Community conversations: Engaging stakeholders to improve employment-related transition services for youth with emotional and behavioral disabilities

Dutta, Ankita; Kundu, Madan; Johnson, Elizabeth; Chan, Fong; Trainor, Audrey A.; Blake, Rolanda; Christy, R. I.

doi:10.3233/jvr-160809

Cited by 18 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…The purpose of this special issue is to showcase projects utilizing community conversations as a unique methodology and/or a promising intervention. For example, community conversations enable examination of the attitudes and expectations of a cross-section of citizens, understanding the opportunities communities see for movement around a particular issue, and exploration of the ways in which different communities converge and diverge in these areas (e.g., Carter et al, 2016; Dutta et al, 2016). Likewise, they can be used as a catalyst to spur local change as part of a packaged transition intervention (e.g., Carter, Trainor, et al, 2009).…”

Section: Community Conversationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Promise and Possibilities of Community Conversations: Expanding Opportunities for People With Disabilities

Carter

Bumble

2018

Journal of Disability Policy Studies

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Across the United States, young people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are making substantial contributions within their communities. Like their peers without disabilities, youth and young adults with IDD possess a breadth of strengths, talents, passions, and qualities that make them indispensable. Whether working in local businesses, attending a college class, volunteering to meet community needs, serving within a faith community, or engaging in advocacy, their considerable contributions contrast with prevailing views of disability that so often accentuate deficits and challenges (Carter et al., 2015). Likewise, communities around the country are demonstrating their capacity to provide the opportunities and supports that enable the full participation and flourishing of young people with IDD. Schools, agencies, organizations, families, and businesses are successfully ensuring opportunities for meaningful community engagement are widespread and well-supported (Carter, Trainor, Ditchman, Swedeen, & Owens, 2009). Unfortunately, we still have a long way to go. These exemplars remain the exception rather than the rule-more anecdotal than ubiquitous. In the area of employment, less than 10% of young adults (ages 18-30) with IDD are accessing integrated employment in their communities (Butterworth & Migliore, 2015). The transition to adulthood is instead marked by unemployment, underemployment, or segregated experiences for so many young people (Carter, Austin, & Trainor, 2012; Grigal, Hart, & Migliore, 2011). Such outcomes reflect clear misalignment with the aspirations of youth with IDD and the expectations of their families. For example, Shogren and Plotner (2012) reported that 78% of transition-age students with intellectual disability (ages 14-16) had postschool employment goals for supported or competitive employment. Likewise, Blustein, Carter, and McMillan (2016) found that 83% of parents considered it important for their child with IDD to obtain a job in the community after high school. These outcomes also represent missed opportunities for businesses in need of a talented, dedicated, and diverse workforce. Of particular concern is that these employment outcomes have hardly moved amid more than 25 years of concerted efforts (Butterworth & Migliore, 2015; Newman, Wagner, Cameto, Knokey, & Shaver, 2010). Calls to expand employment and community access for individuals with IDD have certainly become more prominent and pronounced in recent years. For example, most states have adopted Employment First initiatives, enforcement of the Olmstead decision now extends to employment, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunities Act of 2014 promotes better access to workforce development systems, and federally funded employment systems change efforts have been launched in 14 states (Martinez, 2013; Nord et al., 2015). These movements are supported by strong statements 739408D PSXXX10.

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Section: Community Conversationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Promise and Possibilities of Community Conversations: Expanding Opportunities for People With Disabilities

Carter

Bumble

2018

Journal of Disability Policy Studies

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“…The CEO of one of the participant organisations made a point of having an open-door policy that allowed everyone; staff, participants and families to come through his door and ask questions. Allied with the use of community conversations (Dutta, Kundu, Johnson, Chan, Trainor, Blake & Christy, 2016), this process very quickly allayed fears and developed interest amongst potential participants and families.…”

Section: Holding Hands With Staff Participants Andmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transitioning Australian Disability Enterprises to open employment community hubs using the Australian legislative framework

Smith

Rhodes

Pavlidis

et al. 2019

JVR

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BACKGROUND:The transition of sheltered workshops or Australian Disability Enterprises (ADE) as they are known in Australia, to open employment settings unlike the USA lacks the legislative driver to encourage providers to move towards the promotion of integrated employment in the community. As a result, we have witnessed a move to rebadge ADE's as social enterprises in order to change public perceptions, without changes in wage outcomes or pathways to real work in the community. ADE's in Australia present as something of a challenge for government in trying to balance the competing provider agenda, against its obligations to people with a disability underpinned by the Disability Services Act (1986), the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with a Disability and the establishment of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). OBJECTIVE: This paper will examine the policy drivers for change and findings from work undertaken by the Centre for Disability Employment Research and Practice (CDERP) to promote provider transformation to integrated employment settings and the issues experienced in provider transformation within these policy settings. CONCLUSION: Education, ongoing support for employment staff and families, along with community partnerships are seen as ingredients for creating provider transformation and meaningful employment outcomes.

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“…A community conversation is an event planned to bring a broad group of stakeholders together to discuss and generate potential solutions to a specific problem (Carter & Bumble, IN PRESS ). Community conversations can promote public awareness about challenging issues, leading to heightened engagement in identifying answers as well as increased personal commitment to local action (Brown & Isaacs, 2005; Dutta et al, 2016). The premise that all members of a community can offer contributions when informed of a problem and invited to be part of the solution emerged from community organizing principles (Brown & Isaacs, 2005; Minkler, 2012).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Harnessing the Power of Community Conversations to Improve Transition Outcomes for Youth With IDD

Molfenter

Hartman

Neugart³

et al. 2018

Journal of Disability Policy Studies

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Life after high school for students with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDD) looks very different from the lives of their peers without disabilities (Aron & Loprest, 2012; Newman, Wagner, Cameto, Knokey, & Shaver, 2010). Disparities for youth with IDD exist in rates of postschool competitive employment (Gold, Fabian, & Luecking, 2013). For example, secondary analyses of data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2) found that just 27.9% of young adults with significant intellectual disability, autism, and multiple disabilities were employed up to 2 years after leaving high school (Carter, Austin, & Trainor, 2012). Simonsen (2010) found that just 14.2% of young adults with IDD worked in integrated jobs with competitive wages. Early work experiences are also limited. In a study involving more than 130 high school students with IDD, only 16% had paid community employment, compared with the 66% employment rate of youth without disabilities in the same communities during the same time period (Carter et al., 2010). Thus, the challenge of equipping and supporting students with IDD for adult life and meaningful employment is a pressing issue for many communities. At the same time, federal legislation and public policies mandate that the education system implement changes to address poor postschool outcomes. Transition planning requirements added to the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997 (IDEA), the Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004, and the School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994 all called for improved transition planning, career development opportunities, and greater levels of inclusion to advance outcomes (Mazzotti, Test, & Mustian, 2014). Increased impetus on the public education system to facilitate positive outcomes through community employment experiences and high 739406D PSXXX10.

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Community conversations: Engaging stakeholders to improve employment-related transition services for youth with emotional and behavioral disabilities

Cited by 18 publications

References 11 publications

The Promise and Possibilities of Community Conversations: Expanding Opportunities for People With Disabilities

The Promise and Possibilities of Community Conversations: Expanding Opportunities for People With Disabilities

Transitioning Australian Disability Enterprises to open employment community hubs using the Australian legislative framework

Harnessing the Power of Community Conversations to Improve Transition Outcomes for Youth With IDD

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