Employment First Leadership State Mentoring Program (Efslmp)

EMPLOYMENT FIRST LEADERSHIP STATE MENTORING PROGRAM (EFSLMP)

INVITATION TO APPLY FOR CORE STATE Fiscal Year2015

October 15, 2014

Contents

I.History

II.Overview of FY 2015 EFSLMP for Core States

III.FY 2015 Core State Technical Assistance

A.Onsite and virtual policy consulting, technical assistance and training

B.Vision Quest Policy Working Group Series

C.Travel Funding Support

D.Access to Community of Practice Virtual Trainings & Resources

IV.FY 2015 Core State Participation Requirements and Responsibilities

V.Application Process

A.State Landscape Assessment

B.Proposal for Use of FY 2015 EFSLMP Core State Resources

C.State Participants

VI.FY 2015 Core State Selection Process

I.History

A critical priority for the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), is to invest in systems change efforts that result in increased integrated employment opportunities for individuals with significant disabilities. This priority reflects growing support for national systems-change framework known as Employment First, which is centered on the premise that all citizens, including those individuals with the most significant disabilities, are capable of full participation in integrated employment and community life. Under this approach, publicly-financed systems are urged to align policies, regulatory guidance, and reimbursement structures to commit to integrated employment as the priority option with respect to the use of publicly-financed day and employment services for youth and adults with significant disabilities. Many states have formally committed to the Employment First framework through official executive proclamation or formal legislative action.

ODEP recognizes that many states desire to align their policy and funding in support of an Employment First approach but may not yet possess the knowledge, skills, abilities and/or resources necessary to lead and facilitate such change. To address this need, ODEP has initiated the Employment First State Leadership Mentoring Program (EFSLMP), a cross-disability focused, cross-systems change initiative. EFSLMP is providing the impetus for selected states to pursue systems change to fully implement the Employment First approach as the primary service delivery system for people with the most significant disabilities.

II.Overview of FY 2015 EFSLMP for Core States

Since its inception in FY 2012, the EFSLMP has provided intensive onsite and virtual technical assistance to four core states, and offered virtual technical assistance and training opportunities to over 30 other states through both its Vision Quest Policy Working Group Series (VQPWGS) as well as its virtual Community of Practice (CoP).

In FY2015, the program will be expanded to offer fifteen (15) states the opportunity to receive onsite and virtual technical assistance and training support, as well as participation in the policy-focused Vision Quest Policy Working Group Series. EFSLMP will continue to focus on providing technical assistance and policy development support to State government teams in an effort to help them answer four key questions:

How do we align policy, practice, and funding across systems to promote integrated employment as the preferred outcome of publicly-financed supports and services to individuals with disabilities?
How do we build and sustain the capacity of our front-line staff across systems to successfully implement evidence-based effective practices in supporting individuals with disabilities that lead to integrated employment?
What expectations should be placed on provider organizations to assure that they are transitioning from predominantly facility-based, segregated service models to service models focused solely on the provision of integrated employment supports and other home and community based services?
How do we collectively measure progress across systems over time?

III.FY2015 Core State Technical Assistance

The EFSLMP FY2015 program will include a robust core state component, comprised of onsite and virtual training, technical assistance, and policy consulting. Core states will receive:

Onsite and virtual policy consulting from the Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) in implementing a technical assistance/training plan developed by each core state in collaboration with ODEP and EconSys;
Engagement in a time-limited, policy-focused Vision Quest Policy Working Group Series (VQWGS);
A budget of monetary resources to assist in travel and meeting expenditures related to the engagement of SMEs and state ambassadors[1];
Travel reimbursement for up to five (5) representatives of each Core State team to attend ODEP’s 2nd National Employment First Meeting; and
Ongoing participation in ODEP’s virtual CoP activities.

