The agency’s principal goal for its Supported Employment (SE) program is to improve employment outcomes by enhancing the quality of services to individuals with the most severe disabilities who require supported employment services to enter or retain competitive employment in an integrated work setting. These services are funded through a combination of Title I and Title VI, Part C funds. Title VI-C funds are used solely for fee-for-service purchase agreements, which provide direct supported employment, services to eligible consumers.

We continue to make strides toward assuring the quality and quantity of SE services through a variety of initiatives, including conducting ongoing site reviews of ESOs to ensure that they are in compliance with appropriate standards, providing technical assistance to expanding services within ESOs, and providing Economic Development Grant funding to financially support and encourage ESOs to expand services and think creatively in providing services where gaps exist.

An agency vision of customer-focused service guides supported employment activities. SE staff and providers emphasize the promotion and recognition of customer participation, individual responsibility of both staff and customers, and customer-focused delivery of quality services. Strategies that have been used to date and that will continue through the next stages of the State Plan for Fiscal Years 1999-2000 include the following:

Thus far in State Fiscal Year 1998, the SE Program has served 2,451 individuals in a variety of SE service areas. This is a 20% increase from those served in the same time period in 1997. Of this number, 571 were new cases. It is our intention to continue serving individuals during FY 1999 at a comparable rate, while maintaining the high level of quality and increasing the number of customers who are successfully employed.

The four regional resource teams continue to play a key role in the agency’s efforts to deliver quality supported employment services to individuals with the most severe disabilities. Each team is composed of a State SE Coordinator, DRS Employment Specialists (job coaches), and community resource specialists. The teams provide technical assistance and training to SE professionals throughout the Commonwealth in order to improve the quality and consistency of supported employment services. The regional resource teams have accomplished several projects within the last year consistent with the State Plan’s objectives, including:

1. Conducting SE Quality Case Review Feedback Sessions to DRS staff, managers, and Regional Directors in all DRS offices (follow-up to in-depth case review completed in 1996-97).

2. Continued involvement in Regional SE Forums on quality case service provision, best practices, insuring customer choice and involvement in service delivery and planning, development of long-term and natural supports in SE job placement, and other SE topics.

3. Involvement in recent revisions to the Guide to Supported Employment and Job Coach Training Services manual and planning for dissemination of the Guide.

4. Planning for Job Coach Training Services Case Review to gather information on usage, insuring that customer base is appropriately those with more severe disabilities, and quality indicators.

5. Planning for Feedback Sessions to ESOs to provide information pertaining to the SE Quality Case Review to aid in consistency and sharing of ideas for best practices.

6. Planning for Long Term Employment Support Services (LTESS) refresher training to be provided to ESOs and DRS Counselors to promote collaboration and consistency.

The resource teams will continue to meet regularly throughout 1999-2000 to maintain efforts to share information, promote quality services to customers, insure customer involvement in planning for service provision, and improve consistency across vendors. The efforts to promote a common understanding of Supported Employment philosophy and practice, collaboration among SE professionals and expansion of resources will also continue.

In addition to using the regional resource teams to enhance quality services, DRS will continue to strengthen the skills of SE professionals through regional training conducted by state and national employment specialists. Training curricula are based on stakeholder feedback, program evaluations, and needs assessment results. To date, trainings have included, but are not limited to, Essential Employment Specialist Skills training, Advanced Employment Specialist skills training, Natural Supports, and Diversity and Disability in the Workplace. DRS has collaborated with the Virginia chapter of the Association for Persons in Supported Employment, Virginia Commonwealth University’s Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (VCU-RRTC), Matrix Research Institute, George Washington University, and the University of Maryland to provide these SE training programs. Future trainings will continue to focus on (1) increasing supported employment options and customer choice for meeting physical, behavioral, medical and overall rehabilitation needs; and (2) addressing case management, placement and support issues. We also will be exploring mediation and/or conflict resolution training to assist ESOs in their customer relationships.

SE serves people with the most severe disabilities, defined as people (1) who have a physical or mental impairment that seriously limits three or more functional capacities (including, but not limited to mobility, communication, self-care, self-direction, interpersonal skills, work skills, or work tolerance) in terms of an employment outcome; and (2) whose vocational rehabilitation can be expected to require multiple core vocational services over an extended period of time (six months or more).

DRS recognizes the importance of offering SE services statewide and therefore uses state economic development funds as well as new establishment grant funds to establish and expand SE programs in existing ESOs that are eligible for these funds (i.e. are approved DRS vendors and maintain a DOL certificate). In the current grant year, two ESOs were approved for grants to aid in expanding services or adding new SE service options to serve an unmet need.

DRS is exploring accreditation for ESOs to insure quality in service provision. Staff has sought input from the State Rehabilitation Advisory Committee and the ESO Advisory Committee on this issue and the issue was included as a topic for this year's State Plan public hearings. In addition, a Performance-Based system of funding for Supported Employment services is also being explored as an alternative to the hourly fee-for-service in order to promote more efficient and effective customer service. The emphasis is on providing services to more individuals in need of supported employment, while maintaining quality services.

Efforts continue in assisting with coordinating Personal Assistance Services and Rehabilitation Assistive Technology for individuals with severe disabilities. Technical assistance is provided on an ongoing basis to ESOs and to DRS staff, with emphasis on placement and support issues.

Increasing the availability of extended service funding for SE customers is an agency priority. Federal regulations and Rehabilitation Act Amendments permit initiation of SE services if there is a reasonable basis for expecting that extended service funds will be available. However, DRS believes that to appropriately serve individuals in SE, we must work with entities to ensure there is adequate extended funding. Virginia has been successful in securing state funding for the biennium for the long-term component of extended services. These LTESS funds have had a major impact on the availability of services to SE customers, and continue to make the difference in many cases. In response to agency requests, a refresher course on the allocation process and the history and practical usage of LTESS has been organized and is being conducted regionally across the state over the next several months.

Virginia uses all SE models, including the individual placement model, the enclave model, the entrepreneurial model, and mobile work crews. Individual placement is the most widely used, and generally offers higher wage rates, better benefits, and more flexibility in meeting the needs of customers and employers in an integrated work setting. The group model is another important option that provides for the constant presence of the employment specialist at the job site to support customers who need intensive supervision in order to maintain employment. During the current fiscal year, at least eight ESO vendors made changes to their Purchase of Service Agreements to either expand their services to include a group model option, expand to other regions of the state or initiate completely new vendor arrangements with the agency. DRS will continue to encourage vendors to better meet customer needs by providing more supported employment options through the annual request for proposal.