Making Customized Employment work raises numerous questions,
both unique and anticipated. The following is a sampling of the Frequently
Asked Questions (FAQs) about CE, and some brief responses:
Is Customized Employment just a new name for Supported
Employment?
As Mike Callahan of
Employment for All suggests, CE “stands
on the shoulders of supported employment.” CE is a refinement
of supported employment, but varies in important ways. Supported
Employment often, although in best-practice it should not, still
reacts to the Labor Market. That is, the job search process is
largely driven by what jobs are available, advertised, or easy
to find in that community or region. In CE, the employment seeker’s
profile is developed without consideration of what might be available
for work in the community. In essence, the first step is getting
to know the employment seeker without the prejudice of “appropriate
work” or “realistic goals.” Once the person is known, then work
can begin being explored, on the person’s terms. In other words,
employment situations are sought that meet the needs of the individual,
and a negotiation follows that melds the desires of the worker
with those of the employer. The existence of a Labor Market mindset
tends to drive the kinds of jobs sought for people with disabilities
under a Supported Employment model, hence the high proportion
of food service, custodial, and high turnover jobs. CE counteracts
the impulse of filling available jobs and instead uses Discovery
of the individual as the driving force in a job creation process,
and seeks to create mutually beneficial employment relationships.
Supported Employment
makes allowances for congregate or group settings such as Mobile
Crews and Enclaves, where sub-minimum
wages may be paid. CE is specifically individualized and accepts
commensurate wages only, in integrated settings. CE also includes
business ownership as an important employment option (Griffin & Hammis,
2003).
How does one get to know the employment seeker?
The most widely used process is called Discovery (Callahan,
2004; Condon, 2004; Griffin,
Hammis, & Geary, 2005). Discovery is not planning, it is
an assessment process that seeks to answer the questions “who
is this person?” and “what are the ideal conditions of employment?” The
process most often starts at home, includes an inventory of the
surrounding neighborhood (with transportation and natural supports
an on-going employment and inclusion issue, it makes sense to
look for interests, and subsequently, opportunities nearby),
and expands to places where interests can be explored through
informational interviews, paid work experiences, or engagement
in social activities. One vital point to remember during Discovery
is that the CE team, employment specialist, employment seeker,
family member and whoever else is involved, is not looking for
employment; the outcome should be a reflection of the complexity
of all human lives. In other words, there should be multiple
employment directions revealed, not a job description, but rather
vocational interests and a revealing of skills, which are used
to create employment in the community. For a more detailed discussion
of Discovery visit http://ruralinstitute.umt.edu/transition and http://www.employmentforall.org
Wouldn’t a standardized
Vocational Evaluation be more scientific than Discovery?
Standardized vocational
evaluation has never been proven to predict employment success.
Discovery replaces the predictive
validity assertion of Voc Eval with the ecologically valid process
of witnessing an individual’s needs, skills, desires, interests,
and contributions in real community environments. This approach
is much more functional and therefore more cost effective than
traditional approaches to assessment, which often screen people
out of employment services instead of capturing their potential
as workers and human beings.
Isn’t Customized
Employment too expensive?
CE is too new to have
generated any definitive cost data. The question is a good
one, but might be further refined by asking “too
expensive for whom?” Approximately 74% of adults with developmental
disabilities remain unemployed, served largely in sheltered work
or non-work day programs operated across the country (Metzel,
et al. in press). The unemployment rate for individuals with
psychiatric disabilities is worse and estimated at close to 90%,
even though individuals with psychiatric disabilities list their
greatest need and desire as being employed (Drake, 2005; Bond,
1992). The tremendous expense of building over 5,000 day programs,
segregated transportation systems, and associated services has
not delivered gainful employment, adequate training for employment,
or social inclusion. CE can be accomplished for those needing
such an intensive approach by blending day program funding, VR
and WIA supports, and/or SSA Work Incentives such as Plans for
Achieving Self Support (PASS). Examples to date do not reveal
extraordinary costs at all. In fact, it can be effectively demonstrated
that using one year’s typical day program funding can easily
fund wage employment or business ownership for an individual
with significant disabilities (Griffin,
Brooks-Lane, Hammis & Crandell, in press).
