginally valued ones, have a much 

harder time obtaining the good things of life available to those with valued social 

status…”

Image Source: Openclipart

Another typical trajectory?

Experience to try

Dignity of riskOpportunity 

to    contribute

Valued social roles "social currency" 

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Think-Pair-Share

Putting the pieces together

Employment

HousingSocial

connections

Healthcare

Transportation

WHAT HAVE WE TRIED?

Focus on employment consultants and their practices

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What is an Employment Consultant ?

Professionals who assist job seekers with disabilities explore, find, and maintain employment.

Business consultant

Who’s out there?

• 32,000 employment support professionals

• 5,400 employment programs

• Potentially 300,000 more support professionals currently in day programs

(Bogenschutz, Nord, & Hewitt, 2015; Haines, Domin, & Butterworth, 2013; Hiersteiner et al., 2018; al., 2018; President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities, 2017)

“…Regardless of the job seeker’s level of motivation, skill, experience, attitude, and support system, his or her ability to get a job will often depend on the effectiveness of employment specialists. Simply stated, if they are good, job seekers get jobs. If they are not, the barriers to employment for job seekers can become insurmountable…”

Employment consultant

Luecking, R. G., Fabian, E. S., & Tilson, G. P. (2004). Working relationships: Creating career opportunities for job seekers with disabilities through employer partnerships. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes., p. 29

Employment consultants are key

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Invaluable

Jessica at Acadia Glass

https://youtu.be/ESlUfZIHCqM

Why research? Don’t we already “know?”

The Scientific Method as an Ongoing Process ~ Image by ArchonMagnus

Celebrating 10 years!

• Employment consultants (EC) survey (2009)

• Pilot activity log (2013)

• Community Rehabilitation Programs survey (2014)

• Employment consultants Interviews (2015)

• Daily survey (2016)

• Daily survey intervention study (2017-2019)

• Secondary data analysis (2019-2020)

• Employment consultant interviews (2020)

• Development of Daily Survey app (coming in 2020)

• Advanced EC and Org. intervention (2021-2023)

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Supporting wholistic quality

Provider Organization“culture & 

infrastructure”

Employment Consultant

“daily practices & activities”

Ask the audience

• What do you want to know about

employment consultants?

• What do you think are the most important

support activities?

Image Source: Openclipart

Key goals in research with ECs

• What do employment consultants do?

• How do employment consultants make decisions?

• What is the relationship of practice to outcome?

• How can we provide implementation support ?

– Data-based feedback

– Reflective practice

– Microlearning, mobile learning, personalized

learning

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WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?

Employment practices research

Step one: Clear practice guidelines

Who did we ask?

Employment Consultants

Supervisors of ECs

Job SeekersJob Seeker family 

members

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What did we ask?

Semi-structured interviews

• How do you find jobs?

• How do you train employment consultants (ECs)?

• What skills are critical for ECs?

• What makes a good EC?

• How do ECs show respect?

• What did the EC do to help you find a job?

Preparing the Ground

•Building trust•Involving families•Setting boundaries

Getting to know

• Process & approach

• Raise expectations

• DevelopSkills

Finding jobs

• Look for tasks, not jobs

• Be creative• Networking• Social media

Activity Themes

Building Trust: The relationship between the job seeker and the employment

consultant begins with breaking down the walls that sometimes divide support

professionals from the people whom they serve.

Involving Families: Families’ involvement was reported as instrumental for gaining

new perspectives on job seekers’ personal lives and what is likely to work for

them. Involving families from day one also minimizes FM’s concerns about the

ability of the JS to succeed in the workplace. An ongoing open communication

from day one helps to build the foundation of trust, and demonstrates that the ECs

is working to ensure the safety of the job seeker.

Setting Boundaries: Finding successful employment sometimes means ECs

managing the relationship with family members. Educating family members early

on about the EC’s role in the job search process prevents accidental interceding

and encourages them to see beyond their expectations for the JS.

Preparing the Ground

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“So always listen to the individual first and make sure that their voice is heard because it's very

easy for that voice to get lost amongst agencies, the family, the state, the employer, if they're

employed, other various community members and team members…And it's not fair for that individual because of their services to only be 10 percent of that team. Their voice needs to be weighed more

than any other.”

