Community Rehabilitation Providers (CRPs) support people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to find work in their communities. In the resources below, learn more about how CRPs function and how their work is evolving.
The Arc of Westchester benefits from an agency culture that values innovative partnerships. In fact, an agency leader explained that the organization “will work with anybody who is willing to sit and talk.” This collaborative spirit led to a creative endeavor with Mercy College, a four-year school offering degrees in Business, Education, Liberal Arts, Health and Natural Sciences, and Social and Behavioral Sciences. Within Health and Natural Sciences are departments such as nursing, speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and nutrition.
The Institute for Community Inclusion (ICI) partnered with The Arc of the United States to identify ten elements of successful organizational transformation to competitive integrated employment. They asked four providers who successfully closed sheltered workshops to provide implementation strategies that they used according to each of the ten elements. Based on the information gathered from these providers, the attached brief will:
The decision to close a facility-based program requires courage and a willingness to take concrete and often risky steps toward that goal. As more organizations develop strategic plans that include the goal of closing a facility-based program, it is our hope that these summaries will provide both guidance and the determination to take substantive steps in the change process. This volume summarizes the themes that were repeated across the experiences of these organizations.
These three case studies are part of a larger study of six organizations that have closed a sheltered workshop or a nonwork, segregated program and replaced it with integrated employment or other integrated, community-based activities for individuals with disabilities. The organizations vary with respect to size, geographic location, and the characteristics of persons receiving supports.
Continuing the expansion of integrated employment opportunities requires a clear understanding of the organizational and systems factors that influence change and expand access to integrated employment. This monograph will focus on change at an organizational level in four organizations that were engaged in a change process during 1998 and 1999.
Expanding participation in integrated employment is a key goal for both state agencies and individual community rehabilitation providers. The Training and Technical Assistance for Providers project, or T-TAP, was funded by the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Disability Employment Policy to identify strategies that support movement from facility based services, and in particular employment at less than the minimum wage Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), to customized employment in integrated community settings.
Over the past 15 years there have been substantial changes in the delivery and funding of day and employment services for individuals with disabilities. Most notably, the introduction of supported employment has led to a dramatic increase in the number of individuals with severe disabilities in integrated community employment. Despite these promising changes, the implementation of supported employment has not resulted in a transfer of resources and services from facilities to integrated employment.
Community providers across the nation are embracing the transformation from facility-based employment supports to competitive integrated employment. While many providers believe in inclusion and Employment First for the individuals they support, some struggle to make their vision a reality. The process of organizational transformation can seem daunting without an understanding of the full range of tactics and approaches available.