School-to-Work Outreach Project 1995 Exemplary Model/Practice/Strategy

Choice Access United Cerebral Palsy of Metropolitan Detroit, Inc. Michigan

Mission

United Cerebral Palsy of Metropolitan Detroit, Inc. believes strongly in the right to self-determination and independence for all persons regardless of any physical, mental or emotional limitation that society calls a "disability".

Organization/Program Context

United Cerebral Palsy of Metropolitan Detroit (UCP) is a consumer advocacy, non-profit organization for persons with disabilities. Choice Access is one of four programs of UCP; these programs provide a variety of services in the areas of advocacy, housing, SSI/Medicaid and parent training. Choice Access is a grant obtained by the National United Cerebral Palsy Associations, Inc. (UCPA) located in Washington, D.C. The grant is implemented in Pittsburgh, New Orleans and Detroit. These three sites collaborate by meeting once a year to discuss successes and concerns, share information and solve problems regarding Choice Access. Periodically during the year the three sites connect through teleconferences and internet.

Community Setting

Major City. The Metropolitan area of Detroit is served by Choice Access and UCP.

Population Served

Program/Organization
UCP of Metro Detroit serves individuals from birth to death. However, the majority of individuals served are adults with severe disabilities of the ages 22 years and older. Consumers are not required to share information regarding their disability, so this information is based on information and referral calls received by UCP.

Model/Practice/Strategy
Choice Access serves 15 individuals per year. Presently there are 29 persons with severe disabilities in the program and almost half of them come form the school age population. Choice Access serves individuals who are at least 18 years old and who want to work. Of these participants, the majority are of the ages 22 and older with some 18 - 22 years old. (In Michigan, special education students are in the public education system until the age of 26.)

Model/Practice/Strategy Description

The primary goal of Choice Access is to ensure smooth, customer driven access to employment related services and supports for individuals with significant (severe) disabilities, resulting in meaningful and successful employment. Choice Access is supported by a grant from the U.S. Office of Rehabilitation. The funding is used by each customer to buy appropriate services to assist him/her in finding and maintaining employment. This is a consumer driven program: the individual sets his/her goals, hires and fires providers and uses a voucher system to pay providers when he/she is satisfied with the services provided.

Students are referred to Choice Access by school personnel, family members, other service agencies, or by self referral. People involved with the students in Choice Access work with educators to ensure that the schools support the students' participation in community-based work and that they receive credit for the time spent in the workplace. Educators might also participate in meetings where their students' involvement in employment and the community is discussed.

The individual makes choices at every step of the program. First, the Choice Coordinator and student work together to develop a Person Directed Plan. The plan offers possible solutions to problems such as housing, Medicaid, SSI and transportation. This plan includes, but is not limited to, the natural supports and community supports that are defined by the individual's needs. The student then interviews and selects an Employment Advisor, such as another person with a disability who has experience in the rehabilitation services system and has been successfully employed in the community. Throughout a student's participation in Choice Access he/she continues to have contact with the Employment Advisor who offers advice and support when needed.

Initially, the Employment Advisor aids the student in hiring providers who will develop a Vocational Profile. This profile includes all transition areas of interest and need, but concentrates on opportunities in the community for gainful employment. The Vocational Profile lists the top 5-15 job choices of the individual. A Job Developer is hired to implement this plan, concentrating on the first five job choices of the student. First, the Job Developer finds jobs that match the student's list and then makes initial contacts with the employers. When an appropriate job is found and it is accepted by the student the Job Developer assesses the workplace for possible adaptations. Then a Job Facilitator is hired to provide job coaching (the Job Facilitator may or may not be the same person as the Job Developer). The employer, Job Facilitator and the student meet to develop a work plan which might include job coaching, job training and accommodations. The job training would be the same training available to any employee and natural supports would be put into place the first day the student begins the job. To confirm agreement of the plan, the document is signed by its authors. Job facilitation is available as long as the student feels he/she needs the support, however, the Job Facilitator begins to fade support from the beginning.

The student chooses to close contact with Choice Access when he/she is comfortable at the job and is no longer in need of assistance from providers. If funds remain the student can place half into a special UCPA account to be used later for job enhancement. The other half of the money goes back to the general funds to be used by someone who needs more assistance in getting a job. The success of this program is evident in the students' acknowledgment that they are successful; they tell the Choice Access staff that they feel better about themselves and they have what they need to find work that interests them. The students are making a difference in their own world and they are a great example of what happens when you listen to the customer.

Exemplary School-to-Work Components

Student-focused Career Planning - School-based Learning
Students plan their futures through the Person Directed Plan and their careers with the Employment Plan. Decisions regarding service providers and place of employment are made by each student and these decisions are respected!

Employment and Community Connections - Connecting Activity
The Choice Access program empowers students with significant physical challenges to become employed in jobs of their choosing, outside of segregated work environments. The self advocacy skills students develop as they purchase services and interact with employers and others in the community are invaluable.

What Makes it Work?

Student Focused
Each student sets goals, hires and fires service providers and determines when he/she has been successful.

Employment Advisors
This person, chosen by the student, acts both as an advocate and a role model. The Employment Advisor assists the student in assessing his/her needs and then choosing appropriate services. This interaction allows the student to become more self assured and develops leadership and self-advocacy skills, all which lead to self-improvement.

Staff

• Executive Director
  1 full-time
  * Administers the larger organization (UCP)

• Associate Executive Director
  1 full-time
  * Supervises all programs and staff of UCP

• Choice Coordinator
  1 full-time
  * Implements the Choice Access program

• Employment Advisor
  part-time, hired by customer (student) on an individual basis
  * Empowers student by providing support and advice
  * Teaches student adult life and work skills such as how to interview a provider
  * Helps student solve transition and work-related problems
  * Attends student 's meetings related to his/her Person Directed Plan

We wish you could meet Carolyn. She's a special person with a drive to succeed. Michigan's special education system includes students until the age of 26 years old. Carolyn was 24 years old and she wanted to leave school but felt she had no options. However, her teacher heard about Choice Access and she referred Carolyn to the program. Carolyn met with the program staff and decided to join Choice Access; it provided a way for her to leave a segregated school and get out into the community. Carolyn came alive because she was given the chance to do something she really wanted to do! Carolyn made some wise choices in using the money she received for planning and placement in a job. She chose a provider who found a job that she preferred - working in a child care facility. Yet just when it looked like everything was coming together she met a stumbling block. A teacher at her school told the prospective employer that she couldn't work there because she had cerebral palsy and belonged in a workshop. With the support of her Employment Facilitator, Choice Coordinator, and staff at United Cerebral Palsy, Carolyn overcame this obstacle and got the job. In the process, she has shown that people with severe disabilities can be successful, despite what others might tell them!

Carolyn was given a choice of career and she was supported and encouraged to follow through with the decisions she made.

This profile was generated by the School-to-Work Outreach Project at the Institute on Community Integration (UAP), University of Minnesota. The development and dissemination of these profiles was supported in part by grant #H029B30142 from the U.S. Department of Education.

For further information, contact the School-to-Work Outreach Project, Institute on Community Integration (UAP), University of Minnesota, 101D Pattee Hall, 150 Pillsbury Drive SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455.

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