World Café Summary

Dane CountyModel

  • DaneCounty model – make it available statewide – mandate it - make sure the school investment isn’t lost at graduation. LaCrosse has same program (as DaneCounty?)
  • Dane County Model – LTC system prioritized – IRIS and managed care implementation model and legacy waivers – need incentives to do. To do this, expand Dane Cty model statewide – get a commitment from LTC and local partners to implement – education families and teachers about it.
  • Dane County model statewide – need more knowledgeable providers, families, schools, Chambers, LTC providers – all need to be trained and willing to work with Dane County model.
  • Dane Co. policy – continue employment that started when the student was in H.S.
  • School models that focus on employment after H.S. rather than just college (like 70’s Occupational Adjustment Program).

Incentives

  • Pilot incentive grants from state (3 state partners) – districts, MCO, local level. Would require employment.
  • Employer needs incentives to hire a person with a disability.
  • Create incentives to implement the policy.
  • Incentives for providers – model of IRIS – provides an incentive through competitions for consumers with money – disincentive “over services”. Assist provider to interrupt cycle to the CBRF or sheltered work. Changing the provider culture = not individualized. Mentoring of best practice providers.
  • Action follows the money- vocational piece of FC – could you put out incentive grants – if you are willing to get the partners together, we will help you take Dane Co. infrastructure and implement it (WHO?)
  • Develop policy to incent employment, embed from beginning. Mentoring service in CLTS. Do this with training & implementation.

Guidance Counselor Involvement –

  • More guidance counselor involvement for students with disabilities.
  • Train guidance counselors in how to connect with vocational providers.
  • Case manager collaborate with guidance counselor.

Work Experience/Summer Work Experience

  • Encourage volunteer experiences.
  • Work experience, work study, internships – DVR has these programs, 4 million per year.
  • Temporary work and work experience – DVR summer jobs.
  • Education – temporary work requirement – meaningful during soph and junior year.
  • By graduation – minimum of 1 internship.
  • Community based summer work experiences

DVR can fund summer

Start developing work experiences early (Jan-Feb)

  • Longer temporary work arrangements.
  • Mandates for individualized assessment and community work experience.
  • Policies to seek and provide direct community work experiences for all students – more than 1 work experience.
  • Extended School Year (ESY) – support for summer transition services – local districts being more creative vs. just thinking ESY is hard to get. Make it more likely to get.

Employment First Policy

  • Transitioning the industry – not sheltered but ONLY integrated.
  • Policy – partner with employment orgs that provide IE exclusively.
  • Implement Employment First policy and practices. Develop WI Employment First state team.
  • Recommend funding of only community based employment.
  • Money devoted to employment – prioritize employment – legislate it.
  • Within Family Care and IRIS w/specific youth and transition focus, talk about employment first driven by Dane Co System – defining “independent” and interdependent. Children’s ISP is supported to start with child’s ideals and goals. Change family’s mindset of menu of services. To do this, start with B-3 – hopes, dreams, goals. In B-3 move away from menu of services and make connection to future independent lives.
  • Rebalancing at school level – focus on IE so schools are asking MCOs to provide it.

Interagency Agreement/TAG

  • Implement TAG – enforce TAG.
  • True implementation of the TAG – make it understandable. Institutions of higher ed – teacher training programs re: Interagency Agreement and TAG. Business as partner, Dept of Commerce as partner of the IA Agreement – part of the team.
  • TAG – everyone at the table – start earlier – pilots - IA Agreement. To do this, need training and monitoring of the TAG and need to make a short version of the TAG and get it out to people.
  • Extend Interagency Agreement to capture kids 18-21 to bring stronger employment piece into the children’s system – help conversations happen earlier and address the caps. Do this with training and implementation.
  • Implement Interagency Agreement and TAG for 16 to 21 year olds.

Coordinated DPI/DVR/DHS policy to develop best practices, capture what’s working (develop indicators) and quality improvement plan – factors that can be replicated (TAG workgroup take this on?)

  • Consider ways to make Interagency Agreement a TRUE collaboration and partnering process.
  • For all – would need to figure out how to train school personnel, support through DPI/DHS/DVR and monitor what is happening on practice.

