Disability Employment

What does fidelity actually mean in employment services, and why does it matter? Put simply, fidelity asks whether the practice being delivered in the real world matches the practice we say we deliver, and whether it retains the important characteristics that make the approach work. Its practical value is that it helps organisations identify where practice is drifting and why. The issue might be practitioner capability, but it might also be workload, supervision, leadership, organisational culture, data systems, funding or contract design. Understanding that difference helps organisations focus improvement where it is actually needed. In this session, Dr Peter Smith explores the difference between fidelity and compliance, why outcomes alone cannot tell us whether good practice is occurring, and how fidelity can become a tool for organisational learning rather than simply another audit. If you work in, lead or commission employment services, listen to Session 3 of the Employment Systems Podcast and consider a simple question: are we actually doing what we say we do?

What would employment services look like if they were designed around a person’s employment journey, rather than the program they happen to qualify for today? In this episode, Dr Peter Smith explores the idea of journey-based employment and why the way we organise employment services can sometimes get in the way of the outcome we are trying to achieve. People’s employment journeys do not begin when they enter a program, and they do not necessarily end when a program records an outcome. They develop across education, preparation, work experience, employment, career development and periods of transition. Yet the systems supporting that journey are often divided into separate programs, funding streams and eligibility categories. This episode asks what changes when we make the employment journey itself the organising principle. It explores continuity, transitions between systems, what needs to persist when programs and providers change, and why employment services may need to think beyond individual program boundaries if we want employment outcomes that develop and endure over time. Part of the CDERP Employment Systems Podcast series, exploring how we might think differently about the systems that shape employment participation.

Series Introduction, Dr Peter Smith Hello, I’m Dr Peter Smith from the Centre for Disability Employment Research and Practice, or CDERP. Welcome to Systems in Employment Practice. I wanted to put this six part series together because I keep finding myself coming back to the same problem. In employment services, we spend a lot of time talking about programs, practitioners, participants and outcomes. We introduce new models, new contracts, new measures and, every few years, another round of reform. But we don't always spend enough time asking what I think is the bigger question. What is the system actually producing, and why? The first session -Why Good Practice Fails in Bad Systems -Introduces the central proposition: we spend enormous effort improving practitioner capability while often ignoring the system in which practice occurs. Covers incentives, caseloads, contracts, measurement, organisational culture and why competent people can still produce mediocre outcomes.

Dr Peter Smith discusses Customised Employment, Discovery and the NDIS with Job Development thrown in.

In this podcast, we discuss what makes a good transition from school to work. We look at the elements of good transition and why having an individualised transition is important.

Tracee Garner; Disability Advocate, Author talks about her journey and new book. Inspirational!

Work First client Jeremy interviews Work First COO Lauren Pavlidis. Together they share Jeremy's story with Jeremy leading the discussion.

Random observations and conversations about what we see in our Work First employment and mental health Practice. We see some brilliant things, some things that make you pause, some things that make you angry, and some things that make you cry.

Dr Peter Smith was interviewed by Chris Ilsley on Radio 6PR about the Work First corporate disability employment program

A former business owner, Debbie has spent over 20 years advocating for societal change and creating pathways to make it happen. In addition to building vision and aptitude within Easterseals Southern California’s Employment Division, she works with stakeholders throughout the country to build capacity, and create urgency, around customized employment and employment first. Her concurrent roles as an Easterseals Vice President, board member on both CA APSE and Foundation for Developmental Disabilities boards of directors, and membership in numerous coalitions connect Debbie with some of the country’s best minds and allow her to continue working with, and on behalf of, others committed to ending segregation and building brighter futures for people with disabilities.

Carli Friedman, CQL Director of Research will join us and discuss behaviour support and all things CQL. Carli oversees all CQL data analyses and research projects research, while focusing on quality of life, community integration and social determinants of integration and ableism.

Tamsin Cottis, co-founder of Respond, a UK based counselling service for people with learning disabilities talks about counselling and learning disabilities.

Richard Luecking, Ed.D., is Co-Director of the Center for Transition and Career Innovation for Youth with Disabilities and is a Research Professor in the Department of Counseling, Higher Education, and Special Education in the College of Education. He previously served for 28 years as President of TransCen, Inc., a national non-profit organization dedicated to improving employment success of people with disabilities. During his tenure at TransCen he was responsible for the implementation of numerous model demonstration and research projects related to school-to-work transition and competitive integrated employment of individuals with disabilities.

Sara is the Director of WorkLink, TransCen’s San Francisco-based employment program for job seekers with disabilities. Sara is also a key contributor to the training and technical team where she works with employers, school districts, parent groups, and service providers. She also provides field support for many of TransCen’s federal and state initiatives. Currently, she is a subject matter expert for ODEP’s Employment First State Leadership Mentoring Program, where she provides technical assistance and consultation to state agencies and providers in capacity building in effective practice, system/provider transformation, school-to-work transition and employer engagement. For the past 30 years, Sara’s focus has been on school-to-work transition and employment for individuals with disabilities. She has extensive experience in direct service, policy and program development, and system transformation. When asked what her passion is and what she can’t stop talking about, Sara will respond: “My work. My work. My work.” She also loves music, traveling to exotic locales, cooking/baking, taking her dog to the beach, and reading the New York Times on Sunday mornings.

Professor Keith McVilly talks about the application of Positive Behaviour Support principles to Customised Employment and how by bringing behaviour support principles to the employment process and post placement support we can enhance employment and career longevity. This is about adopting clinical principles to the job development process and adding a new skill set to the employment consultant armoury of skills.

David Petherick is the highly regarded Deputy CEO of Valid, the Victorian based advocacy group with a long history of championing the rights of people with intellectual and developmental disability. David talks about Valid's work and provides valuable insights into advocacy, employment, the NDIS and all things empowerment.

In this podcast we are joined by Mike Callahan, President of Marc Gold & Associates to talk about Systematic Instruction, Natural Supports and the legacy of Marc Gold. An inspiring conversation that gives us something to pause and think about. June Alexander will join us to discuss her thoughts and practices in SI, Families and mentoring.

Jeannie Hodges - Director Economic Outcomes discusses employment supports within the context of the 20/21 NDIS Supports funding and the future of disability employment. Time to innovate and think differently. The discussion is general in nature and not specific to any one person and participants should consider their own circumstances and seek advice.

Evan Dean, Investigator - Beach Center and Assistant Professor University of Kansas talks about self-determination and employment. Career Design and transition, along with how we work to promote choice and control.

Professor Emeritus Trevor Parmenter offers his thoughts on transitions, some history on the process and reflections on where we need to go. Valuable insights from a career passionately pursuing transitions for people with intellectual and developmental disability.

David Michael Mank, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus at Indiana University. He is formerly the Director of the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community at Indiana University, Indiana’s University Center for Excellence on Disabilities.As a writer and researcher, Dr. Mank has an extensive background in the education and employment for persons with disabilities. He has authored or coauthored dozens of articles and book chapters. His interests also include transition from school to work and community living. Mank has worked on issues related to Competitive Integrated Employment for people with significant disabilities for many years. His work has included developing the first free standing supported employment program in Oregon, McKenzie Personnel Systems. McKenzie was originally incorporated as a non-profit organization by Mank and two women who had daughters with developmental disabilities. He has worked on provider transformation (from sheltered work to competitive integrated employment) in a number of states across the USA and a number of other countries. He has emphasized “capacity building” to deliver integrated employment outcomes at the local level. He has also assisted in developing employment related data systems in a number of states. He is frequently requested to present at Leadership Institutes. In addition, he has been a frequent participant in Policy Development and Analysis at the state and national levels. He has assisted states and local communities develop, implement model programs for transition from school to work for youth with disabilities. Mank is a member of the editorial boards of the Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities (TASH), the Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, the Journal of Disability Policy Studies. He is Associate Editor for the journal, Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. In January 2015, Mank was appointed by the U. S. Secretary of Labor to the Advisory Committee on Increasing Competitive Integrated Employment for Individuals with Disabilities, which was created in the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. He was subsequently elected Chair of the Committee, which delivered its Final Report and Recommendations to the Secretary of Labor and Congress in September 2016. This Committee delivered its Final Report to the Secretary of Labor and Congress in September 2016.

In this podcast, Tristan Claridge, the founder of Social Capital Research and Training, Dunedin New Zealand shares insights gained from over two decades of research into social capital and its application to employment and business.

Michelle is the National Manager for Ticket To Work. The program supports transition to work through school based work experiences that lead to post school employment for people with disabilities. Michelle discusses the program, enablers, outcomes and the path forward.

Nick Mac Hale CEO Brite talks about organisations change under the NDIS paradigm and how they are using Discovery to create career and employment opportunities. Brite's journey from supported employment to social entreprise and how being a viable business can provide employment opportunities for the broader community.

In this podcast I talk abut what we are doing to families and how they are an important part of the employment process.

In this podcast, we think about the issues surrounding transitioning to retirement for someone with a disability.

In this podcast, I look at our 2017 Retreat discussion about how to support participants and families to engage with and change the NDIS employment supports. The outcome of that discussion is the CDERP Community and Provider Partnership Program.

In this podcast, I wonder how having a three-fold increase in providers in most employment service areas will play out. THere isn't three-fold increase in clients, so how do you survive, find new clients and keep the ones that you have?

In this podcast, I speak with Dr Garth Bennie, CEO New Zealand Disability Support Network (NZDSN). NZDSN is the provider peak body in New Zealand who we are partnering with to develop and deliver disability employment training and certification. Exciting times ahead in New Zealand.

In this episode, I talk about Social Entreprises and the findings of our research into the characteristics of successful social entreprises as employment opportunities for anyone with barriers to employment.

In this Podcast I discuss the meaning of work. What is meaningful work? Who determines what is meaningful?

In this Podcast I talk about the three versions of Discovery; Consultant driven, Self-Guided and Group Discovery. I provide a brief overview of the setting where the different versions will applied.

This episode gives a brief outline on our experience training staff to use Customised employment highlighting the need for comprehensive training and support for CE to be effective