Preparing the Ground

• Process and Approach: Seeing the person in their natural spaces doing normal or typical things. Getting to know what makes the person tick-- their passions, their values, their strengths and challenges, and their vision for themselves. Using a person-centered interpersonal approach means that ECs should not even look at medical or behavioral records when learning about a person.

• Raise Expectations: Exposing a JS to new or different environments which may be out of their comfort zone.

• Develop Skills: increase job seekers’ exposure to situations that are similar to job interviews or that can help job seekers become more comfortable in work environments.

Getting to know job seeker and developing

skills

“....Now that we've done a better job at discovery… a better job at matching people in their jobs, now the job coach’s role has really shifted to sort of

connecting the person directly with the employer. And our goal is that the employer takes on the role of supporter and teacher and supervisor. And that has worked out really well, and we've seen a huge difference as far as people being happier in their

jobs, the employers being happier with their employees.”

Getting to know job seeker and developing

skills

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• Look For Tasks, Not Jobs: Looking for tasks means examining the tasks that together make up a job and seeing which tasks can be singled out and combined in different ways to develop a new job.

• Be Creative: Often EC’s don’t think about businesses with a specific job proposal in mind. Rather, they aim at developing natural relationships with the business. One EC started out as a customer of a business for a long time before even asking about employment opportunities there.

• Networking: Personal, professional, and social networks can play a critical role in connecting job seekers to employment opportunities and the broader community. These networks can be leveraged for personal introductions, informational interviews, job leads, hiring, job carving, and developing natural supports.

• Social Media: We heard mixed opinions about using social media. An EC expressed concerns about the risk that ECs spend too much time behind computers at the expense of time that could be spent out in the community, meeting real people face-to-face. At the same time, she was in favor of promoting the use of social media for marketing the program and services as well as for promoting events.

Finding Jobs

“I’d say that the most important thing is to maintain an open-mindedness to the possibilities. The

individuals we support, it’s very easy to say, “No, no, no, there’s no jobs out there, there are no jobs

that fit,” push yourself to work harder at being creative and more open-minded, and looking for

the jobs behind the jobs.“

Finding Jobs

Key findings

• Build trust with the job seeker and their family

• Find out what the job seeker wants out of life and seek out employment that fits their vision for themselves

• Make decisions about your support strategies based on the JSs’ individual preferences and support needs

• Be creative in your job search. Look for tasks, not jobs

• Network with employers and community business partners

• Involve the job seeker in every step of the process and maintain contact after hire

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Clear practice guidelines

Let’s watch: Green Mountain Self Advocates

https://icimedia.wistia.com/medias/p6toc79xoi

Application of knowledge and scale up?

What we know

Application to field

Scale up

Translation and dissemination with technology

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Improving employment 

support practices

Gain new knowledge

Insight in to 

practices

Just in time learning

Connection to peers

Intervention model

Daily surveyCommunity of 

practiceOnline learning

Customized 

1:1 TA

Data based feedback, Microlearning, Reflective practice

Daily Survey: Using tech to collect data

• What primary support activities

are implemented?

• Who is the primary interaction

with?

• Where do these interactions

take place?

Once each work day, at a random timeJune 2016 to May 2019

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WHAT: Primary support activity

(2.4 hours per day)

What could be improved?

• Increase the blue zone

• Optimize supports after hire

• Streamline administrative tasks

• Address non-employment supports

Ask the audience

• What would it take to increase the time invested in supports leading to hire?

• Specializing in assessment only, or business development only, or job coaching only. What’s the best approach?

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WHERE is the support provided?

What could be improved?

• Increase time in businessesand community settings:

• Situational assessment

• Networking to find jobs

• Touring businesses

• Informational interviews

Ask the audience

• What are the challenges and benefits of investing time in workplaces to get to know job seekers, touring businesses, informational interviews, other?

• What would you tell to a new colleague who asked for advice about strategies for spending more time in community settings with job seekers?

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WHO: Interactions with?

What could be improved?

• Increasing interactions with employers

• Involving family members and the social circle of friends of job seekers

Ask the audience

• Could you talk about your strategies for expanding your network of employers?

• How do you approach employers and develop relationships with them?

• What would you tell to a new colleague who asked for help about engaging with employers?

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Finding jobs

What could be improved?

