Welcome to "Job Match Makers!"

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Brian

Welcome to the Job Matchmakers podcast, where we share stories from employment consultants about supporting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to find employment in their communities one person, one job at a time.

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Sherry

This podcast is produced by the Minnesota Transformation Initiative, a technical assistance center focused on expanding capacity for competitive, integrated employment across Minnesota. We are your hosts, Sherry Healey and Brian Begin, and we work at the Institute on Community Integration at the University of Minnesota. Thanks for joining us.

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Sherry

Welcome, everyone, to the first episode of the Job Matchmakers podcast. Today we are not following our standard format in future episodes, we plan to interview someone who works in the field of employment services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, but we won't have any guest today. Today is an opportunity for you to get to know Brian and myself.

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Sherry

Who will be your hosts for the podcast. We'll be introducing the Minnesota Transformation initiative, explaining why we developed the podcast and sharing some information about ourselves.

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Brian

So the point of this podcast is to share stories and discuss the relevant research focused on best practices and innovative approaches to employment services. And our audience is employment consultants, or the people who provide services to support folks with disabilities, particularly people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Get jobs. Now, Sherry and I want to acknowledge different job titles exist.

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Brian

A few examples would be job coach, career consultant, employment specialist. And the job title that we're going to be using for our podcast is employment consultant.

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Sherry

The Minnesota Transformation Initiative. Technical Assistance Center, or MTI, began in two thousand twenty two through funding from the Minnesota Department of Human Services. MTI comes out of Minnesota's commitment as an employment first state, and its purpose is to expand capacity for competitive, integrated employment and community life engagement across Minnesota.

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Brian

What is competitive integrated employment? The definition we use, we take straight from the state of Minnesota. This is actually codified into law, and it means full time, part time or self-employment. And that can be with and without supports. You're in the competitive labor force. You're on the payroll of a competitive business or industry. You're earning at least the minimum wage, but not less than the customary wage and level of benefits paid by the employer for the same or similar work performed by workers without a disability.

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Brian

And lastly, an individual has the opportunity to gain a promotion or to move into a different position that is a better fit for them. So competitive, integrated employment is a gold standard. It means full time, part time or self-employment with and without supports. A person is in the competitive labor force. They're on the payroll of a competitive business or industry.

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Brian

They're earning at least the minimum wage, but not less than the customary wage and level of benefits paid by the employer for the same or similar work performed by workers without a disability. They have the same opportunities for promotion or for transitioning into a different role within the organization. Now contrast that with sub-minimum wage employment in Minnesota and in many other states across the United States.

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Brian

People with disabilities can legally be paid less than the minimum wage. Individuals that do sub minimum wage piece rate work. It's the only option available to them. It's oftentimes done in a center owned by a provider. It can also be out in the community, but it's always done in a group environment. The work is segregated and an individual doesn't have any opportunity to advance to a different position or get to do work that's meaningful to them.

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Brian

There's also contract work where, individual is being paid by the provider, as opposed to being paid and hired directly by the business. And so an important piece of the work that the MTI project is doing is to help providers get away from offering that sub-minimum wage sheltered segregated work and revamp their employment services to support people with disabilities, getting hired directly out in the community.

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Brian

And that's competitive, integrated employment.

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Sherry

Awesome. And community life engagement is, sort of a partner with competitive, integrated employment. And it really just is a description of all the ways that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities access and participate in their communities outside of employment as part of a meaningful day. So it's it's not a service. It is an outcome. It is anything that is not worked.

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Sherry

And basically, you know, accessing typical community facilities like the library, the gym, rec-center. It can also include volunteerism or post-secondary or continuing education. UMass Boston Institute for Community Inclusion developed four Guideposts to provide a framework. So our community likes engagement. The first guidepost is individualized supports for each person. The second promote community membership and contribution. The third use human and social capital to decrease dependance on paid supports.

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Sherry

And the fourth guidepost is to ensure that supports are outcome oriented and regularly monitored.

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Brian

So what is MTI's work look like on the ground? We work with provider organizations to help them shift their service models from center based and group employment to supports focused on competitive, integrated employment. We also support providers to grow their staff and expand their reach so they can serve more people to find jobs in their communities. We offer statewide training opportunities to employment consultants, case managers and other professionals on topics related to competitive, integrated employment and community life engagement.

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Brian

Our team also works with county agencies to increase their employment outcomes and offer resources for folks with disabilities and their families to explore and plan for employment.