A.Onsite and virtual policy consulting, technical assistance and training

Onsite and virtual policy consulting, technical assistance and trainingin at least one of the following categories:

Capacity Building in Effective Practices: Focused on building the capacity of a state’s front-line disability service workforce in the successful implementation of evidence-based effective practices (including Customized Employment, Individualized Supported Employment, IPS-Supported Employment, Self-Employment, and Financial Capability/Asset Development) through the development of: (i) consistent definitions and state plan goals across specific systems; (ii) coordination of eligibility determinations, enrollment processes, service delivery strategies and funding/resources; and (iii) cross-systems training plans, consistent provider requirements, and direct support certification standards.

Examples of Allowable TA/Training Activities: In-person training of front-line direct support staff, systems professionals, and others on effective practices; ongoing virtual mentoring and coaching to help professionals successfully adopt and implement effective practices; use of subject matter experts for local/state virtual communities of practice to reinforce onsite training and virtual coaching, as well as disseminate information more broadly to all provider networks and direct support professionals across systems; consulting on the development and drafting of policies, processes, and funding structures to support cross-systems foci on bringing the successful adoption and implementation of effective practices that lead to integrated employment to scale.
Examples of Anticipated Milestones/Outcomes: Increase in the percentage of direct support professionals who are adequately trained and prepared to implement effective practices that lead to competitive, integrated employment of individuals; cross-systems certification program to assure access to consistent training across diverse direct support professionals on how to use effective practices that lead to improved integrated employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities; roll out of a train-the-trainer program to assure sustained sharing, mentoring and ongoing coaching support among direct support professionals who have been trained and are using effective practices and their peers.

Provider Transformation: Focused on working with disability service provider networks on funding diversification, cost-modeling, staff decentralization, and operational reforms essential to transitioning from facility-based, segregated services to business models that focus solely on the provision of individualized integrated employment and other person-centered home & community based services.
Examples of Allowable TA/Training Activities:Organizational assessments and strategic planning consults with subset of disability service provider organizations in the core state; development and piloting of organizational transformation models focused on staff decentralization, professional development & training, funding diversification, board and executive leadership development, stakeholder engagement and messaging, and outcomes measurement; technical support for becoming an Employment Network through Social Security’s Ticket to Work program; designing and execution of transformation business plans for participating pilot providers; policy consulting in the modification of existing policy agreements between one or more state government agencies and their provider networks to incentivize a prioritization on services that lead to increased integrated employment outcomes.
Examples of Anticipated Milestones/Outcomes:Cooperative agreements between the core state and participating providers to implement key reforms in exchange for technical assistant provided by ODEP; transition of a certain percentage of individuals out of facility-based workshops to integrated employment and work-based experiences; successful completion of employment network status by a certain percentage of provider organizations; adoption of one or more policy changes to reflect specific expectations and/or incentives to stimulate stronger provider transformation in alignment with Employment First principles.
School-to-Work Transition:Focused on piloting strategies for improving access to transition services (including, but not limited to, integrated employment and work-based experiences) in the least restrictive setting through the creation of local/state policies, funding agreements, service coordination strategies, professional development & training, and stakeholder engagement activities.

Examples of Allowable TA/Training Activities:Onsite training and virtual coaching to teachers, transition coordinators, and other professionals across systems focused on the use of effective practices to help increase integrated work-based experiences for youth and young adults with disabilities; strategic consulting related to the crafting of memorandums of understanding or interagency cooperative agreements at the local/state level to assure continuity and collaboration in implementing school-to-work transition services aligned with Employment First goals; technical support in the drafting of state policies focused on data sharing, resource braiding, service coordination, and/or collective performance measurement to assure youth and young adults with disabilities have maximum exposure to work-based experiences and other transition services in the most integrated setting.
Anticipated Milestones/Outcomes:Increase in percentage of education and direct support professionals in other systems who have been trained and are utilizing effective practices that lead to maximum exposure to integrated employment or work-based experiences for students with disabilities; policies and partnership agreements reflecting coordinated approach to assuring increased integrated employment options for all youth and young adults with significant disabilities.

