Preparing Youth Part 1

7/31/2019 Preparing Youth Part 1

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Ellen Condon, Project Director

University of MT, Rural Institute

Marc Gold & Associateshttp://ruralinstitute.umt.edu/transition

[email protected]

Preparing Youth for Community

Employment – Part 1Transition to work for all students.

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http://ruralinstitute.umt.edu/transition

http://ruralinstitute.umt.edu/transition



The goal of Transition is that

students seamlessly transition fromschool to adult life with the skills

and supports in place for them to

succeed in their desired

post-school outcomes.

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• What will their day look like when they

no longer come to school?

• Will they work?

• Where will they live?

• What will they do for fun?• Will their day be full?

• Who will provide supports that the

school provided before?

Think of a student whom you work with now who has

ongoing support needs….

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Part of the challenge in planning for the future

Is understanding the expectations of

the future environment and how

supports are delivered.

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Challenges of Transition …

School Services Post-School Services

• Entitlement

• Case manager & all

services work as a

team

• School follows the

same definition of

disability

• Based on eligibility and

availability (waiting list)

• Parent or youth may need

to piece services together

from various agencies

• Various agencies have

differing eligibility

requirements

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Challenges of Transition …

School Services Adult Services

• Services in school

may look verydifferent than post-

school

environments

• Special education

services in school vs.college

• School Work Experiences

vs. Adult SupportedEmployment

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What if we began with the visionthat everyone will work?

You need to opt out of work rather

than opting in or demonstrating that

you are ‘ready’ or able to work.

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Is Employment for Everyone?

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TEAM-Legislation

To obtain copies of the bills and track their

progress, go to http://thomas.loc.gov/ and

search for bill numbers HR 602, 603, or604. See also

http://harper.house.gov/news/2011/feb/idleg

.html. See also www.house.gov.

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http://thomas.loc.gov/

http://harper.house.gov/news/2011/feb/idleg.html


http://www.house.gov/

http://www.house.gov/



http://thomas.loc.gov/



Customized Employment

According to DOL:

Customized employment means individualizing

the relationship between employees andemployers in ways that meet the needs of both.

It is based upon an individualized determination

of the strengths, needs and interests of the

person with a disability, and is also designed

to meet the specific needs of an employer.

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U.S. Department of Labor

Office of Disability Employment Policy

www.dol.gov/ odep /categories/workforce/

CustomizedEmployment /

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Customized Job Development

Job Seeker initiates

• Job seeker’s skills, tasks &

contributions are emphasized

• Employers are contacted

because their needs might

match what the job seeker

brings

• Job seeker or representative

presents a proposal

• A position is negotiated

Employer Reacts

• Considers proposal

• Reviews their unmet

needs or allows developer

to identify unmet needs

• If a match is identified, anew job description is

created

Marc Gold & Associates 12



Features of Customization

• One person one job

• All employers contacted and tasks offered

initiate with the person not the labor market

• Wages are minimum wage or above

• In the community alongside workers

without disabilities

• Contribution trumps competition

Marc Gold & Associates 13



Features of Customization

• Discover and describe instead of measure,

compare or evaluate

• Focus on discreet tasks instead job titles or

existing positions

• Identify unmet needs of specific employers

to match to skills and contributions of jobseekers

• A position is negotiated14



Two Distinct Approaches

Labor Market Job Development: Responding to the needs of employers withapplicants who are “qualified” to meet those

general needs.

Customized Job Development:

Discovering the “strengths, needs and interests”of applicants and proactively negotiating a jobdescription that meets both the applicant’s andemployer’s specific needs.

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Discovery allows us to determine who the applicant is,

their complexities as well as their potential

contributions to employers.

Discovery

Process

Responsibilities

Challenges

Transportation

Complexities

Hobbies

Skills

Interest Areas

Education

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When developing a job for Patrick the main factor was his

list of conditions to be successful. It included preparation,

environment, support on the job, and types of tasks.

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He works best with a variety of physical tasks

with concrete endings.

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What does this mean for youth or adults with

significant needs?

• We presume that everyone can work in their

community

• There are many ways to earn a living andcontribute;

• We can define “work” in many ways

• We look for strengths, support needs,interests, factors that motivate each person,

WHAT WORKS

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Recognize that some job seekers have

ongoing support needs

• That will need to be met in order for them to

work in the community;

• They can be met in various different ways:natural supports, paid supports,

accommodations or adaptations to the

workplace;• And they may be minimized by increasing

the quality of a job match.

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Developing a Plan for Discovery

• What is the intended outcome of

Discovery?

• Timeframe?

• Who?

• Where?

• What?

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What does this mean for youth or adults

with significant needs?

• Focus on skill building in school AND supporting

each person to make a contribution and maximize

their participation in all activities;

• Eliminate readiness and the need to compete;

• A vision of employment guides transition

activities.

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When work in the community is not the clear outcome for

transition, curricular content can get muddied.

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IDEA 2004

• Age Appropriate Transition Assessment

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Discovery Exercise

• Where are you most who you are?

• Where are you at your best?

• What helps you to be at your best?

• What is an activity that you spend time

doing more than once a week?

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Strategies for Facilitated Discovery

• Conversation

• Interview

• Time together

• Observation

• Participation with

the student in

activities both

familiar and novel

• Finally, review of records

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The “Who” of Discovery

• The person of concern

• Their family and loved

ones• Close and trusted

friends

• Neighbors with good

relationships

• Professionals who care• Counselors

• Teachers

• Case managers

• Service providers

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The “Where” of Discovery

• Home/Living Context:

Discovery starts where

relationships start – where we live

• Neighborhood

• Local Community

• Ethnic group/peer

group

• School• One-stop center

• Church

• Places where the person is “most who

they are”

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Gathering information from

someone’s home…

At home,

Carley

cooks mealsfor herself

and her

little sister,

whom shebabysits

when their

mom is at

work. 31



During Wroudy’s Discovery process hisfamily shared information about hisinterests and skills with kids.

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The “What” of Discovery

• Routines

• Relationships

• Responsibilities

• Challenges

• Associations

• Friendships

• Shops and

Services

• Tasks

• Solutions• Connections

• Education

• Location• Life performance

• Community inventory

The relevant aspects of the person

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Observe & describe how people get tasks done…

Carley dials frequently calledphone numbers from memoryor references a list of phone

numbers posted near herphone. She uses her deltatalker and the speaker phone tochat with friends, arrangetransportation, or contact hersupport staff when needing

assistance at home.

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Look for support or teaching strategies that work for the

person. Look for interests, contributions and skills.

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Rule of Thumb for Asking

It’s more important to look at what people do

than it is to simply follow what they say.

Of course, we always listen, but it’s necessary

to get well beyond listening to verbal

answers, into people’s lives.

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Interview Questions

• Routine

• Responsibilities

• Informal tasks performed at home

• Tell me what that looks like?

• Describe that so I can visualize it.

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Anders rides his bike around the

neighborhood looking for people to help.

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Ideal Characteristics

• Ideal conditions for success in employment

• Student’s contributions

• Tasks the student can perform now or with

training

• Interest areas

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Are we using work experiences as an opportunity for

Discovery and training in independence?

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Performance changes in well-

matched positions.

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Setting youth up for success

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Th d l f k i i



The end goal of work experience is a

well-matched, paid job

• Pays the property

management bills online,

• Uses QuickBooks toaccount for the bills paid,

• Sorts mail for staff,

• Collates disclosure

paperwork for new clients.

Mathalia works for Prudential Missoula

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Questions?

Documents

Preparing Youth Part 1