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Sherry

We developed this podcast because working in employment services can sometimes still isolate and lonely, and many providers have small employment teams. Many employment consultants spend their days driving between job sites. It can sometimes be difficult to connect with and learn from other employment consultants. And you know, there's not a whole lot of resources, especially free resources available for employment consultants to reflect on the work they do and grow in their skills and careers.

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Sherry

And, you know, sort of brainstorm with others about, best practices and, you know, how to, really provide the best support to the individuals they're working with. Supporting people with disabilities to find employment is challenging and very important work, and we want to help elevate the professionals that do this work. Our hope is that this podcast will feel like a conversation among colleagues, something that employment consultants can relate to and learn from.

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Brian

So what can listeners expect from this podcast? Sherry and I will primarily be interviewing employment consultants. We're going to ask each person interviewed to share a story of one job they supported someone to find. And we're going to discuss the different parts of the job search, what worked, what didn't, and what was the outcome.

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Sherry

We also plan to occasionally interview researchers about recently published research to have a conversation about the key takeaways from their research for employment consultants. How should this research affect how they do their job?

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Brian

So now Sherry and I are going to share a little bit about how we got into the field. Our first question that we ask of all guests, and Sheri and I will answer today, is to talk about how we got into this work. For me, I was a senior in high school and I needed a job, and my older sister, was a nurse manager, working in a nursing home.

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Brian

And she told me that they were hiring. So I started in Health and Human Services by being a nutrition aide. I worked in a kitchen. I wore a hairnet. I scooped mashed potatoes using an ice cream scoop. I delivered meals to the different dining rooms within the facility. And the work was pretty challenging. And what I enjoyed most was interacting with the residents.

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Brian

I didn't really have a passion for cooking or doing dishes after I'd been in that role for about five years. An opportunity presented itself. They had an opening on the therapeutic Recreation team, and I thought, you know, I'd much rather be calling bingo and taking folks out into the community and hosting holiday parties rather than doing dishes.

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Brian

So I was given an opportunity to start in this new role, and that really began to open doors for me. I did that work for six years, and then a friend of mine, who worked for a provider in the metro area called Life Work Services, told me about an open supervisory position. And that was when I transitioned to working with adults and transition youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

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Brian

I spent four and a half years managing a center based team. We supported folks with some significant medical support needs, and we got out into the community as much as we could. But there was definitely challenges. And then I transitioned to managing an employment team. We supported a majority of folks in jobs out in the community. Some of it was contracted employment.

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Brian

Most folks were directly hired by the business. At that time, Life Works decided to let go of their 14 see special wage certificate. So I had an opportunity to work with individuals and family members as we made that transition. And then I began working at the University of Minnesota Institute on Community Integration in the fall of two thousand twenty two.

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Brian

And that includes working on the MTI project. My role within MTI is I work with providers offering technical assistance as they transition away from Sub-minimum wage center based work to focus on competitive, integrated employment and community life engagement.

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Sherry

The thing I love about employment services is there's so many paths to get into this work. Nobody comes the same way. And, my path to this is is quite different from Brian's, as it is likely to be, different from many others that are in the field. I, it started for me in nineteen ninety six when my two year old son had had a seizure.

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Sherry

It was, the first of thousands to come. And it really changed everything about my life, including my career. I had been a human resources manager for in corporate America, for eight years and was working, part time. I was about to go on maternity leave for my second child. That I was eight and a half months pregnant with.

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Sherry

And, and but but Michael's disability was, was significant, and, you know, it really there was really no chance of going back into the, my, you know, sort of my previous lives. But I just, I, I didn't know anything about disability, and I'd had no experience with it until it became personal for me. And, I, I decided that I really needed to dig in and understand what his future was going to look like.

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Sherry

What what what was ahead for us as a family, what was ahead for him? And so when I was able to go back to work, it was about ten years later, by that time, I have three kids and all, you know, young kids. But, at, I saw a job opening for a job coach, for a local provider.

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Sherry

It was during school hours, so I was able to. And they had a daycare. So for my youngest, he was able to go to to the daycare that was offered by the provider. And, and, and my other kids were, you know, in school during the time, but it it got me, exposure to this, to this field, and I loved it.

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Sherry

It was really, fit for me. I did that for two years, and, then did some other things go into special ed, subbing and, and that kind of thing and, and looking at, again, you know, looking at, at grades older than Michael and trying to understand the past. And then, about four years later, I became a job developer for another provider.