Employer Engagement: Focused on the development and piloting of evidence-based practices and strategies that have been deployed with success in other parts of the country to meaningfully engage small-, medium- and large employers in the State’s Employment First efforts. Could tackle key challenges related to: streamlining employer outreach strategies/services across publicly-financed systems; training direct support professionals on effective strategies for developing customized employer-employee job matches; convening of focus groups between state officials and employers to learn more about what employers need in order to increase recruitment and hiring of PWD; reforming existing state use contract requirements to incentivize greater integrated employment options for PWD among State contracting entities; developing and implementing statewide plans for operationalizing the final Section 503 rule on Federal contractors.
Examples of Allowable TA/Training Activities: Virtual and onsite training to direct support professionals in the areas of customized job development and negotiation as well as customized self-employer strategies; consulting on the coordination of cross-systems employer outreach and engagement strategies to ensure optimal impact; provision of technical support to Federal contractors and other employers within the state re: incorporation of evidence-based workplace flexibility strategies within standard HR operating procedures.
Anticipated Milestones/Outcomes:interagency cooperative agreement streamlining processes for employer engagement to maximize resources and coordinate efforts across systems; increased percentage of direct support professionals in multiple systems certified in customized job development and negotiation strategies; agreements between one or more state agencies and one or more employers to collaborate on piloting strategies to increase integrated employment options for youth and adults with significant disabilities; adoption/implementation of an effective practice focused on improving workplace flexibility to ensure increased integrated employment opportunities for job-seekers with disabilities among one or more employer organizations.

B.Vision Quest Policy Working Group Series

All fifteen (15) core states will participate in one of four Vision Quest (VQ) working groups to supplement their policy development goals aligned with one of the thematic topics focused on in their individual core state training & technical assistance plans (as outlined in Section I above). Each state must solidify the key decision makers responsible for the programmatic/policy issue of focus within the State’s government to participate in Vision Quest. Individuals who are not officials or contractors of the State government are not permitted to participate in the Vision Quest series without written approval from ODEP and EconSys.

Through thisopportunity, state teams will have the benefit to work directly with 1-2 nationally-recognized subject matter experts (SMEs)to focus specifically on one key policy area or component of their Employment First systems-change work. The technical assistance (TA) will be provided through three specific modes:

onsite visits, both in Phase 1 and Phase 3;
a minimum of two individual state VQ team consults/month, with more scheduled as determined collaboratively between each individual Core State team and their assigned primary SME facilitator; and
quarterly virtual working group meetings, to include the participants on the 3-4 state teams involved in that specific working group.

Each state will undergo a free assessment of opportunities and gaps related to the specific working group policy focus area, develop a set of specific policy recommendations, and receive ongoing mentoring and coaching from EFSLMP’s national SMEs in developing and implementing specific policy milestones.The VQ working group series is time-limited and flows in three distinct phases:

Phase One – Policy Assessment/Analysis: During this time, SMEs will work with each state team to review their existing policies and reimbursement structure relative to the topic(s) at hand. The SMEs will then prepare a summation of strengths, gaps and weaknesses regarding the state’s existing policies/funding structures. Each Core State may also opt to host a one-day strategic planning session onsite during this phase to help inform the conclusion of the policy assessment.
Phase Two – Policy Development: During this phase, SMEs will craft and develop policy recommendations (examples include revisions to existing service definitions, proposed changes to existing waivers, draft regulatory language, funding reimbursement methodology suggestions, etc.) to address the concerns identified during the policy assessment/analysis phase.
Phase Three – Policy Implementation: Given EFSLMP’s strong focus on deploying results-oriented TA to state Employment First teams, we want to ensure that the Vision Quest series helps states to SUCCEED. The overall goal for this phase is to design and implement specific policy products/milestones within each participating state. During this phase, states will (a) finalize at least one policy deliverable that brings to life the proposed recommendations crafted in Phase 2; and (b) develop and execute a strategic plan for implementing the policy recommendations.

