Implementation of Customized Employment Provisions of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Within Vocational Rehabilitation Systems

Discovery

The emphasis on serving individuals with more significant disabilities has placed new demands on consumer assessment (Hagner, 2010). According to Hagner (2010), “Naturalistic assessments add an important dimension to the assessment toolkit available to rehabilitation counselors and vocational evaluators” (p. 33). He defines naturalistic assessment as “the assessment of performance on real-world tasks and observation of responses in natural contexts” (Hagner, 2010, p. 28). Hagner suggests that naturalistic assessments provide vocationally meaningful information about consumers with the most significant disabilities, including those who are unable to participate in traditional testing. A combination of naturalistic and traditional assessment approaches can complement each other and reveal a more complete picture of the individual than either approach used alone.

Discovery is a type of naturalistic assessment that uses qualitative methods to gather information useful in building a narrative snapshot of a job seeker to facilitate the identification of ideal working conditions (Callahan & Condon, 2007). Discovery is a vital part of the CE process because it promotes improved employment matching. The Discovery process takes place in natural environments such as the home, neighborhood, and community. It includes interviews, conversations, observations, and records reviews to get to know the job seeker and his or her interests, talents, and conditions for employment (e.g., environmental tolerances, social interaction skills, etc.).

Vocational Profile

The Discovery process culminates in the development of a vocational profile that provides a descriptive picture of the job seeker. It is a robust, narrative report that provides a foundation for effectively negotiating personalized potential job opportunities with employers (Condon & Callahan, 2008). The profile is a living document that can be amended as new information is uncovered, making it a particularly useful tool for students transitioning from school to the community and workforce. Profiles provide “an alternative format to traditional evaluation reports that test and compare persons with complexities to general standards and others” (Callahan, Shumpert, & Condon, 2011, p. 5).

CE Planning

The customized planning meeting includes the job seeker, family, friends, advocates, service providers, VR counselors (VRCs), and other stakeholders chosen by the job seeker. Ideally, it occurs within 2 weeks of the completion of the Vocational Profile. The purpose of the meeting is to develop a CE blueprint that bridges the gap between Discovery and job placement. The information contained in the Vocational Profile is utilized to develop a specific plan of action for achieving a competitive, integrated employment outcome in a job that matches the individual’s interests, talents, and conditions for employment.

Visual Resume

The visual resume is a sales tool to introduce the job seeker to potential employers. It is different from a typical resume in that it utilizes photos or video clips to demonstrate the job seeker completing tasks/skills essential to the position. This tool is very useful for individuals who may not be able to express their talents and abilities in verbal format as is traditionally done through the interviewing process. The visual resume may also be utilized to explain the concept of CE to an employer.

Customized Job Development and Negotiation

CE includes negotiating employment opportunities with employers through the identification of unmet business needs that may be fulfilled by the talents of a job seeker. Typically, this process does not begin with a response to an advertisement for employees, but rather through meeting with employers and touring businesses to identify mutually beneficial matches. Customized job development strategies include (a) job carving—the process of breaking jobs down into their key components and reassigning those pieces in more efficient or understandable way; (b) job sharing, where two or more people share a position based on the strengths of each; and/or (c) job creation, where a new job description is developed based on unmet needs of the employer (USDOL, 2014a).

Example: Allen has autism with limited speech. Through the Discovery process, Allen is identified as having an interest in video games and a talent for organization and data entry. A local video store that sells new and used games has multiple employees who, when interviewed, state that they all prefer answering questions and selling games to stocking and organizing. While they are helping customers, games that have been ordered or bought for resale are typically set aside until there is time to enter the inventory into the computer and put it on the shelves. The sales floor quickly becomes disorganized due to movement of product by browsers. When a customer requests a particular game, the system does not show that it is in stock because it has not yet been entered into the computer or, the system does show it is in stock, but the game cannot be located on the shelf because it is out of place. The employer indicates that, typically, employees are hired to perform all aspects of the job (selling, stocking, etc.). A customized approach allows the individual with autism to be hired to enter games into the computer, stock, and organize product. This leaves more time for other employees to sell and makes it much easier to access games that are in stock. In addition to an increase in sales, morale is increased because employees spend more time doing work that they enjoy. A win-win!

Accommodation and Post-Employment Support

Post-employment supports have been proven to be beneficial for people with disabilities who may encounter issues that they are not prepared to handle without assistance (Targett, Wehman, McKinley, & Young, 2004). Prior to VR case closure, assistance should be provided in the development of natural supports and resources for targeting solutions to challenges prior to the loss of employment. In addition, employees and employers should be aware of the services available through the Job Accommodation Network (http://askjan.org) to aid in the identification and implementation of accommodations as required by the Americans With Disabilities Act.

