ILC/VR Team -- Lawrence, Kansas

Overview

This informal collaborative activity involves Independence, Inc. and the Lawrence District Office Kansas Rehabilitation Services (KRS). The goal of the collaboration is to achieve successful employment for KRS consumers through inter-agency coordination of services. The parties conduct monthly meetings to discuss progress of consumers and brainstorm solutions to unique local problems.

These joint activities serve adults and high school students with all types of disabilities and diverse levels of work experience and educational achievement. ILC services aimed at helping consumers achieve their employment and self-employment goals include computer training, independent living skills training, peer counseling, housing assistance, advocacy, and help with assistive technology issues.

KRS has referred consumers to Independence, Inc. for transportation services since 1980, computer training since 1985, independent living skills training since 1992, and assistive technology assessments since 1994. The agencies have conducted monthly networking meetings for eight years. Progress (and barriers) towards employment goals are discussed at these meetings. Independence, Inc. does not maintain aggregate data on consumer employment outcomes. A Title I grant supports the ILC's collaborative work with KRS.

Program Approach

The collaboration holds that cooperative efforts improve consumer services and are more efficient in helping consumers reach their goals. It is an example of a solid basic employment related VR/IL collaboration that reflects the features of:

• Focusing on consumers' vocational goals;
• Documenting services and outcomes and reporting on outcomes;
• Addressing agreed-upon local needs and gaps in services and barriers to employment;
• Holding regular, periodic meetings to discuss progress;
• Working to avoid duplication of services; and
• A fundamental commitment to work together despite differing organizational goals and strategies

Problem or Need Addressed

The collaborative effort addresses the problem of unemployment among persons with disabilities and the need to maximize quality of service through cooperation between agencies. Consumers served through the collaboration are a diverse group with varying levels of education and work experience. Many have worked successfully at different jobs but have newly acquired disabilities or worsening conditions that necessitate career changes.

Program Processes

The collaboration is informal, does not operate under a written agreement, and does not involve direct services or outreach activities distinct from other services provided by the Independence, Inc. and KRS Less than five percent of the total KRS consumer caseload of both KRS and Independence, Inc. are involved in the joint VR/IL activities.

Independence, Inc. outreach is conducted through presentations at civic group meetings, schools, churches, and support groups, as well as through booths at community organized events. In addition, the organization distributes brochures, sponsors educational workshops in the community, and attends collaborative meetings with other agencies to exchange information.

Consumers play a key role in the design of ILC services involved in the collaboration: at least 51% of direct service and management staff are people with disabilities. Staff designed and implemented the original Title I program in response to expressed consumer need, and modifications to the program are most made often in response to consumer feedback. ILC staff regularly solicit consumer feedback on their services through quarterly satisfaction surveys for the Independent Living Skills program and bi-annual surveys for the Computer Learning Center.

To accommodate consumers who are not fluent in English or are Deaf, foreign language interpreters or American Sign Language interpreters are provided. Consumers may also be referred to adult literacy and English as a Second Language educational programs upon request. A Human Diversity Task Force provides in-service training for staff to increase their ability to effectively serve a diverse population of consumers.

Collaboration history and funding

KRS has had a long-standing history of referrals to Independence, Inc. since 1980, when the agency began providing transportation services. Additional referrals followed as the ILC added service components to enhance independent living and employability. Independence, Inc. set up its Computer Learning Center in 1985, and established a separate independent living skills program in 1992. Like many other ILCs, Independence, Inc. became active in providing assistive technology, becoming an Assistive Technology Access Site for a 13-county area in 1994 under an arrangement with Kansas's Tech Act project. In 1997, the ILC started to conduct case management services for consumers under a Medicaid waiver for Home and Community Based Services.

In October 1991, Independence, Inc. received a Title I grant from KRS. Since then, the ILC has held monthly meetings with staff of the district KRS office and has reported regularly to the VR agency on consumer progress, outcomes, and outreach and systems advocacy activities..

For 1999, total Title I program funding for Independence, Inc. was $130, 055, of which approximately 92% was used for direct service costs and purchases of goods and services for the collaboration's consumers. Annual in-kind support is not calculated.

Staffing

The collaboration involves staff from both agencies who spend a few hours each month working on the collaborative effort, including the monthly networking meetings. Staff from the VR agency includes three or four counselors from KRS, a rehabilitation counselor from the Division of Blind Services, and the KRS Lawrence area coordinator. Contributing ILC staff includes the Computer Learning Center Coordinator, the independent living skills and assistive technology coordinators, the peer counseling specialist, the independent living skills trainer, and supervisory, management, and support staff.

Outcomes

Consumers' formal goal plans at Independence, Inc. allow them to specify their own criteria for measuring the completion of these goals. Outcomes are assessed by how often and how effectively consumers meet their goals, as specified by the VR Service Authorizations and ILC Consumer Goal forms. Employment outcomes, however, are informally tracked and there are no aggregate data reflecting consumer employment outcomes. Outcomes related to IWRP (IPE) objectives connected to Independence, Inc. services are tracked.

Quality of Collaboration

The ILC reports a moderate level of trust in KRS's commitment to the collaboration and moderate satisfaction concerning its fulfillment of its responsibilities to the collaborative effort. Problems within the collaboration are attributed to philosophical differences in approach to consumer advocacy as well as an unclear understanding of the other agency's role in the collaboration.

The monthly meetings promote positive interactions between Independence, Inc. and KRS, as well as helping focus efforts on consumer concerns. In this context, staff of the collaborating agencies are able to effectively advocate for their consumers, and when problems arise, they are worked out within the context of a friendly relationship. The focus of the meetings alternates between particulars of the collaborative relationship and discussing consumers' concerns.

The ILC expects that cooperative efforts will continue with or without Title I funding support and is confident that other funding will be available to support its services. No changes in collaboration staffing are anticipated over the next year.

For more information, contact:

Susan Mikesic
Community Coordinator
Independence, Inc.
2001 Haskell Ave.
Lawrence, KS 66046

Voice: (785) 841-0333
Fax: (785) 841-1094
indepinc@sunflower.com

Web Site: www.independenceinc.org

Dee Ann Mezger
Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor
Douglas County Vocational Rehabilitation Services
Box 590
Lawrence, KS 66044

Voice: (785) 832-3726
Fax: (785) 843-0291