Chapter 515 Annual Report On Integrated Employment For Individuals With Disabilities SFY 2007/08

Current Description of All Individuals Served and Outcomes in SFY 2007/08 (4/1/07-3/31/08) for VESID, CBVH, OMRDD and OMH

The Chapter 515 Legislation requires that VESID report annually on how work opportunities for individuals with disabilities are coordinated among VESID, CBVH, OMRDD and OMH.  The services provided by each of the four State agencies vary based on the mission and priorities of the four State agencies to prepare and support individuals with disabilities in integrated employment.

VESID and CBVH are the designated State agencies for providing vocational rehabilitation (VR) services to individuals with disabilities in New York State.  CBVH provides services to individuals who are legally blind and VESID serves all other individuals with disabilities.  To qualify for vocational rehabilitation services from CBVH or VESID, the individual with a disability must meet eligibility criteria.  The individual must require VR services to achieve an employment outcome and intend to work after receiving services.  Once eligible, an individualized plan for employment (IPE) is developed to achieve the employment goal.  VESID and CBVH both provide a full range of vocational and technical services in order to help consumers achieve their vocational objectives and goals.

VESID and CBVH typically purchase a broad array of employment training and related services from a network of community rehabilitation programs, contractual vendors and other workforce resources.  Services can, and often do, span over several years.  VR services are completed when the person either becomes employed (for at least 90 days) or when it is determined that an employment goal cannot be achieved. 

For supported employment services, VESID and CBVH provide the “intensive” services necessary to develop a job and train the person on the job until they can meet the demands of the position.  Once the person completes this intensive phase of supported employment and is considered to be stabilized on their job, OMRDD and OMH provide follow-along or “extended services”, providing ongoing support to ensure the individual continues employment.  For those individuals who do not qualify for OMRDD or OMH services, VESID provides the extended services using State funds.

VESID serves individuals with a variety of vocational impairments, including individuals with significant disabilities.  Table 1 provides service information and Table 2 provides outcome information for all VESID consumers served.

CBVH serves individuals with a primary impairment of legal blindness.  Table 3 provides service information and Table 4 provides outcome information for all CBVH consumers.  

The Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (OMRDD), through its Developmental Disabilities Services Offices (DDSO) and provider partner agencies, provides an array of services which are designed to assist individuals with developmental disabilities to lead independent, inclusive and productive lives.  Supported employment services are provided by 149 voluntary partner agencies which are located throughout NYS communities.  People want to work and they can receive the supports and services that they need as close to home as possible.  OMRDD supports the employment aspirations of individuals with development disabilities through a variety of program strategies and funding sources.

• Supported Employment. OMRDD assisted 9,000 New Yorkers with developmental disabilities with their employment service needs in community jobs during State Fiscal Year 2007/08.  The support services are funded through the Home and Community Based Services Waiver and State dollars.  For those individuals who wish to work and have special challenges or support needs, OMRDD can allocate additional resources through the use of the Supported Employment Contingency Fund.  Contingency funds are made available on an annual basis and provider agencies must apply for them each year.
• Blended Services. OMRDD continues to encourage individuals with developmental disabilities to work collaboratively with voluntary provider agencies to create innovative person-centered proposals which support people in employment and participate in their communities.  Frequently, these proposals include a blend of services (supported employment, day habilitation and pre-vocational services) which promote employment and community membership in unique ways.
• Self-Determination/ Consolidated Supports and Services (CSS).  This self-directed WAIVER service offered by OMRDD continues to capture the imagination of self- advocates in New York State who use CSS as a support strategy to fulfill their dreams of employment.  CSS is the method by which a person plans the services and supports needed to achieve a personal valued outcome, in this case, employment.  CSS can support a person to explore or learn the specific skills needed for a particular job or business and can also fund job coaching supports. Approximately 65 people use CSS for employment.
• The Commissioner’s Internship Program. The Commissioner’s Employment Training Program Internship Program was designed and implemented to offer a customized employment option for individuals with developmental disabilities.  Through this program, OMRDD offers paid job placements for motivated individuals who want to acquire and maintain long-term employment.  This paid work experience enables the individual to gain the skills and the confidence required for successful employment.  Through the internship program, extensive job development, job customizing, job carving, and intensive on-the-job supports are funded so that the intern can obtain the skill level needed to transition into long-term competitive employment.  The paid internship lasts for 18 months, at which time it is expected that the employer will hire the intern into their organization and begin to pay the individual’s wages.  During this year, more than 100 interns and 250 school-to-work trainees were served through the program. 