For instance, the national average day program rate is approximately
$12,000. The average cost of a Supported Employment placement
for Vocational Rehabilitation is just under $5000. Using the
entire $12,000, just from day program, can likely cover the costs
of Discovery, job development or small business start-up, and
coaching. Even using a couple thousand dollars a year for on-going
supports (i.e., Extended Employment), the cost of employment
is significantly less. For example, an individual enters a day
program at a cost of $12,000 per year. Outcomes data suggests
this person will likely be there for 30 years or more. Assuming
no increases in funding (highly unlikely), the taxpayer bill
for this program is $360,000, plus SSI payments in excess of
$208,440 (again assuming no increases and not including the cost
of Medicaid). Using the CE approach, the cost scenario might
be as much as $12,000 for employment development services, plus
$2,000 a year in additional vocational supports, or $70,000 over
30 years (these expenses will no doubt vary based on the complexity
of support needs, competence of the trainers, and job match precision).
At earnings of just $6.00 per hour for 30 hours per week (the
typical weekly enrollment hours for a day program), this person
would be expected to earn $9,360 per year, or $280,800 over the
next 30 years, plus conservatively figured, Social Security savings
of over $100,000. Even assuming the person changes jobs 3 or
4 times, CE is still less expensive.
Is Customized Employment about helping people find their
Dream Job?
People with disabilities,
just like everyone else, live complex lives. The more exposure
we have to ideas, diverse environments,
people, and activities, the more interests we develop. Believing
that any one of us has only one dream job is quite limiting when
careers are considered. We once worked with a young man and asked
a question we should no longer be asking: “Tell us Bill, what’s
your dream job?” He told us that he wanted to rewind video tapes
at Blockbuster. That seems like a very limiting position; one
that is likely isolated from other workers, is repetitious and
boring, and which holds little potential for natural support
development or career and skill advancement. In truth, this “Dream
Job” was the result of the Job Developer asking this question
of someone with limited life experiences (other than weekly outings
to the movie theater), and it reflected the teaching skills of
the agency’s personnel who could help someone master video rewinding
but few tasks of more complexity. Following the Discovery process
Bill revealed that he really aspired to be a movie director,
and this opened up discussions about entertainment, acting, theatrical
production, etc. Now there were many jobs open to Bill for exploration.
Focusing in on a dream job is too limiting. CE reveals themes
in people’s lives and is open to combinations of interests resulting
in new and diverse career directions (Griffin,
Brooks-Lane, Hammis & Crandell, in press).
What are the roles of Workforce Investment Act programs
(One-Stops/Career Centers) and Vocational Rehabilitation
in CE?
CE is specifically
designed for anyone living a complex life. In this instance,
we are considering people with significant
disabilities. Both WIA and VR programs are vital partners in
creating wage employment and/or small business ownership. Both
systems can individually and collaboratively “braid” or amalgamate
funding with other systems (CRPs or school transition programs,
for instance). As an example, one young man with a diagnosis
of autism needed funds for a small business start-up, as well
as on-going support to make deliveries across town. The CRP funded
an employment specialist to do the driving several hours a day
for the first year, until the young business owner could afford
to hire his own employee to do the driving; VR purchased auto
repairs for a vehicle donated by his family; and WIA, under a
CE demonstration project, purchased several thousand dollars
in production equipment. In other cases, a Plan for Achieving
Self Support (PASS) can also be used in combination with VR,
CRP, and WIA funds to purchase equipment, put cash into a small
business, pay for various supports, and also to assist with the
identification and maintenance of a wage job (Griffin, Brooks-Lane, Hammis & Crandell, in press).
CE sounds creative,
but what about today’s Labor Market?
Over the past five years there has been a net loss of jobs in
the United
States. The unemployment rate for people
with disabilities, however, remains unchanged from the 1990s
when this country created over 22,000,0000 new jobs. The labor
market has almost zero impact on the employment rate of people
with disabilities. What does have an impact is the will of leadership
at all levels to make employment a priority. The money exists,
the technology and techniques exist, and the employment opportunities
exist.
CE is significantly different from competitive employment in
that while competitive employment has been brutal to people with
disabilities, CE recognizes that employers are always hiring.
That is, there is always room in a company for people who match
the culture and values of the company, and who perform work that
ultimately produces a profit. Without profit there are no jobs,
so matching people with duties that create revenue overshadows
the power of job descriptions that historically screen out people
with significant disabilities. In essence CE demands that we
focus on economic development and job creation as the antidote
to reacting to the alleged demands of the fickle labor market.
This brief article addresses a few of the more common concerns
regarding CE, but many more questions exist. For more information,
please visit these websites:
www.customizedemployment.com
www.employmentforall.org
http://ruralinstitute.umt.edu/transition
http://ruralinstitute.umt.edu/training
http://www.t-tap.org/
www.onestops.info
www.dol.gov/odep
www.worksupport.com
References are available on request by e-mailing Cary at cgriffin@griffinhammis.com
October, 2005
Customized
Employment FAQs