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The Able Trust: Florida Lions Conklin Centers for the Blind received a grant in September 2002 to support community-based supported employment program for individuals who are multihandicapped blind. What were factors in your community that led you to submit your proposal?
Florida Lions Conklin Centers for the Blind: We submitted our proposal to The Able Trust as one part of our strategy to address a statewide lack of access for people who are multihandicapped blind to services which help them enter the workforce and live with dignity in our Florida communities. Since 1987, the Conklin Center has helped hundreds of people who are blind and have one or more additional disabilities to become employed and live in apartments or homes of their own. For reasons associated with their multiple disabilities, many of these consumers need the services of a job coach or supported living coach over an extended period of time to ensure their long-term success. In Florida, access to these types of services has been limited to those people who the state considers to be developmentally disabled. Many multihandicapped blind persons do not meet the state's eligibility criteria for these services. It is possible to be deaf-blind, for example, and not qualify for these critical community-based services. The Able Trust has provided funding which enables the Center to serve this vulnerable population while the Center and its partners pursue a long-term, statewide solution.
AT: The Center has identified primary obstacles to sustained employment as issues related to personal, social, and economic issues encountered away from the job site that nevertheless interfere with the individual's job performance. What is the overall strategy to address these three issues?
FLCCB: The Center's overall strategy involves a team approach to service provision. The success of this approach depends on close coordination among Supported Employment, Supported Living, and our specialized training staff, which includes nationally certified Orientation and Mobility specialists and Rehabilitation Teachers. A great deal of energy is devoted to this coordination. Direct service staff meet daily to exchange information and refine service plans in response to changing needs of consumers. If we know that a consumer plans to relocate, for example, we can see that he or she gets assistance from an Orientation Specialist to learn and plan a new transportation route to work, or that the Supported Living Coach, if necessary, can help with budgeting for new transportation expenses. By communicating closely with our consumers and by very consciously coordinating service delivery, we try to anticipate or at least respond quickly to off-the-job-site issues that might otherwise become problems at work.
AT: How do you know an individual is ready for the job site? Are there any common indicators among individuals?
FLCCB: The main factor in determining whether someone is ready for the job site is a willingness to try. Over the years, determination of readiness has been a subject of intense debate within our organization and throughout the field. We have come to the conclusion that the only reliable way for a person to determine whether he or she is ready for work is to try out a work situation. We have been fortunate in our relationship with the Florida Division of Blind Services (DBS), which has routinely been willing to fund job tryouts, especially when we or an employer have readiness concerns. In a work tryout, a consumer is able to try a real job in a real business for a limited time while his or her salary is paid by DBS.
Beyond a willingness to try, there are other important factors associated with success in employment. Chief among these are completion of basic Orientation and Mobility training that enables a job candidate who is blind to travel safely and efficiently, and adjustment to blindness training so that a candidate can perform everyday tasks confidently without vision.
AT: Could you share how you approach the job developing process? How do you meet employers and maintain a working relationship with them?
FLCCB: We spend a great deal of time simply getting to know employers. Center staff may simply stop by a place of business (ideally before or after peak business activity) to introduce themselves and to arrange an appointment. Job developers also set up appointments with employers by phone, and when possible we seek introductions from employers with whom we already have a relationship.
Before we ask an employer to hire a candidate from our program, it is critical that we understand the employer's personnel needs. We need to know what applicant characteristics are important to each employer, and the specific requirements for specific positions in that business. Each employer is different, and we need to be able to see things from the employer's point of view. If an employer knows and trusts that we are sensitive to the business' needs, he or she is much more likely to hire a candidate from our program.
When we are ready to propose a candidate for a position, we sometimes present a videotape of the candidate engaged in work, or propose a time- limited situational assessment which will provide concrete information about our candidate and our services, while limiting the risk to the employer.
Maintaining relationships with employers over time requires first of all that we provide quality support services on the job site. It is important to maintain regular post-placement contact with both the employer and the consumer, and to periodically determine the extent to which each is satisfied with the employment arrangement. We are proud that many employers with whom we have developed relationships have hired multiple candidates over the years, and we attribute this to our investment in extended services for both consumer and employer.
AT: When you speak with employers are there any common concerns that they have? What do you do to work through these barriers?
FLCCB: Probably the most frequently expressed concern is safety: Won't a blind employee be at greater risk of injury in the workplace? We work through this concern by first of all acknowledging that this is a common concern among employers. Because we now have a long history of successful placements, we can often refer concerned employers to employers who have already hired through our program. It is extremely helpful when a concerned employer can learn from a peer that candidates hired through our program have safety records similar to those of non-disabled candidates.
An employer's expressed concerns about safety also provide an opportunity for us to present information about our extensive training and support services, which serve the safety interests of both job candidate and employer. Often, the opportunity to show an employer what a candidate can do (either through a videotape or a time-limited job tryout) is effective in addressing the safety concern.
AT: Can you describe the activities that occur during supported employment for the individual? For the employer?
