By Rebecca Kasey, CQL Director of Personal Outcome Measures®
As National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) comes to a close this October, we’re devoting this month’s Capstone to improving employment-related supports. It’s an especially important topic, considering that people with disabilities have been underemployed and unemployed at higher rates than that of the general population (ODEP, 2023).
This is also reflected through CQL’s Personal Outcome Measures® (POM) data from 2016-2023 which reveals that:
- 40.6% of organizations provided people with access to varied job experiences and options
- 35% of people choose where to work
- The odds of people working in competitive employment increases by 497% if they get to decide where to work
- 44.9% of organizations responded to people’s desires for pursuing specific work or career options with supports
- When organizational supports are in place, people are 43.7 times more likely to choose where to work.
For this edition of Capstone, I asked some of our CQL staff to share their perspectives on employment. They detail common employment-related barriers and solutions, innovative supports that they have observed during their CQL work, new trends in employment services, and additional tips and resources that may help strengthen your supports.
Thank you to the following CQL staff for contributing to this edition:
- Anne Buechner, CQL Quality Enhancement Specialist
- Jacqueline Cooper, CQL Quality Enhancement Specialist
- Laura Fleming, CQL Quality Enhancement Specialist
- Libby Israel, CQL Quality Enhancement Specialist
- Kendra Julius, CQL Quality Enhancement Specialist
- Amy Price, CQL Quality Enhancement Specialist
Employment Barriers & Solutions
Here are just a few barriers that members of our team flagged when it comes to employment. Along with highlighting the barriers, staff describe associated solutions to confront those challenges. While this is not an exhaustive list of the challenges, they can help spark ideas for changes you can make at your organization and in your daily supports and services.
Confront Attitudinal Barriers
A number of CQL staff highlighted attitudinal barriers as being a hinderance to people achieving their employment-related outcomes. Various stakeholders, including provider organizations, families, guardians, the broader community, etc., may not think someone with a disability is capable of attaining competitive, integrated employment. Along with that, people receiving services may have been conditioned to believe that someone with a disability “can’t work.”
To confront attitudinal barriers, Amy Price shares that, “I believe the most important thing is to have employment services and staff that truly believe that everyone can work even if they have high support needs or barriers to employment. I believe every agency that supports people to find jobs should go through the Association of Community Rehabilitation Educators (ACRE) or some other customized employment training. I believe that this would build skills to support people to find jobs. It was a life and career-changing experience for me.”
Anne Buechner also pointed out that there can be a “higher standard” that is disproportionately applied to people with disabilities, involving “people having to demonstrate that they are ‘ready’ for work – having to pass some sort of pre-work requirement imposed by the system.” Anne suggests that support providers should “eliminate those pre-work skills requirements.”
Promote The Three E’s: Education, Experience, and Exposure
One of the most common challenges flagged was a lack of the Three E’s: Education, Experience, and Exposure.
When it comes to education, staff members mentioned that people receiving services aren’t always aware of diverse employment opportunities that exist. Or if they’re already employed, they’re not provided enough education through preparation, job coaching, etc. Jacqueline Cooper recommends that support providers offer “more education about all the ways that employment can enrich people’s lives.”
People’s awareness of various options may also be limited due to a lack of experience and exposure involving different jobs and/or career paths. To promote experience and exposure, Jacqueline also suggests that organizations provide “more discussion around full-time employment and micro-enterprising, and more meaningful job discovery and exploration.”
Laura Fleming recommends to “educate people on job possibilities, visit various places where people may want to work, talk to other people about their experiences,” adding that you can also “support people to make their own choices about work through exposure to options, so they can learn about the experience needed for possible jobs.”
Addressing Transportation Issues
Transportation was also highlighted by different CQL staff members as being an obstacle when it comes to employment. Libby Israel flagged a few different factors such as “metro mobility/transit is unreliable and can often give people a 2-hour window of arrival and pick-up. Staff often cannot drive individuals to work due to staffing ratios and not many areas have Lyft/Uber as a waiver transportation option.”
