VCU RRTC

Participants

Interview protocol

Two sets of open-ended questions guided the focus group discussions: one for the national experts and one for the implementers. The first set of questions for the national experts was developed by the research team. The team brought their initial ideas for questions to a group meeting, which were then combined, refined, and ordered to arrive at the initial version of the protocol. The lead researcher then pilot tested the questions with two customized employment consultants. The questions were revised based on their feedback resulting in eight questions that guided the focus groups with the national experts. The questions for the implementers were developed after the national expert focus groups had been conducted and were based on the information provided by the expert participants. This included 12 questions on the strategies identified including discovery, community-action teams or individual support teams, informational interviews, and job negotiation, and job shadowing. Table One includes the questions that were used for the focus groups.

Practice: Physically meet at a location of the individual’s choice

Often, people with disabilities are observed in special programs or segregated settings where there are limited opportunities for them to demonstrate personal interests and skills. The resulting perception is that they are unable to achieve integrated employment. These preconceived views or expectations can be changed when a person is seen where he or she is most comfortable and participates in typical community activities. Participants in the focus groups were clear that customized employment practices must occur in the community and not at agencies that support people with disabilities: It’s not in the job coach office. It’s in the community. Another implementer of customized employment expressed it this way: It’s different to sit in my office and ask those questions. Go to their home and say show me what you do.

One participant in an implementer focus group discussed going to an individual’s home at length. His example demonstrates how seeing people in their natural environments can provide a wealth of information as well as dispelling myths about the abilities of individuals with disabilities. Meeting people in their homes and environments of choice sets customized employment apart from other approaches to providing employment services.

There are a number of reasons why going to the job seeker’s home is important during the initial phases of discovery. The employment specialist needs to see where the person lives to learn about resources that are available such as local businesses as well as transportation options. Going to the home provides information on family supports to get buy-in or if supports will be needed from other sources. Some community settings may be noisy and distracting limiting the amount of information that can be discovered about the job seeker.

Practice: Build rapport and get to know the individual

Building rapport with job seekers is not a stand-alone practice but occurs across all the other customized practices that emerged from this research. Rapport develops as an employment specialist or other representative spends time learning about the job seeker’s goals for employment. This begins when meeting at a location of the individual’s choice and develops over time while observing, interviewing, and engaging in other practices that lead to the identification of a customized job. One expert focus group participant discussed meeting the person in a location of choice that also illustrates the importance of mindfully listening to the individual and building rapport.

Practice: Mindfully listen to the individual

Listening to the job seeker also is important during customized employment implementation. One panel of experts discussed the importance of the mindset that professionals must have during discovery as being open and mindfully listening to the individual. One expert stated that [it is] keeping your assumptions at bay and really learning who the person is, and really utilizing observation and not making assumptions. Another expert also discussed the importance of being open and not making assumptions.

To hold assumptions at bay, the person must be heard while actively asking questions to understand the person. The questions arise from listening to what the person is saying. It is important to seek out confirming information, to mindfully listening to the person, and to observe.

Practice: Identify the individual’s interests, skills, and abilities

Getting to know a person’s interests, skills, and abilities requires engaging in many of the different practices of customized employment identified during this research to include interviewing, mindfully listening, observing the individual in familiar and unfamiliar community environments, observing and participating in workplaces that reflect what is learned about the individual during discovery. One participant in an expert focus group expressed concerns about how superficial getting to know a person’s interests, skills, and abilities can be.

Many of the participants discussed ways that interests could be explored to help the individual identify a job of choice.

Another expert discussed the importance of identifying if a person’s interests are related to what the individual wants to do for work. Some job seekers may not necessarily want to have a job that is based on their interests. However, the participants did not provide any advice on how to make this distinction.

Practice: Conduct in-depth interviews with family and friends concerning the individual’s interests, skills, and abilities

Professionals may assume that a person with a significant disability may not have any interests or skills that can facilitate integrated employment. Interviewing family and friends can uncover interests and skills that may not be apparent on first meeting with or observing the job seeker. During one focus group, an expert provided an example of the importance of interviewing people who know the job seeker well.