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Sherry

And I did that for about eight years. I, and again, it just seemed like such the right fit for me being a, former human resources, professional and, you know, and it helped me understand what adult services was like. And, you know, what the, the different kinds of opportunities would be out there. For my son, and, but but it became, a passion for me as well.

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Sherry

So it really was, a different kind of journey, but, it's, it's something that, you know, now, understanding the, you know, the history of services and, and where the field is going. I just I'm really excited about the kinds of things that are ahead for people with disabilities. The provider I worked for, did not have a 14 C certificate.

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Sherry

They had relinquished their certificate just before I got there. So it was completely focused on competitive, integrated employment. They were just starting a pilot in, community based services. So moving away from the center based services. But again, looking at, at, what was available in our community for, for individuals with high support needs, like my son, we were not seeing any community based services available.

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Sherry

So about, 12 years ago, we, we got together with some other local families and created a community based state program so that individuals with higher support needs could be out in the community volunteering for other nonprofits, having lunch at restaurants, accessing community services. You know, just being in the community with people without disabilities. It's been quite a journey.

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Sherry

But I, started with, University of Minnesota about two years ago, and I just was really excited about the idea that, finally, with a group of people that all talk the same language and I'll feel as passionately as I do about this work, and, even though I am based in Illinois, I work remotely based.

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Sherry

I just still feel really, connected to, you know, to to these folks. And I just say, you know, they're my people. I found my people, which took me a long time. But, but it just is, really exciting to see what's happening in Minnesota. See the the, the the commitment by the state of Minnesota to, to move the state forward and really be focused on best practices.

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Sherry

And I'm just really excited to be part of that. Within that Minnesota transformation initiative. I had the opportunity to, facilitate some trainings and community of practices. I, support organizational mentorship. I this year, I am having the opportunity to do some technical assistance with a couple of providers. So I'm really excited about working with employment teams on the ground and really, helping to brainstorm.

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Sherry

It's really fun to get into the nitty gritty about, how to really get people, connected to employment that is meaningful to them, that that is really utilizing their skills and abilities. And, so really looking forward to that. And another thing I'm excited about this year to be working on as a pilot for, individual is with high support needs, to really make sure that we're including everyone in this work.

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Brian

Thank Sherry. So I'm excited about this podcast because we get to hear from the folks on the ground doing the work every day. The work is challenging. Nobody's the same. And I'm excited because while we're doing these interviews, our hope is that audience members perhaps get ideas for how they can better support a person to be successful in their job.

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Brian

It doesn't always work the way we think it's going to. And I think hearing stories of times when jobs maybe didn't work out can be helpful as well.

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Sherry

Yeah, I think that's a really good point, Brian. I think that, you know, sometimes the the stories of where it didn't go like you expected it to go can be just as valuable, as the ones that succeeded. And so far, you know, with we've really just started talking with, some employment consultants about the work they're doing, and, and it really some of these stories I think you're going to really love because they're, they're just, you know, that they're really digging in on, you know, getting to know the person connecting those things to employment.

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Sherry

And, so I'm, I'm excited to hear from the, the frontline, employment consultants who are making it happen every day and just being able to share those stories. I think it's going to be really fun.

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Brian

Our final question that will be asking everybody in that Sherry and I will answer today is, what do you want people in your community to know about employment for people with disabilities?

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Sherry

The thing I really hope to share with people in the community is that individuals with disabilities each have individual and unique skills and abilities that can benefit business in different ways. It's just about finding the set and finding a way that, you know, that they can use those skills and abilities to really be part of a team.

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Sherry

And, so sometimes it can be hard to measure what an impact there is when someone with a disability joins the team. But when it happens, we're better as a team. We're better as employers or better as communities. Just having that, the full spectrum of, of people who live in our communities being part of the community.

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Sherry

I think it just makes us all better.

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Brian

Well, said. Sherry, the only thing I would add is that when we all do better, we all do better. Awesome. So that about does it. Sherry, thank you very much for joining me today.

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Sherry

You got it was a great conversation.

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Brian

And thank you to our listeners. We hope you tune in next time.

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Sherry

Thank you for joining us for the Job Matchmakers podcast, funded by the Minnesota Department of Human Services. This podcast is a partnership between the University of Minnesota's Institute on Community Integration and UMass Boston's Institute for Community Inclusion.

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Brian

For more information on the Minnesota Transformation Initiative, visit our website. Linked in the show notes. We're glad you joined us, and we'll see you next time.