As far as solutions, Libby went on to share that “some areas I work with have piloted Lyft/Uber using waiver funds which has been amazing! People have so much more access and can get to work on their own. Plus, they can go other places … hello community participation!”
Kendra Julius built upon these solutions, suggesting that “if a person has a desire to work and the biggest hurdle has been a lack of transportation, can you determine what would need to change for the person to work? Do staffing schedules need to change? Does the person need to learn how to utilize ride shares, the bus, or train to get home after a late shift? Does the person have any natural supports that would be willing to help them out?”
Negative Impact On Benefits
A few staff pointed out barriers involving the effect of employment on people’s benefits. Jacqueline summarized this by stating “people are worried about losing their benefits and are prevented from full-time work because of benefit thresholds.”
She suggests to provide “more education around how people can work and still keep benefits.” This could include exploring resources like the article ‘Continuing Disability Benefits While Working’ from usa.gov.
Additional Employment Ideas And Supports
Here are a handful of ‘quick tips’ and other approaches you may want to explore when supporting people to achieve and maintain their employment-related outcomes.
Micro-Enterprises
Anne Buechner highlights the role of micro-enterprises and how organizations can “support developing companies where a niche is needed in their communities (coffee shops, car detailing, small art gallery, thrift stores, etc.) and then help people learn how to operate and administer the company.”
Amy Price is an advocate for this approach, stating that “there are many options for people to have jobs these days. People can work in a variety of different ways, such as people creating micro-businesses. Entrepreneurship have so much potential!”
Transforming Day Programs
Day programs/services can evolve from segregated settings to those that are community-based. Libby Israel has experienced this first-hand, sharing that “I have also seen a day program where they never come to a building. Part of the service is training people to use transportation options to get to the activity to start their day. This way people learn the skills needed to go out on their own.”
Virtual Job Opportunities
Laura Fleming encourages organizations to look into career/job options beyond traditional in-person environments. She highlights the value of “virtual job opportunities, starting your own virtual businesses, and sharing your virtual business with another person. Explore people’s hobbies and discover opportunities for jobs in those areas.”
Learning From Other Organizations
There are a lot of human services organizations that are prioritizing employment supports. Amy Price gave a shout-out to PACTT Learning Center, describing “PACTT Learning Center in Chicago is an incredible organization. They support people with high support needs. They truly have a mentality that everyone can work.”
Ongoing Employment Discovery
A person’s preferences involving employment can change over time. Jacqueline Cooper makes this point by stating “I talk to many people who have been at the same job for many years. Their interests have changed but no one has approached them about their change in preferences. Job discovery is not a one-and-done process!”
Along with changing preferences, Kendra Julius adds that “often we hear that people had a job once, but it didn’t work out for whatever reason so it’s not being pursued right now, regardless of the person’s desire for work.”
Final Thoughts On Employment
CQL staff have provided solutions, innovative ideas, and resources surrounding employment supports. As employment rates continue to improve for people with disabilities, providers and human services organizations have a great responsibility to continue innovating and finding meaningful employment for people.
Additional Employment Resources
- Provider Tips to Build Successful Employment Services (CQL)
- Innovative Employment Services Strategies (CQL)
- Overcoming Communication Barriers In The Workplace (Wise)
- Unconscious Bias In The Workplace (Wise)
- Advancing Competitive Integrated Employment for People With Disabilities (CQL)
- A Comprehensive Model of Employment Support (ThinkWork!)
- From Sub-Minimum Wage to Supported Employment (CQL)
- Disability Employment Statistics (ODEP)
Featured Capstone Article
Advancing Competitive Integrated Employment for People With Disabilities
In this Capstone, we look at the challenges facing employment professionals, barriers to improving employment outcomes, and specific strategies for successfully supporting people in supported, customized, and competitive employment.
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Solutions, Tips, And Resources To Improve Employment Outcomes