• Increasing job negotiation

• Investing in networking

• Minimizing browsing job ads

Ask the audience

• What would you change in the way you invest

your time, and why? (e.g. in Getting to know job seekers,

Finding jobs, other supports before hire)

• What would it take to make the change?

• What would be the first thing that you would

change to improve how we support job seekers

achieving their goals?

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Another example: Activity over time example (N=61 ECs, Jun 2016 to May 2017) 

Using data for individual feedback & performance

I enjoy the feedback from other employment specialists, I enjoy the videos and online training …

Participants said …

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Data for everyone!

Daily Activity Reporting

Feedback for employee

Data for funding source

Outcome tracking 

Information for organization

Trends and support

Ask the audience

• Is anyone collecting data on employment

outcomes, support activities?

• How are you using your data?

WHERE DO WE GO FROM

HERE?

Applications of our knowledge

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Reflections on using technology and data

• Importance of reflecting on implementation. Time

spent:

1)on supports that lead to hire;

2) in businesses;

3)interacting with employers;

4) connecting with family members

• Including data in decision making

• Micro, mobile, personalized learning as a

support of traditional training.

• Individual and organizational interventions

cannot be done in silos

Increasing provider capacity

“Organizational transformation cannot occur without a strong workforce of employment consultants, and employment consultants perform their most effective work within a high-functioning organizational culture that has a shared mission and vision among all of its stakeholders."

Focus & Values

Infrastructure

EC Practices

Implications for organizations

• Promote capacity-building through:

– Employment programs’ effectiveness

– Employment consultants’ excellence

– Streamline administrative tasks

– Use funding to shape services

– Promote innovation and using technology

– Leveraging data for outcomes and

performance

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Implications for government/funders

• Service design

• Quality assurance

• Funding

• Provider qualifications

• Capacity building

• Reporting requirements

• Use of technology to reduce administrative

burden

Future directions

• Investigate how employment consultants make

decisions about the supports that they provide to

job seekers.

• Make the daily survey publicly available. Use the

closing screen to share data-based personalized

resources (Tips, tools, videos)

• Investigate how funding, data tracking,

employment consultant practices, and the

literature align.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

What should I take away from this?

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Take away #1 Yes, all

All means all. Full inclusion means everyone.

Photo credit: Creative Commons

Inclusion: Ciara

https://youtu.be/4F22xD0D9SI

Think inclusion

Image source: golfclub.info

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Inclusion: Jill

https://youtu.be/ThWJwbiOiUE

Take away #2 Language of raised expectations

Words

ActionsHabits

What can you do?

https://youtu.be/J9aHT-syZxs

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Take away #3 Competence first

People with disabilities are be successful in

employment and post secondary education

Assume competence first.

Presuming competence

Image Source: Inclusion Lab, 2016

Leadership: Betty

https://youtu.be/13pfBD0IlKU

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Take away #4 Honoring dignity & risks

Experiences, taking risk, and having opportunities

to try, lead to development of social currency.

Experiences matter.

Photo credit: Creative Commons

Power of experiences

A recipe for humans:

– 2 C. experiences;

– 1C. willingness to try

– ½ C. taking risks;

– 1 T. failure;

– 1 tsp. self awareness

Graphic  Source: Creative commons 

Finding talents: Ricardo

https://youtu.be/KJ_LOONZXkc

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Take away #5 Design for all

Move beyond accommodation and provide access

through universal design.

Source: Association for Higher Education Access & Disability, 2018

Accessibility with universal design

Universal Design is the design and composition of an environment so that it can be accessed, understood and used to the greatest extent possible by all people regardless of their age, size, ability or disability.

The goal of UDL is to use a variety of methods to remove any barriers to learning and give all people equal opportunities to succeed. It’s about building in flexibility that can be adjusted for individual strengths and needs.

Accessible materials: Ann

https://youtu.be/a1jqOr4AohY

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Take away #6 Invest early

Investments in the social-emotional development

young children and family support have significant

ROIs. Start early.

