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How many of you hear about no available jobs so we, you know, we don't know what to do?
There aren't any jobs available in the community and we live in a very rural community.
This is a common barrier, right?
No available jobs. You know there's so many people unemployed.
So, two solutions that I
uh... suggest that you -
instead of focusing on no available jobs and we can't do it so let's turn it on its head
and say what's possible.
I say let's tap the hidden job market
and consider self-employment.
So, how do we tap the hidden job market? Here's the relationship part, okay.
So we have the map
that Cindy helped us do - the asset map
from last time.
Recognize those three circles?
So what if we were to put names to those groups
and people -
or groups and
places that
uh... we wrote down on that map? If we started putting names
in those - in those
three quadrants, okay.
That way we would start to see
who we're connected with - actual people.
And let's think about Mitch.
Mitch is a 17 year old guy who is very social and is looking for his
first job.
He's not sure what he wants to do, but he knows - he knows that he likes
books,
people, animals,
and making food at home with his family.
He is active
and wants to live a healthy lifestyle.
Mitch wrote down some names with his team about who he knew. And so here's just a
basic list of, you know, about fifteen names of people
and then we list their place of employment. We have people who work at
Sears. We have people who work at um...
restaurants, a bus company,
uh... an HVAC company,
uh... yoga instructor.
We have all kinds of people.
And then we have uh...
also listed their interests
and their community involvement. So we've taken inventory here.
As we look at this,
we can see that there are a number of people that we could connect Mitch to
to explore
workplaces,
to learn about,
you know, what employers are looking for - to have informational interviews,
to have um... job shadows,
to possibly, you know, ask about
uh... job
possibilities, right?
Or work experiences.
We also see that there are ways that we could connect him
to doing more things in the community that he enjoys on the weekend
and in the evening so that he can further expand his network of people
that he knows. Because it is through who we know
more often that we find our jobs. So if more people know Mitch and he's involved more
and contributing more, you know, to his community
and he's letting people know that he's looking for his very first job, you can
probably bet that some of these people will say, "hey guess what". You know, they would start
looking out for Mitch.
And they would start
finding out if there was
something out there for Mitch. So they'd get to know him and
they'd be his ally that way in his job search.
So there are two ways that people work in the community,
There are getting a job - working for someone else
and then there's
creating your own opportunity through self-employment.
Now, some people may be thinking,
"hmm, when it comes to people with significant disabilities
is self-employment really a possibility?"
Absolutely!
So about
ten years ago I worked in Dane County to launch a pilot project with
DVR
and uh... Dane County Human Services to help people who did not fit
the mold of traditional employment -
help them develop
micro-enterprises in supported self-employment opportunities.
And we were very successful.
And did it take a village? Yes.
Sometimes it did. Cindy's laughing because she was involved with me on that.
Yes.
Couple of villages.
Yes, but you know, it works.
It doesn't work for everybody, but it works. It's a way to help people,
you know, develop their own employment opportunities.
And,
in many parts of Wisconsin, self-employment is a way of life. In rural
communities, it is almost
the only way
that people can
generate income.
There are towns in northern Wisconsin where more than half of the people are
self employed.
So, starting a small business might be the way to go.
And there are different approaches to self-employment planning just like
there are different approaches to finding a job.
And we know that there are certain approaches that work better for people with
more significant disabilities.
We know that Customized Employment is uh... good - you know good practice,
tapping the hidden job market is a good practice.
When - when it comes to people with - helping people with
significant disabilities connect to the workplace
and same with self-employment planning. We know that a more customized
approach to
self-employment planning is the way to do that - more of a micro-enterprise
approach that focuses on
the person
and their skills and strengths
and interests rather than uh... market-driven opportunities. It is possible to
create niche businesses around people based on what they love to do and what
they're good at.
So this Venn Diagram, I offer up as a tool to get teams thinking
as a brainstorming technique. I often take it into meetings when I'm meeting
with a team for the very first time - very first time - who has
allowed me to come in
uh... sure, why not? I guess we can think about employment. You know what I mean? Like,
let's see if she has the answer. You know what I mean? And I'll say, "ok, well let's think about
themes instead of jobs" because we all have limited notions about what jobs
exist in our community,
okay. It's based on what we've done or what our family members have done. So, we have
maybe a dozen - 20 job descriptions in our heads that we can kind of call up
and say
can you do this, this, this, this, this, - nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, right?
Well, we gotta pull ourselves out of that thinking.
We have to start thinking about
themes -
not jobs,
okay. So going back to that interests,
personal attributes,
and environment.
So, I offer these things up. They all follow the same theme. Are you starting to get it?
They're just different tools
and different ways of looking at it or, you know, considering it. So, this Venn
Diagram, you can have a brainstorm with the team about 'okay what are some of the
skills, education, experiences' because that's where we generally first
start to think, right?
Then we start thinking about personality, environments, and people that the person
likes
to be around, okay, or within,
and their own personality. Then their dreams and their talents and their interests.
And if we
write these down
visually,
I can tell you that team members will start to say, "Oh,
what about that, what about that" and it's just as out of the box of these typical jobs.
Let me just give you an example.
Um...
about a woman who liked arts and crafts, okay.
And uh... so we decided -
after having some initial discussions - we decided
pottery because that's what she really loved.
So, let's look at
some sort of vocational future in pottery.
Simple as that.
Okay, we got our - we got our hat - our, you know, thing to hang our hat on.
Okay, we're going to start the exploration process.
So, we had some conversations with the team about the community and about
her and
what she'd like to do and what the possibilities are and then we mapped out
a three month plan.
