Since the Workforce 2000 report documenting labor trends and issues was released by the Hudson Institute in 1987, business and industry have been reevaluating how support is provided to employees. Employee assistance programs, renewed investment in training, and other accommodations for an increasingly diverse workforce present an unparalleled opportunity to bring supported employment technology, values, and systems to contemporary business. This paper is an initial attempt at reconceptualizing supported employment and the role of employers in providing support. Changing strategies and future research questions that may need to be addressed are discussed.

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Supported employment has grown in 15 years from a few model demonstration programs to nationwide implementation. Nearly every state in the country has had a federally funded systems-change grant to implement supported employment programs for persons with severe disabilities. Despite these initiatives focused on systems change, the dynamics of change and the utility of the tools of systemic change are not well understood. This article describes the results of interviews with 10 former directors of systems-change projects. The results are discussed in the context of the ongoing nature of dynamic change in social systems.

The last decade was a period of radical change in our understanding oforganizational performance and culture. A focus on quality has resulted in new ways of discussing and seeking to improve both organizational performance and individual performance. Current personnel training and technical assistance activities in services for persons with severe disabilities tend to be based on assumptions that pre-date these changes. In this article those assumptions are discussed. We review the quality perspective and describe how it changes relationships and roles among managers, direct service staff, and technical assistance and training providers. We believe that the focus on quality is applicable to all social service organizations. However, in this paper, we provide examples of the use of basic quality improvement structures in relation to training and technical assistance as applied primarily to supported employment.

The national proliferation of supported employment services for people with severe disabilities has governmental funders and regulators scrambling for standards upon which to judge the adequacy of these new services. The task is complicated by the variability in both employer needs and service requirements for supported employees as well as the community resources available to meet these needs. Conventional monitoring provides some safeguards against major abuses to persons receiving services, but does little to satisfy consumer, advocate, or policymaker interest in promoting quality assurance in service provision. Issues are raised within this paper regarding the appropriateness and effectiveness of methods traditionally used by states to monitor or promote quality assurance. Guidelines are suggested for developing state quality assurance systems that will promote continuous improvement. It is maintained that states should promote the development of systems that move beyond conventional monitoring approaches, and that tie program assistance to areas where needed improvements are identified that directly benefit individuals with severe disabilities.