The Office of Mental Health (OMH) is committed to assisting individuals with psychiatric disabilities to identify, attain and maintain their chosen recovery goals.  Employment is often identified as one of the most desired goals by individuals diagnosed with serious mental health conditions.  Employment is also recognized to play an essential role in an individual’s recovery.  Accordingly, OMH is committed to helping the individuals we serve maintain their chosen employment goals. OMH supports a full range of employment services in order to help individuals achieve their employment-related goals at any stage of recovery:

• Personalized Recovery Oriented Services (PROS).  PROS is a comprehensive recovery-oriented program for individuals with severe and persistent mental health conditions.  The goal of the program is to integrate treatment, rehabilitation and support in a manner that facilitates an individual's recovery.  The objective of employment-related services in PROS is to help individuals obtain and retain integrated, competitive jobs.  The PROS program model is flexible and allows providers to develop an array of services to assist individuals to obtain and retain the employment goals of their choice.
• Ongoing Integrated Supported Employment (OISE). OISE provides services related to ongoing job maintenance including job coaching, employer consultation and other relevant supports needed to assist an individual in maintaining a job placement.  These services are intended to complement the intensive training phase of supported employment by VESID.  In State fiscal year 2007, OMH supported over 3,300 individuals to maintain employment through OISE.  Individuals received an average of 38 hours of ongoing supports and services to maintain employment (see Table 6).
  

• Work Programs.  Work programs provide vocational assessment, training and transitional or long-term paid employment in institutional or community settings.
• Affirmative Business. Affirmative businesses provide vocational assessment, training, transitional or long-term paid employment and supportive services in an environment that is less restrictive and more integrated than sheltered workshops.  These businesses may include mobile contract services, small retail or wholesale outlets and manufacturing or service-oriented enterprises.
• Assisted Competitive Employment (ACE). The purpose of Assisted Competitive Employment is to help individuals to set an employment goal and to find and maintain satisfying jobs in the competitive employment marketplace, at or above the minimum wage.  ACE provides individuals with job-related skills training as well as long-term supervision and support services, both on and off the job site. 
• Enclave in Industry.  An enclave is a small group of approximately five to eight individuals with significant disabilities who work in an industrial or economic enterprise.  An enclave provides vocational assessment, training and transitional or long-term paid work in an integrated employment environment.  A job coach or supervisor, assigned to the worksite by the rehabilitation service agency, provides individuals with training, supervision and ongoing support.
• Transitional Employment Placement (TEP). The purpose of TEP is to strengthen an individual’s skill level and work history with the goal of achieving assisted or unassisted competitive employment at or above the standard minimum wage.  These placements provide time-limited employment and on-the-job training in integrated employment settings. 
• Sheltered Workshops. Sheltered workshops provide vocational assessment, training and paid work in a protected, non-integrated work environment.  Services are provided according to wage and hour requirements specified by the Fair Labor Standards Act administered by the Department of Labor.

In spite of significant budget cuts over the last year, OMH has shown a commitment to the importance of employment by maintaining or increasing funding to nearly every one of its employment programs.  OMH has targeted funding specifically to employment-related services in PROS programs in an effort to insure that services are provided in a more complete and effective manner.

OMH especially advocates for the delivery of services that are consistent with the principles of the evidence-based practice of supported employment.  These principles include:

• The belief that competitive employment is an attainable goal for the individuals served;
• A rapid job search and placement approach to help individuals obtain jobs directly rather than providing lengthy assessment, training and counseling;
• Individualized job placement based on the individual’s experiences, preferences and strengths;
• Support to maintain employment for as long as needed; and
• Rehabilitation and clinical services that work together to support the individual’s employment goal, assuring close collaboration and integration of services.

For people diagnosed with serious mental health conditions, employment-related support focuses on overcoming barriers caused by the symptoms and functional deficits related to the condition.  Service providers are encouraged to coordinate employment services with many other elements of a person’s life, including family and friends, clinicians, case managers, housing providers and other service agencies.  Research has shown that coordination with important people and providers in an individual’s life leads to greater likelihood that the person will obtain and retain a job.

Helping people to retain employment is also an important goal and OMH is committed to providing post-employment support for as long as necessary.  Post-placement support activities include counseling regarding benefits, sharing stress management strategies, assessing job satisfaction, and developing the skills needed to manage symptoms in the workplace and to interact successfully with co-workers.

OMH data includes individuals served in supported employment only, and can be found in the following tables.

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