So, what our plan was -
she was going to visit local arts and crafts shops in the area,
staff would spend time observing her and doing some of this, you know,
ideal conditions and uh...
skills inventory
and then talk to her about her likes and dislikes.
Um... they would spend some time looking on the internet at pottery businesses.
There's 'then that's a great place, just to start. Huh, I never thought about that
that or what do you think about this?'
That kind of thing.
Uh... they were going to visit the local Farmer's Markets, craft sales and
start having conversations with the craft vendors.
And, you know, 'so how do you make your stuff, what's it like to sell here, how much do you
sell?'
Um... you know, the pros and cons of it all.
And then, um... they were going to have her visit a local pottery studio and have an
informational interview with the owner there who was also a potter.
And then,
start taking some community classes but what's - there's gotta be some pottery
classes around, right?
Because this is something she had done years ago. She loved it and wanted to do it more.
So, does this mean that
that we would -
that she would pursue pottery as her vocation?
Maybe not. Would she start a business? Maybe not, okay.
Maybe.
So, we're exploring.
We're having experiences.
We're helping to understand -
her understand herself and we're helping -
we're understanding her so we can support her better, okay.
But we have gotten off of the
can't do it,
not sure what to do and getting into the action of
exploring.
So, overcoming fear of losing benefits.
That's a big barrier, right?
It's a huge barrier.
So, what I say is that everyone who is
engaged in employment planning should be connected to a Work Incentives Benefits Specialist.
There are Work Incentives Benefits Specialists
all over the State of Wisconsin
and you can find one by going to the website that's on the slide here and
don't worry about writing that down - all these resources will be up
online.
But a Work Incentives Benefits Specialist will help
someone who receives SSI or SSDI
understand how to work and keep the benefits they need. Because there are lots of
provisions in place
that help people keep the benefits they need while they're working, okay.
Some of them are
student earned income exclusion.
This is a provision
that allows an SSI recipient who is between the age of 18 and
22 and in an educational or transition program,
okay, to earn,
let's see what is it - $1,730 a month
on up to a yearly maximum of $6,960
before those earnings affect
the SSI check. So,
That's just one of the provisions.
There are also others like 1619b, which is a way to
once you zero out your check - SSI check -
from earnings
and you're worried about your Medicaid, well you automatically go on something called
1619b.
Even if you zero out your SSI check
from earnings.
And you could stay on 1619b until your -
and get your Medicaid -
until you make like $32,000 dollars a year.
So, you don't have to write all that down and remember it. What you have to do is
remember to work with a Work Incentives Benefits Specialist.
Overcoming transportation barriers. Now, there are options,
okay. And I know it gets harder and harder in our rural communities.
But people can learn how to ride the bus
in places that have a bus system.
Many communities have
uh...
low - reduced fair taxicabs in the community. I know my
community has one. It's like $1.50 a ride, okay.
Um...
there's also a Ride Share
through the Department of Transportation website where they connect people who are
looking for a ride and people who are willing to give rides.
So you can go to - if you Google 'Wisconsin Ride Share DOT,'
it'll come up and you can register to either give rides or get a ride.
There's rides from others. So,
carpooling is pretty common.
There are also ways to get a driver's license
whether you have a physical disability or a developmental disability.
I know lots of people who drive.
And then there is the - there are the specialized transportation arrangements.
So I say,
you know, look into all of those
and see what's possible.
Support barriers.
Now we all rely on natural supports and so no matter what -
no matter what level of support you feel that the student needs or your
son or daughter needs,
don't get in the way of natural supports.
Try to cultivate them much as possible.
There are also assistive technology devices - low-tech and
high-tech that people can use to be supported on the job. There are some really
creative assistive technology solutions out there,
okay and I've seen schools doing a really great job, you know, helping students
master iPod Touches and iPads uh... in order to
pull up a video that shows them how to do something, you know, to perform a work task
or reminders and then, you know, then they can go about doing that instead of having the physical
presence of a job coach.
Also,
uh... there's an option of having Workplace Personal Assistance with Family
Care - if you're a Family Care member.
You know and IRIS. And this is a different kind of support than job coaching.
Job coaching is a specialized
uh... um...
you know support designed to teach people job skills whereas Workplace
Personal Assistance is more the safety and supervision kind
of supports related to disability.
And then there's also a way to get really creative using self-directed
support. And both Family Care and IRIS offer, you know, self-directed support options to hire
independent
employment supports or co-workers even to provide those supports.
So there's options there.
And then overcoming education and training barriers. Did you know that
there's a movement afoot
to uh... help
uh... open the doors of postsecondary education institutions
for people with developmental disabilities? I see some people here clapping at
that. It's called Think College. So, if you have not heard of that,
Google 'Think College Wisconsin'
and it'll be in the resources too and take a look at what's going on
cuz it's really exciting stuff.
Also, you know, meet with the Career Services and Disability
Resource Services staff at the technical colleges and universities.
Uh... if you feel that you need some postsecondary education training - meet
with them because they can help you understand
what's possible.
They can -
they can work on accommodations and other things.
Another resource that I did want to clue you into, was the - they're called
Self-Directed Employment Planning Modules, okay. And this is on the In Control
Wisconsin website. It's a series of recorded modules that -
about ten of them -
that a person can take
uh... whether it be a student or a family member helping a student or an
adult and, you know, or anyone who is
engaged in employment planning can take these modules. They're free,
self-paced and it comes with a workbook and a resource guide. And it will
help uh...
a person develop an employment plan that then they can take to school
or their DVR counselor
or their long-term care staff and work with them on
implementing that plan.