Core states must choose one of the following VQ working groups to participate in during FY2015[2]:

Rate/Reimbursement Restructuring:Focused on the use of waiver authorities, state plan options, and rate structures to design innovative pay-for-performance reimbursement structures in one or more systems to incentivize a focus on the delivery of effective-practicesthat lead to improved integrated employment outcomes of PWD.
Required State Team Participants: Key programmatic and policy decision-makers of the specific system(s) by which the State has decided to focus its efforts toward in this thematic working group.
Examples of Potential Milestones/Outcomes:Results in this working group may include new or expanded waiver authorities or reimbursement structures; introduction of outcomes-based, tiered or milestone payment models; and interagency agreements to braid resources across multiple systems to co-fund increased integrated employment options.
Medicaid HCBS Implementation:Working with State teams in the development of HCBS transition plans, waiver renewals, new waiver applications, and/or state plan amendments in furtherance of the implementation of the new HCBS final rule and the September 2011 informational bulletin issued by CMS.
Required State Team Participants: Key programmatic and policy decision-makers within Medicaid, I/DD adult services and mental health systems are required to participate within a core state team for this Vision Quest working group. Representatives from VR and/or workforce investment may also be asked to participate at the discretion of the Core State.
Examples of Potential Milestones/Outcomes:Results in this working group may include new or expanded waiver authorities or reimbursement structures; introduction of outcomes-based, tiered or milestone payment models; and interagency agreements to braid resources across multiple systems to co-fund increased integrated employment options.
Promoting Partnerships with Workforce Developmentin Implementing Employment First: In an effort to reflect a holistic approach to implementing Employment First strategies, it is imperative that state governments develop policies for assuring strong engagement of the workforce development system (including both workforce investment and VR) into statewide Employment First objectives and strategies. The recent passage of WIOA and the introduction of various new administrative policies and guidance necessitates a timely interest on incorporating the workforce development system into state Employment First strategies.
Required State Team Participants:Key programmatic and policy decision makers within both VR and workforce investment systems. State team are also strongly encouraged to have key decision makers from education, post-secondary education, mental health, Medicaid or I/DD adult services.
Examples of Potential Milestones/Outcomes: Cooperative agreements and/or MOUs between VR, workforce investment, and other State agencies to coordinate available services and supports for job-seekers with disabilities; draft policy recommendations/products related to strengthening the role of workforce investment and VR systems in implementing Employment First strategies.
Building Strong Transition-to-Work Policies:Development of memorandums of understanding or similar cooperative agreement between four or more agencies will be the focus on this working group. The policy agreements developed will detail specifics with regards to data sharing, service coordination, resource braiding, shared outcomes/accountability measures, and cross-systems training & professional development to effectuate a seamless delivery and outcomes-based, integrated transition experiences for youth and young adults with disabilities.
Required State Team Participants: Key programmatic and policy decision makers within State’s education authority (and/or specific school district leaders), vocational rehabilitation, I/DD adult services, mental health are all required entities for this working group. Representatives of the workforce investment system and Medicaid may also be invited to participate at the discretion of each core state team.
Projected Milestones/Outcomes: Detailed memoranda of understanding or cooperative agreements between four or more government agencies, inclusive of strategic work plans, action timelines or other supplemental documents related to the implementation of such agreements with fidelity.

C.Travel Funding Support

SME Onsite Visits: Each State will receive $12,000 to pay for all travel expenses of subject matter experts for the following purposes:
Implementation activities related to the Core State Technical Assistance and Training Plans
Vision Quest Site Visits: States will be required to host a one-day strategic planning session onsite during Phase 1 of the Vision Quest series, as well as a briefing with State political leadership during Phase 3.
National Employment First Meeting:Each core state will be invited to send up-to five (5) representatives of their state team to ODEP’s National Employment First meeting, hosted in Washington, DC, tentatively on December 2, 2014. All travel expenses will be reimbursed for this trip.

D.Access to Community of Practice Virtual Trainings & Resources

Information-sharing activities within the EFSLMP CoP include monthly webinars, quarterly policy discussions, and interactive blog communications. One of EFSLMP’s key features is a virtual policy platform on ePolicyWorks that serves as a one-stop shop of inventories, resources, discussions, and state-specific sub-workgroups for state teams. Every Core State team will receive licenses to access the virtual policy platform. The EFSLMP Community of Practice provides a variety of services to support state Employment First teams, including: