Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation

In response to continuing disparity in the employment outcomes of young adults, the Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities established an initiative to support state consortia to implement systems change with an explicit focus on policies, infrastructure, and collaboration across state agencies and other stakeholders. Eight states received 5 year grants under the Partnerships in Employment project.

This manuscript provides an overview of the initiative, and key lessons learned including the importance of a backbone organization, the need for a long term approach to change and capacity building, the role of data as a communication mechanism, integration across initiatives, linking local implementation and state policy, and intentional investment in communication.

A holistic model for addressing systems change is offered that reflects the importance of intentional investment in relationships and connecting activities that link stakeholders across state governmental systems change, local implementation, and advocacy.

The eight Partnerships in Employment states each formed a consortium of stakeholders to advance systems change to improve competitive integrated employment outcomes for youth and young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The eight states include Alaska, California, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, Tennessee, and Wisconsin.

As the national evaluator, The Lewin Group evaluates the states’ progress in achieving their goals. These include enhancing collaborations, developing or changing policies, removing systemic barriers, and implementing strategies and promising practices to support competitive integrated employment.

This article provides findings from the evaluation related to the Build Initiative framework’s five focus areas of systems change—Context, Components, Connections, Infrastructure, and Scale or Sustainability.

During the five-year grant, each consortium pursued innovative strategies at the state, community, and individual level. These efforts aimed to create better connections, change policies, establish effective programs, create supports, and produce broad impacts to advance systems change supporting youth with disabilities beyond the grant.

Despite variations in existing state policies and infrastructure, available resources, and agency priorities, promising practices emerged across and within the eight state consortia to improve competitive integrated employment outcomes for youth and young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Alaska has been no stranger to initiatives targeting enhancement of employment services for people with disabilities. However, the infusion of Partnerships in Employment funding into Alaska enhanced interagency collaboration and supported a high level of system change dialogue. From self-sustaining employer engagement and interagency collaboration work, to the development of a common definition and sequence of employment services across the system, the Alaska Integrated Employment Initiative (AIEI) has been a vehicle for cross systems dialogue and propelled policy change and legislative change.

This article discusses the Alaska Integrated Employment Initiative (AIEI) and its impact in Alaska.

During the project, Alaska became an Employment First State, repealed the high school graduation-qualifying exam, and passed the Alaska Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act. AIEI specifically sought to find innovations for enhancing transition in its rural and remote regions, including the development of distance delivered trainings for providers and teachers. The Alaska economy changed drastically during the life of this grant, from oil prosperity that allowed for a robust service system, to a present state government in a fiscal crisis due to the extreme drop in oil prices. However, AIEI has successfully shown the relevance of continuing to focus on employment services and its potential to not only enrich the lives of Alaskans with disabilities, but also provide the state with a long-term cost savings strategy.

Collaboratives have been shown to be effective at addressing complex problems and powerful drivers of systems change (Chrislip, 2002). The intractable problem of low employment for youth and young adults (YYA) with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) cannot be solved by one agency alone.

This article describes the California Employment Consortium for Youth with IDD (“CECY”) and its impact in California.

The California Employment Consortium for Youth with IDD was an alliance of 45 representatives from 25 local and state agencies, associations, organizations, families, and self-advocates committed to building capacity and partnerships among state and local agencies and stakeholders to foster meaningful, sustainable changes in the systems that support YYA with IDD to achieve employment. Guiding this work were two models for change, the High Performing States Framework, that identifies effective elements for employment systems change; and Collaborative Leadership, a process to constructively engage diverse stakeholders in dialogue, mutual learning, shared responsibility, and action. This article describes the organization, administration, strategic actions, outcomes, and lessons learned from implementing a state level systems change project.

The Iowa Coalition for Integrated Employment (ICIE) is a large, cross discipline stakeholder group committed to expanding preparation, community placement and ongoing supports so that individuals with Intellectual and other Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) can realize personal community integrated employment outcomes. The ICIE led systems change efforts that involved collaborative activities such as, 1) pilot projects with provider sites to test the effectiveness of and the resource needed for implementation of customized employment, 2) pilot projects with school districts to incorporate four essential elements into their employment preparation of students with IEPs, 3) soliciting input to develop recommendations for changes in service definitions and reimbursement/funding for those services, 4) providing information, training, and engagement opportunities for families, 5) piloting outcomes data collection, and 6) offering capacity building opportunities for service provider and education staff.

This article includes some of the background information that enhanced Iowa’s readiness for Partnerships in Employment, the role of the ICIE in leadership and collaborative strategies that led to policy changes, increased provider engagement and employment outcomes for individuals with IDD.

Next steps are discussed.

Employment outcomes in Mississippi for people with disabilities vary widely. In 2011, the Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities announced the availability of a grant to expand community employment in integrated settings for youth and young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the development, implementation, and outcomes of the Mississippi Partnerships for Employment for Youth and Young Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (MSPE) grant, a Project of National Significance funded by the Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities from October 2011 to September 2016. The goal of the project was to build capacity and create sustainable systems change that improves employment outcomes for youth and young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the state.

MSPE established a Consortium of self-advocates and state system representatives to focus on real changes within and among agencies to increase competitive employment outcomes. In addition, two work groups were developed: one for identifying barriers and determining how to improve access to employment for the target group, and one to focus on training needs and best practices. Additionally, through pilot projects, two school districts demonstrated improved transition services outcomes and employment experiences, and one disability organization sought to increase reimbursements for customized employment for service providers. Other key activities, outcomes, and sustainability efforts will also be examined.

The Show-Me-Careers initiative focused on scaling-up and sustaining evidence-based practices that support seamless transitions to integrated employment for youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). A Leadership Consortium of systems partners and stakeholders developed six Guiding Principles grounded in current research and best practices regarding transition to integrated employment which provided a framework to identify, expand, and share effective school to work practices.

This article discusses the characteristics and impact of the Show-Me-Careers initiative in Missouri.

The principles also allowed the Consortium to review and identify policy, practice, and other changes that were necessary to support the expansion of these practices statewide. The project sought to improve cross-systems strategies to transition within local communities which could be replicated throughout Missouri. In support of this, the Consortium selected eight communities who received funding, technical assistance, and mentoring to scale-up practices related to the Guiding Principles in their communities. The overall approach of the project to address both state and community level systems change was informed by a “Practice Informing Policy-Policy Enabling Practice” framework. The policies and strategies related to the Guiding Principles, implemented by the communities, informed and supported state level change related to transition. Likewise, state level policies and strategies related to the Guiding Principles enabled the implementation of effective community level practice.

The New York State Partnerships in Employment Systems Change project (NYS PIE) was a statewide initiative aimed at developing and sustaining systemic activities and policies that improve opportunities for competitive, integrated employment for transition-aged youth and young adults with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDD). Specifically, the goal of NYS PIE was to promote an Employment First platform in NYS making competitive, integrated employment the first choice in coordinating service delivery for young people with IDD.

This articles describes the characteristics and impact of NYS PIE on the state of New York.

The NYS PIE project utilized a cross-systems approach, grounded in the principles of the Collective Impact model, to bring together systems that have not traditionally, nor consistently, collaborated or communicated with one another. Focusing on the shared goals of improving quality of life and independence of New Yorkers with disabilities, the project aimed to increase the level of communication and collaboration between education, vocational rehabilitation and the state DD agency at state, regional and local levels. Project activities focused on building capacity around sustainable models that ensure employment preparation begins early in a student’s high school career, that students have opportunities to work in the community prior to graduation, and that young adults in segregated work environments are encouraged and supported to transition to work and careers in the community.

The TennesseeWorks Partnership is an innovative and coordinated effort to ensure youth and young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) across the state have the aspirations, preparation, opportunities, and supports to access competitive and integrated work that contributes to their flourishing. Launched in 2012, our systems change project has made a deep and sustained investment in equipping: (a) young people with IDD to aspire toward competitive work from an early age; (b) families to pursue competitive work for their members with disabilities; (c) educators to prepare students for competitive work throughout their schooling; (d) service systems to support competitive work in every corner of the state; and (e) communities to receive the gifts and contributions of people with disabilities.

In this article, we describe the origins and organization of our collaborative, present central components of our approach to systems change, highlight progress and outcomes in each area, and share our investment in sustainability.

We offer reflections on the complexities of spurring statewide change and recommendations for other research and practice in this area.

Beginning in spring 2012, Wisconsin’s Let’s Get to Work (LGTW) project spent four years working with pilot school sites and state agency personnel to implement practice and policy changes designed to elevate expectations along with employment outcomes for youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). This need was underscored by data demonstrating inconsistent transition practices across the state in conjunction with policy obstacles hindering employment for individuals with I/DD. Analysis of Wisconsin’s 2010 post-school outcomes survey of high school students who exited in the 2008-09 school year indicated that only 14% with I/DD were employed at integrated competitive jobs. Similarly, individuals with I/DD enrolled in the adult long-term care system achieved community-based employment rates of less than 15%. To foster improved employment outcomes, LGTW employed a multi-level approach including: 1) direct work with high school pilot sites to increase utilization of evidence-based transition practices and identify policy needs; 2) coaching for school staff to implement effective transition strategies, develop resources, and generate policy ideas; 3) quarterly consortium meetings comprised of key state-level stakeholders; and, 4) policy work to formalize and take action on school and consortium recommendations.

This article discusses the characteristics and impact of Wisconsin’s Let’s Get to Work (LGTW) project.

Over the course of the project, 73% of students who received interventions through school coaching had one or more paid work experience, a strong predictor of employment in adulthood. Numerous local and statewide policy changes were made, including expanded application of project strategies and resources. Analysis of the 2016 post-school outcomes survey data placed the rate of competitive integrated employment for 2014-15 high school exiters with I/DD at 24% in Wisconsin, up 10 percentage points statewide over the six-year period between 2010 and 2016.