The findings from Institute for Community Inclusion’s (ICI’s) Delphi Process on Organizational Transformation can guide providers as they work to transform their services. These findings support the prioritization of goals and the development of key action areas that have proven successful.
In this brief, we will:
1. share ten essential elements in organizational transformation ranked in their order of importance according to ICI’s Delphi process, and
2. offer a set of considerations to providers as they move their organizational transformation efforts forward.

The current emphasis on integrated employment for people with IDD is accelerating the organizational transformation from sheltered workshops to community-based supports, creating both opportunities and challenges for local service providers. These providers need guidance on how to transform to community-based supports while maintaining high standards. This presentation shared findings from the Institute for Community Inclusion’s Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Advancing Employment for Individuals with IDD.

In 1987, the Institute for Community Inclusion (ICI) at the University of Massachusetts Boston began a series of surveys aimed at providing a longitudinal description of the characteristics and service delivery provided by Community Rehabilitation Providers (CRPs)(Domin & Butterworth, 2012). Despite direct support staff comprising one of the nation’s largest labor market segments, there has been very little research into the wages and stability of that workforce (Bogenschutz, Hewitt, Nord, & Hepperlen, 2014).

A key area of focus for our Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) is organizational transformation, leading to improved employment outcomes for those served by community provider organizations.

Inclusion is a birthright and work is a human right. Every American has the right to work in their community without any kind of discrimination. People with disabilities can work and handle a job. We know what we are doing. We know how to speak up and speak out for ourselves.

With the persistently low competitive employment rate for working-age people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), a main focus area for the field of disability research has been on the interaction between the individual and the service system. Yet we know much less about the interaction between systems and families around employment.

At the national level, integrated employment has become an important policy priority. Greater expectations are being placed on those charged with delivering employment supports, and disability systems are responding. However, the promise of integrated employment has yet to be realized for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).

Download here. Powerpoint presentation from APSE National Conference in Philadelphia, PA.