This project is home to research, training, and outreach activities that promote employment for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Browse all our publications below, or click on the activities links under numbers 1–4.
We are funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research in the Administration for Community Living in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The RRTC is a project of the Institute for Community Inclusion at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
The goal of this line of research is to create a comprehensive information, outreach, and support framework for individuals and families that enables ready and timely access to information about employment throughout the lifespan. Research activities include a scoping literature review, online and in-person focus groups with individuals with IDD and their family members, and the development and testing of an intervention that promotes individual and family engagement in employment planning.
Contact: John Kramer (john.kramer@umb.edu)
Find presentations and publications from this project here...
This work will define a model for employment support that incorporates research, practice, job seeker support needs, organizational culture, and personal resources. Project partners and staff will implement an intervention to improve the quality of services provided by employment consultants through online training, data-based performance feedback, and facilitated peer-to-peer support.
Contact: Alberto Migliore (alberto.migliore@umb.edu)
Find presentations and publications from this project here...
Project staff will develop a model framework and toolkit to support community rehabilitation providers in implementing an Employment First focus. The demonstration of an efficient, scalable strategy that enables CRPs to create change within their own organizations is a key feature of this research.
Contact: Jaimie Timmons (jaimie.timmons@umb.edu)
Find presentations and publications from this project here...
This research strand will define the characteristics of a high-performing state system that promotes cross-agency and resource integration. The strand will also identify effective state practices and policies that lead to employment outcomes, and will and describe Employment First policy implementation and outcomes at both the national and state level.
Contact: Allison Hall (allison.hall@umb.edu)
Find presentations and publications from this project here...
Webinars
Publications
Watch the recorded webinar here. This webinar was so popular, we decided to run it again! Provider agencies across the country are transitioning from segregated “sheltered” workshop options to supporting integrated community careers for people with disabilities. This process of organizational transformation can be both exciting and challenging for provider staff and the people they serve.
Download the slides here. Presented at APSE 2016. Ever wonder how state systems are working to achieve new levels of integrated employment outcomes? While states have worked to build supports for more than five decades to meet the needs of their constituents, a different playing field has emerged in recent years.
Watch the recorded webinar here. Genni Sasnett, a human services consultant with extensive experience in disability employment, and Jill Eastman, an award-winning employment specialist at the Institute for Community Inclusion at UMass Boston, shared their perspectives about how employment support professionals can take a leadership role, and serve as civil rights change agents, while also empowering the people they serve to find fulfilling work and thrive in their careers.
Watch the recorded webinar here. Researchers Judith Gross (University of Kansas) and Grace Francis (George Mason University) work intensively with Hispanic families in rural Kansas. They talked about the importance of engaging culturally and linguistically diverse families in services for their children with IDD. Judith and Grace discussed the barriers these families face, and offered strategies for professionals to help ensure full access to services.
Watch the recorded webinar here. When looking for a new job, it’s logical to “do the math.” We consider what we need (food, housing, healthcare) and what we want (gym membership, car, vacation). We balance potential income against expenses. Finally, we evaluate whether a particular job will help us achieve our goals. Benefits can be a lifeline, but continuous reliance on them can limit people to a life in poverty.
Watch the recorded webinar here. This webinar looked at the subject of informed choice. What considerations come into play when someone with IDD “chooses work”? What information and exposure or exploration does someone need to decide to leave a familiar setting, such as a sheltered workshop or day program, to work in their community?
Watch the recorded webinar here. Provider agencies across the country are transitioning from segregated “sheltered” workshop options to supporting integrated community careers for people with disabilities.
We just presented this poster at AUCD's Annual Meeting in Washington D.C. on Monday, December 5th 2016 along with our other poster here...
We just presented this poster at AUCD's Annual Meeting in Washington D.C. on Monday, December 5th 2016 along with our other poster here...
Project Summary:
In the 30 years since the introduction of supported employment as a demonstrated model in the Developmental Disabilities Act of 1984 and the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1986, there has been continued development and refinement of best practices in employment support. The field has experienced the demonstration of creative outcomes for individuals with significant support needs, community rehabilitation providers that have shifted their business models to provide integrated employment, and states that have made a substantial investment in Employment First...