Feasibility

Integration strategies are being presented in two formats: ideal and pragmatic. The rationale for this approach is, simply put, because public VR systems typically do not have the capacity to serve every person who has a disability that affects the ability to work. Several factors influence the feasibility of successful integration of CE strategies into public VR systems. These include (a) underfunding, (b) turnover, (c) large caseloads, and (d) counselor burnout.

A major issue that affects the feasibility of timely integration of CE strategies into public VR systems is that the programs are underfunded. Continuing budget cuts limit the funding available to serve people with disabilities who wish to return to work. Many states have resorted to an Order of Selection that classifies eligible VR customers by severity of disability. People with the most complex disabilities are served first and the funding trickles down until it is exhausted—often prior to serving all individuals who are eligible for services.

VR systems commonly experience high turnover, which results in understaffing. From 2013 to 2014, Florida VR’s counselor turnover rate was 24.8% for reasons including termination, promotion, lateral position transfers, or retirement. This exceeds the national average turnover rate of 16% as reported by Chan and Ruedel (2005) in a national Rehabilitation Services Administration report. High turnover creates expense for recruiting, hiring, and training; less experienced counselors; heavy caseload burden; and counselor burnout.

Most VRCs have very large caseloads. Hayward and Schmidt-Davis (2005) conducted a longitudinal survey of the public VR system and found that “97 percent of local VR offices had counselors who managed general caseloads” (p. 42). The average size of general caseloads was 112 (median 109) per counselor, with the size of caseloads ranging from 54 to 244 consumers. Nearly four fifths (79%) of counselors reported that the size of their caseload prevented them from spending sufficient time with individual consumers throughout their VR services. With heavy workloads, VRCs and staff do not always welcome the introduction of new requirements and process. Now that WIOA is requiring the inclusion of customized practices for customers, VR systems must adapt their policies and process, train staff, identify additional resources, and moderate resistance that may add to the issues of turnover and burnout.

Ideal Versus Pragmatic Approaches

As illustrated in Figure 2, the ideal implementation of CE practices within the VR process would replace traditional vocational evaluation with Discovery for persons with complex disabilities who may not perform well in prescribed settings in which they are required to answer questions, complete assessments, and perform tasks that result in a scoring system that compares individuals with a normative sample. Many vocational evaluation reports describe activities that the person cannot do (i.e., cannot stand for more than 15 min) rather than focusing on the strengths and talents of the individual. Vocational evaluations of individuals with complex disabilities will often indicate that the person is “too significantly disabled to achieve an employment outcome.” Discovery, on the contrary, will always identify interests, skills, and abilities of the person that translate to employment options. The very nature of the Discovery process creates an influx of eligible candidates for VR services.

OPEN IN VIEWER

Figure 2.

Customized employment integration process.

To allow for the integration of Discovery, as a best practice, Florida VR developed a more pragmatic approach to provide the customized service for those customers who need it without increasing the already large caseload sizes of VRCs. To accomplish this, the Discovery process is added to the Individualized Plan for Employment (IPE) as an amendment when traditional strategies have not resulted in a competitive, integrated employment outcome. The reason this compromise is not ideal is twofold. First, many applicants will have been determined ineligible for VR services based on the traditional vocational evaluation. These individuals will not have the opportunity to benefit from Discovery as an alternative strategy to identify their strengths and employment options. Second, for those individuals who are determined eligible, the time frame from employment planning to an employment outcome may be significantly delayed as CE strategies are only employed after traditional strategies have failed. Ultimately, this approach has the potential to be much costlier as customized approaches are utilized as an alternate option rather than as the first option for service provision.

Stakeholder Training

To effectively implement CE strategies, all stakeholders need to be trained on both the CE process and the philosophy behind it. Without embracing the philosophy that everyone has talent that can be channeled into employment opportunities, stakeholders may lack the buy-in needed for successful implementation. It is also important to tailor information and training to the specific audience based on their role in the process.

Fidelity and Other Quality Assurance Measures

Florida enlisted the assistance of national experts and the developers of the Discovery process, Marc Gold & Associates (MGA), in the planning and implementation of integrating CE processes into the Florida VR system. MGA has developed training manuals, a fidelity checklist, and other tools that provide a foundation for training and quality assurance. Also, MGA has trained Discovery Stewards to provide technical assistance to states when incorporating CE strategies. In addition to these tools and technical assistance, states should include recertification and continuing education in their planning efforts to ensure ongoing quality in the provision of CE services. At a minimum, Vocational Profiles should be reviewed for quality assurance periodically to ensure that they continue to meet quality standards. Booster training should also be offered to both providers and VRCs to reinforce learning and promote fidelity.