SELN members are talking about...

Important issues across a broad range of topics such as:

1. Funding, Reimbursement and Incentives
2. Training and Technical Assistance
3. Strategic Goals, Operating Policies and Definitions
4. Data Use and Performance Measurement
5. Transitioning from School to Work
6. Services, Planning and Innovations
7. Collaboration and Interagency Efforts
8. Benefits-Planning Education and Outreach

Different resources and other interesting employment-related news such as:

• SELN Employment First Policies - Analysis
  Learn more about the importance of communicating employment as a priority and "how" through this 'Question and Answer' format.

• SELN Employment Services Funding 

This series shares in-depth funding details for five states and explores its impact on employment outcomes.

• Explore a well-known pioneer in the developmental disability field and learn about Marc Gold's "Try Another Way" approach - inspiring and timeless! His teaching techniques illustrate that meaningful employment results from focusing on people’s capabilities.  The free video can be seen at www.mncdd.org/extra/marc-gold1.html .  

• Washington Post on Employment

An op-ed piece by the mom of a young man with autism. The story appeared in the October 30, 2006 Washington Post.

  Willing, Able -- and Unemployable

• Five-Year Initiative: Florida

On July 1, 2004, the Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD) embarked on an ambitious five-year employment initiative for people who have developmental disabilities. A survey conducted in 2003 found that 70% of the people with developmental disabilities who were not working wanted a job.

  Florida Agency for Persons with Disabilities Five-Year Employment Initiative.

• DD Planning Council and Employment Oregon

The Oregon Council on Developmental Disabilities developed this paper under a grant from the Competitive Employment (MIG) grant. Good example of  stakeholder  support for employment. This document and others will influence the final Oregon/SELN work plan.

  Supported Employment for Oregonians with Developmental Disabilities: Recommendations for Action

•  Employment Policy and Funding: Vermont

Over six years, regulations in Vermont gradually restricted, and then eventually prohibited, the use of state funds for sheltered workshops or enclaves. Concurrent with the change in funding regulations, the state worked with providers to convert the remaining sheltered workshops. This post includes a description of the change (ICI research brief) and the three most recent Vermont System of Care Plans.

Vermont's 1999 System of Care Plan stated that DDAS funds could not be used to increase the capacity of sheltered workshops (or congregate residential settings). The 2002 plan went a step further by stating that state funds could not be used to increase the capacity of group employment settings such as enclaves or work crews. These initial steps stopped the growth in sheltered workshop placements.

Subsequent plans illustrate the system's evolution.

• FY02-04 VT System of Care Plan
• VT System of Care Three-Year Plan: FY 2005 - FY 2007 The funding guideline language is on pages 45-46 (pages 63-64 of the pdf file).