Practice: Observe the person in daily activities in a number of different community settings

Some people with disabilities are not going to be able to tell others what it is that they like or want to do. An implementer provided the following explanation as to why it is important to observe people in their daily activities in a number of different community settings. So, being able to go and see them in other settings, whether it is at home, at church, at other kinds of activities, you get to see a lot more about what people really like to do. One focus group participant cautioned against identifying a job for the individual if the person is unable to verbally describe job preferences.

In these instances, observing an individual can be a critical part of discovery and customized employment: up front, it’s just spending time kind of hanging out in their home, whatever they’re doing in their life.

Practice: Arrange for the job seeker to observe at local businesses that potentially match the job seeker’s interests, skills, and abilities

For some job seekers, additional discovery is needed beyond interviewing family and friends and observing the job seeker in daily activities to develop employment themes or profiles. The job seeker may benefit from observing at local businesses that potentially match the person’s interests, skills, and abilities. Businesses are identified based on the information gathered during discovery activities that have taken place to this point. One focus group participant’s example demonstrates the importance of actively engaging with the job seeker in community businesses.

Practice: Conduct informational interviews with employers at local businesses that are representative of the job seeker’s interests, skills, and abilities

A number of the participants in the experts’ and implementers’ focus groups discussed conducting informational interviews. One focus group participant described an informational interview in this way:

Another participant expressed concern that many individuals with disabilities are excluded from employment, because we try to guess or predict what work is available in our communities, and we’re really not in the community. We don’t know our communities very well. Informational interviewing focuses on getting to know the business in a similar way that discovery focuses on getting to know the individual. It allows the employment specialist or representatives to learn more about how the job seeker’s interests and skills can meet the needs of business. One focus group of implementers discussed how informational interviewing can guide professionals to focus on a specific individual’s interests as opposed to a more traditional job development approach that requires the job seeker to consider existing jobs. In other words, a traditional approach locates the job first for the job seeker to consider. Discover considers who the individual is first.

In addition to learning more about businesses in the community, informational interviewing may also lead to the identification of a customized job. One expert described a case study in which during an informational interview, the business owner identified unmet business needs that matched well the interests, skills, and abilities of the job seeker. As a result, a job was customized and the business owner’s problems solved when the job seeker was hired. Her example describes how the interests and needs of the job seeker were met as well as the needs of the business.

Practice: Observe the job seeker engaging in job related tasks

Observing the jobseeker engaging in job related tasks that fit his/her employment themes or profile is another important practice in customized employment. Observation of the job seeking engaging in work related tasks provides information that may not be uncovered when meeting with a job seeker at locations of his or her choice or interviewing friends and family members. Engagement is different from a job seeker observing employees doing a job. One expert panel member described engagement this way: I think it’s more than just observation. I think its participation...... You’re not going to know if you like something until you’ve tried it.

There are two reasons for having the jobseeker engage in job related tasks. One is to determine whether the person has skills that can guide job identification, and the other is to determine whether the job seeker wants to do this type of work. Another participant illustrated the importance of observation to learn about a person’s skills as well as connecting to businesses that can provide feedback on the job seeker’s abilities:

Practice: Assist the job seeker in identifying a work experience(s) to refine/identify job interests, skills, and abilities

For some job seekers more discovery work is needed than just interviewing family and friends and observing the job seeker in daily activities and job related tasks to develop employment themes or profiles. Knowing a person’s skills is critical for presenting a person to an employer specifically to be able to represent the value that hiring the job seeker brings to the business. Completing a work experience in a business can also validate whether a person’s interests is a marketable skill. One participant in an implementer focus group provided the following example:

Participants in the expert and implementer focus groups discussed engaging people who are not paid to support the job seeker. This was referred to as having community action teams to assist with discovery. The community action team may assist by finding settings where the job seeke