1. Engaging individuals and families around employment John Kramer, Nancy Nickolaus 2016 National APSE Conference Tuesday, June

2. Questions for you to consider
How do you define family?
How have you interacted with families?
What should the role of family be in employment?
How can we engage families in smarter ways?
John

3. What we’re doing State Employment Leadership Network
ThinkWork Research

4. Biologically - Legally – Emotionally Related - Unrelated
National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth
“Family is defined broadly as adults and children related biologically, emotionally, or legally, including single parents, blended families, unrelated individuals living cooperatively, and partnered couples who live with biological, adopted, and foster children.”
It is important that professionals acknowledge the many forms “family” can take, and allow input and participation from a wider variety of adults who have a positive influence on a youth.”

5. 2015 SELN Survey to Members
Target Audience: state I/DD agencies and partners.
What are you doing?
Is it working? How do you know?
Challenges
Target Audience: state I/DD agencies and partners. 92 respondents.
Sometimes families are PRESENT by not FULLY Engaged.
Case managment is a key element of success or failure.

6. Roles of the 92 Respondents
Other includes provider staff

7. Survey Results Family Involvement Case Management Barriers
Family Training
Communication and Messaging
Ages Targeted
Tracking Family Engagement Success
60.5% of respondents said that they were moderately or very successful and 37.4 % not or minimally successful
Families are PRESENT by not FULLY Engaged. Frequently reps form F2F… challenging at local level.
Case managers are seen as a key to success
20% hold ongoing training… but participation a challenge.
Big focus on Communication / messaging resulting in more talk about the issue and sharing of stories.
Barriers Family Concerns: lack of understanding of the systems, funding and benefits. Attitudinal barriers of others, lack of cross systems collaboration
Despite the evidence that shows the importance of starting early the majority of intervention / support seems to still be occurring in HS.
SUCCESS: Seems to be more antidotal than quantitative

8. What We Have Learned Ensure Staff Understand the “WHY”
Prepare Staff to be Responsive
Support Families to Make Connections
As states engage families early in promoting and planning for employment several strategies should be considered:
Ensure: staff understand the benefits of tapping into the power of families as they assist individuals in a planning for employment.
Prepare staff to recognize and respond to opportunities to promote pro-employment values and provide messaging tools.
Support families in making a connection between what is learned today and working later in life.

9. SELN Related Work Discussions Special Series Survey
Over the last few years:
2014: Focus on what were states learning and struggling with in working with families. Series focusing on early expectations, mindful planning and collaborations.
2015 CLC series & its use as a guide for policy, service provision and planning. A way to reframe expectations around employment. Shared how its tools are used for having conversations with youth, families and professionals. Concrete examples of systems change efforts from South Dakota, Tennessee and Missouri.
Dec 14 – Jan 15 Survey: We needed to hear more…
HUB PLUG< Series event links availability.
Always an Interconnectedness in the work SELN is doing Inform each others work. CM work groups’ conversations about essential cm competencies and their importance to families.
2015 member meeting: How do states ensure quality in case management, support and train case managers esp. in support of families.
SELN has been supporting various states in doing this work. (Pathways to Employment, plan criteria, family friendly messaging….)
Special Series
Survey

10. Tools Some States are Using
When I Grow Up
Tapping into the Power of Families: How Families of Youth with Disabilities Can Assist in Job Search and Retention
South Dakota Person Centered Employment Guide
Nntworks for trg and development.
Tapping into the power of families: provides a definition of family, info re: why families are critical AND what skills families can support and how.
Example:
South Dakota: Where is the person along the path to employment? What questions can staff ask to improve dialogue. What tools are available. Next steps.

11. Transitioning? Working? Working Soon? No Thanks!

13. Family Employment Systems Interaction Study John Kramer

14. Individuals and families
Our Approach
Scoping Literature
Online/In-person Focus Groups
Intervention study

15. Examples of engagement strategies
Trainings to inform families and teach them to advocate:
Explore, Prepare, Act
Let’s Get to Work
FEAT
Computer-based instruction
Thinking about different types of approaches

16. Gaps and need
Outreach to families from diverse communities, with the help of community liaisons
Earlier engagement with families of young children/sustained engagement with older families
The use of social media to educate and connect families
Community conversations to increase inclusion and employment opportunities
Effects of positive role modeling? Portrayal of people with disabilities in work, etc.

17. Findings… Family engagement is not effective when its late…
Family v. service – working against, not with each other
Beliefs about employment are not uniform across providers…confusing for families 
Forward movement happens sometimes when families give up on engaging services
IEP process – lack of clear employment goals
Fear of disclosure and discrimination (Self-Advocates)
Family engagement is not effective when its late…
“…kept asking the IEP team for help or ideas and they had none...Then I find out about programs from other parents that were not given as an option for my son and I kept wondering what the problem was. They had no organization or consistent way of getting information out to the students and their families.”
Family v. service – anti-cooperative framings
“I would ask my IEP team they would say "We haven't heard of that", or they would say "Oh that wouldn't be a good option for your son" instead of telling us about it and letting us decide, or figure out how to prepare him for it.”
Beliefs about employment are not uniform across providers, or even across employees of the same providers…confusing for families
“That being said, inconsistencies in employment options and their attitudes about what is possible is largely reliant upon the organization's expectations as well as the community settings in which they operate. For instance, there are some staff that look at sheltered employment settings as the right option - why? Because they have not been exposed to new models, new ideas, and fresh thinking.” 
Forward movement happens sometimes when families give up on engaging services
“It seems to me it's almost a who you know as to what information you get.  I have found that most of the information, that is useful, comes from other parents.  So times it feels like you have to be in the right "click" of disability parents to find out about - the really good stuff!!!”

18. Intervention planning
Test a low touch, scalable approach for engaging families
Tailor approach depending on where the individual is at
Using low and hi-tech together
Testing impact on employment planning and vision for the future
The idea would be to test the strategy to repeat with staff
Does this sound interesting?

19. Discussion Three action questions
How are you preparing staff to have positive pro-employment conversations with families?
Name 1 successful strategy you have used to engage families successfully. What makes it successful?
How do you think we can work together to increase expectations and outcomes?

20. Next steps – Continuing the discussion
How can we continue the discussion?
Sign up list
Download the slides here…

21. John Kramer
(617)