FLCCB: For the job candidate, services begin with an intake process that is designed to help us understand his or her interests, qualifications and abilities. Because our program specializes in serving consumers who are blind, many will participate in specialized functional skills training which can enhance both employability and the ability to live in the community. This might include Orientation and Mobility, Braille and keyboard training, and other skills that enable people who are blind to live and work with confidence.
Once we develop a job opportunity with a candidate, a job coach helps the employer train the candidate to the performance standards specified by the employer. During this process, we are working to facilitate development of effective working relationships between the candidate, coworkers and supervisory personnel. As learning progresses and as relationships develop in the workplace, our job coach checks with the candidate and employer to assess satisfaction with the placement, with our services, and to develop a long-term follow-up plan. The coach then stays in regular contact with the consumer over an extended period of time, insuring that services are available when they are needed to support continued success and growth in the employment situation.
For the employer who hires a candidate, services begin with careful communication about the employer's expectations. We encourage the employer to use us as a consultant. We provide information about available support services, and the employer helps choose the support options that best meet his or her needs in the workplace. We also involve the employer in discussion about how he or she will participate in evaluating the progress of our candidate and the effectiveness of our services. When the initial employee training is completed, the job coach plans long-term follow-up services with the employer.
AT: What types of jobs are your clients obtaining? Have they been satisfied with their employment?
FLCCB: Our clients are obtaining a variety of jobs, primarily in service and retail occupations. A smaller number are finding work in manufacturing. These positions vary with consumer interests, consumer qualifications, and what we are able to find in the market. Positions held by our clients include customer service (taking orders by telephone and entering or retrieving information from a computer database), retail stock work, food preparation, and parts assembly. Annual satisfaction surveys indicate that the overwhelming majority of our clients are satisfied with their employment - in fact, in the survey completed in February 2003, over 85% expressed satisfaction with their employment, and the satisfaction rate has been above that same percentage, 85%, over the past several years.
AT: Could you share an example success story?
FLCCB: John's story is a good example of the Center's determination to help its customers achieve their goals. John came to the Center several years ago from a small town in Florida at the age of 21, after finishing special education services from a public high school. Legally blind and learning disabled, John told us he wanted to get a job and live on his own. His parents were extremely supportive of his ambitions, so it initially seemed that his request would be fairly routine. We ran into some surprises, though, as John started training toward his independent living objectives. In classes at the Center, he was able to learn many cooking, cleaning and home management tasks. But when he moved into one of the Center's training apartments, his performance deteriorated to the extent that he did not even eat reliably, and we became increasingly concerned as his weight started to drop. The Center's instructional team met regularly during this time to review John's progress. Several strategies initially failed to produce results. On several occasions we met with both John and his parents to discuss our concerns, and on each occasion John repeated his determination to live and work in the community. On the employment front, he tried out several jobs through our Supported Employment Program, but was not initially successful here, either. Still, he insisted on continuing to try. Finally, John's and the team's persistence paid off, as did consultation with a local psychologist. The psychologist helped the team develop an effective behavioral program with John, and referred him for medical treatment of a previously undiagnosed obsessive-compulsive disorder that had been interfering with his ability to function.
Today, John is living in an apartment of his own in Daytona Beach and has been working as a grocery bagger for the past four years. He takes great pride in his job, is well liked by his coworkers, and enjoys helping customers. At home, he cooks simple meals, keeps his apartment clean with minimal assistance from his Supported Living Coach.
Unfortunately, John's life was interrupted last year by a bout with cancer, but with the support of his family and the Center's Supported Living and Supported Employment staff, he was able to keep his apartment and he returned to his job recently when he was released to do so by his physician. We are truly grateful to The Able Trust and our other supporters for joining us in our long-term commitment to the success of John and other multihandicapped blind persons like him.
AT: The Florida Lions Conklin Centers for the Blind is a nationally recognized center for your excellence in working with individuals who have multiple disabilities. Could you share what makes the Center so successful?
FLCCB: I think what distinguishes the Conklin Center is our exclusive dedication to the vocational and independent living needs of people who are multihandicapped blind. We are the only organization we know of that dedicates its full energies to this underserved population. By making this organizational commitment, we have held our own feet to the fire--specialization has kept us focused on producing positive results. We are also committed to hiring nationally certified specialists in both Orientation and Mobility and in Rehabilitation Teaching for the blind so that our students have access to the best possible pre-employment training. Much of the training we provide is done on a one-to-one basis to meet the highly individual needs of our students. Finally, we devote an unusual amount of time and energy to creating and maintaining a collaborative, interdisciplinary approach to service delivery. Direct service staff and supervisors meet daily to consult and exchange information. This helps us respond quickly to the needs of our consumers.
AT: If an employer were interested in speaking with you about possible employment opportunities, how would they contact you?
FLCCB: Interested employers are welcome to contact Robert Kelly or Paul Ritchey at the Florida Lions Conklin Centers for the Blind, 405 White St., Daytona Beach, FL 32114. They can call us at 386-258-3441 or our e-mail address is info@conklincenter.org
AT:Thanks for sharing your insights on your successful program!