Benefits Counseling

  • Work incentive benefits counseling as part of ADRC
  • Any kid on benefits are connected with benefits counseling or hooked up with ADRC. ERI, Disability Navigators, ILCs, WIPA projects (ERI provides).
  • Mandate benefits counseling – this is a resource available – wouldn’t cost more money *critical barrier).
  • Need to tap into benefits counselor network in area (WIBSA).
  • Educate school personnel about benefits counseling – get that lined up for students early in transition process – make it policy.

Earlier Career Planning

  • CLTS – include career planning discussions at earlier ages with the new mentoring service. This will elevate employment expectations – supported emp. Families fight for integration early on – then they step backwards.

Strategies:

  • Services coordinators discussion to make this part of the dialogue
  • Educating on loss of benefits

How options are presented to youth/families – school staff and service coordinator. Training and info for families.

  • Family Care and IRIS – don’t get other trainings if don’t discuss employment first – this is preferred outcome – more difficult to access to congregate living and other services – consider community integration first before move on in planning.
  • Consistent messaging – start dialogue early on, at least when kids enter CLTS. Interagency shared vision – purpose of service system is to move toward community living and employment vision about what living in the community really means. To do this, use new opp of mentoring families (new service in CLTS) – target families of very young children.
  • One pager of what can you do for summer work assessment/exploration including higher ed – updating content guidelines at university pre-service.
  • Same conversations – scripts w/ADRCs, MCOs, teachers, children’s system service coordinators.
  • 16 is too late – policy change for earlier involvement.
  • Policy for schools to start career exploration earlier. DWD Youth Apprenticeship Program and Occupational Adjustment Program.
  • Declaration of employment or postsecondary intentional planning.
  • Strategy - early intervention.
  • VR Involvement at junior year – intentional/collaborative meeting (Declaration of employment or post secondary education).
  • Must follow federal IDEA policies – WI goes above by starting at age 14.

Training

  • Implementing: Schools need the information – 1 pager on what you need to do to hire a person with a disability.
  • Replicate effective practice.
  • Social workers in training – psychologists – disability and employment.
  • Educate consumers and families (may have been specifically around IA Agreement).
  • Performance expectations at staff level. Close gap between policy, guidance and practice. Look @ 39% - PIP.
  • Train staff on PCP.
  • More important that we train school staff for them to do PCP with student.
  • Train the trainers (on what specifically?)
  • Professional development for school staff.
  • Need to provide training to a variety of school staff (gen ed teachers, special ed teachers, guidance counselors).
  • Youth success examples in VR training.

Transportation

  • Need more transportation, esp in rural areas – remove caps.
  • Transportation is a big issue for work. DWD – Dept of Commerce connection?

Funding/Braided Funding

  • Braided funding – how to use multiple funding sources.
  • Add flow through money to the S.E. funds – possibly going to legislature to implement.
  • Fed legislation strategy to mandate what the flow through money is used for.
  • Braiding funding.
  • DPI policy – make sure that some agency is funding assessments – stop passing the buck of billing.
  • DPI – has not been willing to end funding to sheltered work (OSEP did indicate not prohibitive to do that).
  • DPI – could exclude any special education dollars for segregated employment
  • Funding for summer support year round transition teachers or money for community service agencies.
  • Identifying funding agents.

Outreach

  • Local Chambers.
  • Chamber of Commerce and School District meetings.
  • Connected to employers – parents, school.
  • Access to work opportunities – more competition, more skill sets, soft skills, paid work experience – internships.
  • Large employers – new screening – not worked in last 6 months, don’t take “no” at local level, how do you interface with business.
  • People are linked.

Opportunities for adult service organizations to get into schools. To do this, have IEP collaborative meeting sophomore year – meet all together early on with service providers – person learns about various choices.

  • ADRC’s responsible to track # of students – coordinate, support. Outreach.
  • Maximum effort to get VR counselor to the table.
  • Have to be invited to school (DVR, provider). Issue of last minute contact.
  • Coordination of DVR & school for youth – DVR counselor @ school certain days a week.
  • Mandating to local counselors when and how regularly vocational rehabilitation will participate in IEP meetings and strongly encourage counselors to participate at younger ages.
  • Outreach to DPI to facilitate their job.
  • Outreach to family in discovery process part of the assessment – spend several hours – interview others who are involved with the student – who do you want us to talk to so we can really get to know you – functional assessment approach. Borrow from other willing agencies doing good work. Focus on what the person can do to match with work environment or increase skills.
  • More outreach to families explaining who they want to invite and why.