Customized Employment: Strategies and Possibilities Richard Luecking , Ed.D . U.S. Department of Labor, ODEP & Tr

1. Customized Employment:Strategies and Possibilities Richard Luecking, Ed.D. U.S. Department of Labor, ODEP & TransCen, Inc.

2. JAN’s Experiences • JAN’s experiences regarding calls about customized employment: • Any disability • Any job • Heavy emphasis on accommodations • Job restructuring • Obtaining services such as job coaching • Acquiring or modifying equipment

3. Situation and Solution #1 • Disability: Stroke • Position: Social Worker • Limitations: Memory deficits • Job Difficulty: Unable to remember sequence of job tasks • Accommodation: Use a job coach • Effectiveness: Employee re-learns job tasks through one-on-one instruction

4. Situation and Solution #2 • Disability: Seizure Disorder • Position: set designer at a University • Limitations: disorientation during/after a seizure • Job Difficulty: can’t recall task or identify surroundings • Accommodation: Install video intercom system • Effectiveness: Employer can identify where the employee is located by seeing the surroundings, then offer assistance

5. Topics Covered • What is customized employment? • What employers say about hiring individuals with significant disabilities in to jobs that are “customized?” • A partnership framework suggested by these perspectives?

6. Presumption of Employability • There’s a job for everyone who wants one, regardless of disability label, need for support, or economic vitality of the community.

7. David • Work Experience • 15 years in a sheltered workshop • Interested in video and media • Enjoys a variety of concrete tasks and social contact

8. Negotiating for mutual benefit Company’s operational concerns: • Rapidly expanding business – hard to keep up with orders • Technical staff performing administrative duties • Diverted and delayed workflow across production and shipping departments David’s duties: • Duplicating DVDs & CDs • Packing CDs • Transferring videocassettes to DVDs • Timing and checking tapes

9. Mutual Benefits • Results for the company • Tech staff more focused on development tasks • Business orders filled more rapidly • Increased sales Results for David • Work in environment that welcomes his contribution • Tasks and working conditions matched to skills and preferences • First job in integrated workplace

10. Implications • Service oriented consultation can create demand for job seekers with disabilities; • Identifying ways to add value to employers’ operations can create hidden, customized job opportunities for individuals not able to easily apply for “off the shelf” jobs.

11. What is Customized Employment? • Employment where job tasks are reassigned from an existing job, restructured from one or more existing jobs, or created to match the skills and accommodation needs of the job seeker AND…

12. What is Customized Employment? • … help the employer’s operation in specific ways. Thus, the individual has a “customized” job description.

13. Typical sequence of customized employment • Person-centered exploration or “discovery” of individual skills, interests and support needs + list of potential tasks to feature in job search • 2. Individualized job search plan

14. Typical sequence of customized employment • 3. Negotiation with prospective employers for task assignment and working conditions • 4. Individualized post-placement support

15. Can we create employer demand for workers with disabilities?

16. What about those individuals who require extensive support/ accommodation?

17. How do we know what employers think about this? When in doubt, Ask Them!

18. What we asked employers about CE… • When first approached, what was your reaction? • What convinced you to work with the project? • What was the primary reason for hiring the job seeker? • How has the project helped meet a company need?

19. What they said… • Customization met a specific need: • Helped meet production goals or backlogged work • Helped meet sales goals or improved aspect of operation • Freed other employees to take care of other tasks • Competence and attentive service a big plus

20. The success of linking job seekers with work is as much about meeting employers’ needs as it is about serving job seekers.

21. Common Current Appeals to Employers • “Selling” disability or disability category. • Vague mutual benefit. • Variations on the theme of recruiting from an “untapped resource.”

22. Marketing • “It is better to find out what your customers need and want and then match it to what you have, than it is to get them to buy what you are selling.”

23. What Employers Want • Partners who help address a particular workforce need of the company • Partners who help address an industry wide workforce need

24. What Employers Often Get • Programs defined by category of disability • Programs defined by type of service • Programs of varying quality • Confused and frustrated!

25. What would help? • Improved focus on employer-focused, demand-side approaches • Partnerships that result in distinct benefits to all parties

26. What to Look for • Can work be re-organized to flow better? • Are some employees overburdened by certain tasks? • Are there operational “bottlenecks”?

27. Job Development Partnerships • Long-Term Process, not a One-Time Event • Based on Relationship Building • Built on a foundation of mutual benefit

31. Employer partnerships = jobs • Identifying ways to add value to employers’ operations will often create hidden, customized job opportunities • It is these kinds of jobs that are always available, regardless of the economy.

32. Bottom Line • The presence of a disability should neither deter or promote employer hiring decisions.

33. Bottom Line The jobs are there. We often have to work together to find them.

34. Resources • www.dol.gov/odep/ • www.marylandcep.org

35. Resources • Working Relationships: Creating employment opportunities for job seekers with disabilities (Brookes Publishing Co., 2004) • The Job Developer’s Handbook (Brookes Publishing Co., 2007)

36. Resources • http://askjan.org/links/atoz.htm • http://onemoreway.org/index.htm • http://apse.org/ • http://rwjms.umdnj.edu/boggscenter/projects/supported_employment.html

37. Questions

38. Job Accommodation Process • Contact • (800)526-7234 (V) & (877)781-9403 (TTY) • www.AskJAN.org & jan@askjan.org