To Get You Working -- Augusta, GA

Overview

This collaborative project is based on a written agreement between Walton Options for Independence and the Georgia Division of Rehabilitation Services (DRS). The goal of the project is to increase quality employment outcomes by promoting self-employment and advocacy, increasing access to information and technology, and providing work skills training. The project helps people with disabilities to obtain or retain employment in competitive settings by preparing them for VR eligibility, providing paid or volunteer work experience at the ILC, and providing assistive technology and skills training. About 90% of consumers have severe disabilities, and most come from rural communities.

The project relies on a peer counseling and self-advocacy model, and provides paid work trial, home oriented work skills training, independent living skills training, computer training and recycling, and Braille instruction and production. Most emphasis is placed on computer training to prepare people for employment. One full time position is provided with additional resources for assistive technology coming from outside sources.

The program has been operating for about two years

So far, it reports high levels of consumer satisfaction. The cost of the program is about $28,000 per year.

Program Approach

The collaborative approach combines a philosophy of consumer choice and control with vocational goals to address employment needs and related independent living needs of consumers. Salient features of the program reflecting an exemplary collaborative approach are:

• A focus on the total needs of the consumer; and
• Recognizing the employer as a customer.

Problem or Need Addressed

The collaboration addresses the needs of persons currently not eligible for DRS services and prepares them with basic skills and work experience, as well as independent living skills and assistive technology needed to sustain competitive employment. Approximately 90% of consumers served by the Walton Options are identified as having severe levels of disability. The ILC also serves deaf-blind clients and consumers from rural areas who are identified as members of underserved populations.

Program Processes

The collaboration operates under a service agreement which specifies compensation for specific services, including employment skills training (which includes training in computer skills), Braille instruction, and orientation and mobility services for people with visual impairments. DRS also pays per-hour fees to Walton Options to provide "home oriented work skills training" which teaches consumers how to start and operate home-based businesses.

Consumers who referred by DRS for a "paid work trial" work 20 hours a week at minimum wage and are paid by Walton Options, with DRS subsidizing their wages. The ILC provides supervision, peer support, and, if needed, independent living skills training, advocacy, and job-search skills to prepare consumers for eventual entry into unsubsidized, competitive employment.

Walton Option's outreach methods include a circulation of a newsletter and marketing efforts to VR, businesses, and active ILC consumers. The collaborative program serves approximately 10% of the ILC's consumers.

As a project of an independent living center, the approach of "To Get You Working" is consumer oriented, with consumers developing their own IL Plans and goals. Consumers choose from options presented by staff to formulate a plan but they determine when and how they will meet their goals. DRS counselors and ILC staff collaborate and do joint planning upon consumer request. Consumers are extensively involved in overseeing the collaboration and providing its services; 82% of Walton Option's Board of Directors and about 70% of its staff are individuals with disabilities.

Consumer satisfaction is monitored through phone surveys conducted at the end of program participation or at least annually with active consumers. Walton Option's Quality Improvement Committee considers survey results and recommendations and incorporates them into plans for improvements of the program.

Collaboration history and funding

The foundations for a collaborative relationship between Walton Options and DRS were established in 1994, when the ILC first gained a DRS contract to provide independent living services, using money allocated by the state legislature and administered by DRS. In 1997, DRS decided to focus solely on vocational goals and eliminated services not directly related to employment. This strengthened the relationship between the two agencies by encouraging DRS to make use of Walton Option's complementary IL-related services and by motivating Walton Options to develop vocational services as well. The VR agency defined a set of services it wished to outsource and invited Walton Options to apply as a vendor. DRS began subsidizing consumers' work at Walton Options for Paid Work Trials.

Subsequently, Walton Options included training in office technology and word processing/data entry as part of the services vended to DRS as "employment skills training," using adapted computer equipment purchased from Tools For Life, Georgia's Tech Act project. DRS provides payment for these services on a fee-for-service basis under an annual work agreement. Other employment-related services, including Home Oriented Work Skills Assessment and services specific to low-vision and blind people, were later added to the ILC's package of vended services.

For 1999, the estimated total budget is $28, 000, of which 90% is used for direct service costs and purchasing goods for consumers. Local private agencies as well as DRS provide funding for services.

Staffing

Principal ILC staff involved in the collaboration include an 80% FTE computer services coordinator, two part-time peer supporters, an orientation and mobility/blind rehab specialist, and part-time involvement of supervisory and managerial staff. A Braille instructor works on contract on an as-needed basis. However, any Walton Options staff member might be involved with the collaborative program from time to time. For example, the ILC's business manager has supervised and coached a consumer doing a Paid Work Trial in the agency's business office.

Outcomes

At the time program data were collected, the fee-for-service component had been operating for nine months. For consumers receiving vocational services, outcomes are to be measured based on consumer satisfaction with progress towards and attainment of goals. For those consumers whose plans involve obtaining a college or technical school degree, outcomes will be assessed based upon success in school. Because no consumers had completed the program, data concerning outcomes were not yet available.

Quality of Collaboration

Walton Options reports a moderate level of trust in DRS's commitment to the collaboration and a high level of satisfaction concerning the fulfillment of its responsibilities to the collaborative effort. Despite differing program philosophies, there exists a mutual respect between the two agencies that allows the collaboration to continue.

The agencies regard independent living supports and vocational services as not only complementary but interdependent: housing, transportation, and personal assistance services are essential to success in a vocational program, and an employment income is key to maintaining these supports and services. Peer counseling and self-advocacy skills training provided by the ILC help consumers identify their employment goals and articulate them effectively when they approach DRS for vocational services. Walton Options also credits the success of the collaboration in great part to the commitment of its Executive Director and the Regional DRS director.

Finally, Walton Options credits its volunteer program with bolstering the partnership's success. Many of the 40 volunteers contributed their time to the ILC last year used their volunteer service to convince DRS that they were ready for VR services; other volunteers were able to move directly to paid, competitive employment.

Communication between the collaborative agencies is maintained through monthly phone calls or meetings between DRS counselors and Walton Options staff. In addition, the ILC sends an assessment tool to DRS every month as well as upon program completion.

The ILC hopes to double its funding within the next one to three years so that it may expand the efforts of the collaboration, particularly the computer training and peer support programs.

For more information, contact:

Krystal Singletary
Walton Options for Independent Living, Inc.
611 15th St., PO Box 519
Augusta, GA 30903-0519

Voice: (706) 724-6262
Fax: (706) 724-6729
kswoil@csranet.com

Doyle Stewart
Region Director
Georgia Division of Rehabilitation Services
PO Box 15747

Voice: (706) 650-5600
Fax: (706) 650-5624

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