Photo credit: Creative Commons

Tools for life

Social Emotional 

Developmen

tSocial Emotional 

Developmen

t

Interactions with peers & adultsInteractions with peers & adults

Relationships with peers & adults

Relationships with peers & adults

Identity of self Identity of self 

Recognition of ability

Recognition of ability

Expression of emotion

Expression of emotion

EmpathyEmpathy

Emotional regulationEmotional regulation

Impulse controlImpulse control

Social understanding

Social understanding

Photo credit: Creative Commons

The take away: In review

1. All means all

2. Language of raised expectations

3. Presume competence first

4. Honor dignity & risks

5. Design for all

6. Invest early

Graphic source: openclipart

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Thank you

What we do and say

today has an impact

on all of our

tomorrows. Make your

words and actions

count for good.

Funding disclosure

This work was supported by grants from the National

Institute on Disability, Independent Living and

Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR), U.S. Department

of Education (RRTC on Community Living & RRTC

on Advancing Employment). Grantees undertaking

projects under government sponsorship are

encouraged to express freely their findings and

conclusions. Points of view or opinions do not,

therefore necessarily represent official NIDILRR policy.

Acknowledgements

Some of the data for this presentation are from a project carried out in partnership between the University of Minnesota and the

University of Massachusetts Boston

Thank you also to our colleagues at the for their contribution: Alberto Migliore, John Butterworth, Oliver Lyons, Jill Eastman, Paul Foos,

Jennifer Bose, Melanie Jordan, Mark Hutchinson, Allison Cohen-Hall, Lara Enein-Donovan, and Uchenna Nwangwu, Amy Gunty, & Kelly

Nye-Lengerman.

Visit us: www.ici.umn.eduThinkWork: www.thinkwork.org

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Contact information

Kelly Nye-Lengerman, Ph.D., MSW

612-568-7293

knye@umn.edu

Institute on Community Integration (UCEDD)

Research and Training Center on Community Living

University of Minnesota

214 Pattee Hall, 150 Pillsbury Drive SE

Minneapolis, MN 55455

Kelly Nye-Lengerman, PhD

Best Practices in Employment Supports: Where Do We Go with What We Know? October 4, 2019

References for Boggs Center Developmental Disabilities Lecture Series

Websites Institute on Community Integration www.ici.umn.edu Invaluable: The Unrecognized Profession of Direct Support https://ici.umn.edu/products/invaluable/ Self-Advocacy Online http://www.selfadvocacyonline.org/ ThinkWork at UMass Boston www.thinkwork.org https://www.thinkwork.org/s22ec Longitudinal Data Projects of National Significance (PNS projects) Statedata.Info: https://www.statedata.info/ Residential Information Systems Project: https://risp.umn.edu/ State of the States: http://www.stateofthestates.org/ Data and Resources to Inspire a Vision of Employment http://drivedisabilityemployment.org/ Articles

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Migliore, A., Nye-Lengerman, K., Lyons, O., Bose, J., & Butterworth, J. (2018). A comprehensive model of

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Migliore, A., Nye-Lengerman, K., Lyons, O., & Butterworth, J. (2018). Strengthening employment services for

job seekers with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Bringing Employment First to Scale, Issue 15. Boston, MA: University of Massachusetts Boston, Institute for Community Inclusion.

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(2015). Employment and economic self-sufficiency: 2015 national goals for research, policy, and practice. Inclusion, 3(4), 227-232.

Novak, J. (2015). Raising expectations for US youth with disabilities. Federal disability policy advances integrated employment. CEPS Journal, 5(1), 91-110. Luecking, R. G., Fabian, E. S., & Tilson, G. P. (2004). Working relationships: Creating career opportunities for job seekers with disabilities through employer partnerships. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes. Shriner, J. G. (1994). " All" Means" All"--Including Students with Disabilities. Educational Leadership, 51(6),

38-42. Timmons, J. C., Butterworth, J., & Lucus, J. (2017). Ten Elements of Organizational Transformation: Strategies for Moving Towards Integrated Employment. Reports Report to the President 2017 America’s Direct Support Workforce Crisis: Effects on People with Intellectual Disabilities, Families, Communities and the U.S. Economy https://acl.gov/sites/default/files/programs/2018-02/2017%20PCPID%20Full%20Report_0.PDF Advisory Committee on Increasing Competitive Integrated Employment for Individuals with Disabilities. Final Report https://www.dol.gov/odep/topics/pdf/ACICIEID_Final_Report_9-8-16.pdf

Notes

Notes