IN THE MAINSTREAM: SUPPORTED EMPLOYMENT HELPS DISABLED WORKERS DEVELOP INDEPENDENCE

Physically and developmentally disabled workers are becoming more common as business owners begin to tap into a previously unused personnel resource.

The recent growth in the supported employment movement has allowed disabled workers to enter the public workforce in increasing numbers. Kim Crites, a quality assurance specialist for the Department of Mental Health's Sikeston Regional Center, said more and better information on the subject have caused employers to be more receptive to training disabled workers in regular jobs.

"With this whole movement of community membership and inclusion, I think more people are wanting to enter the regular workforce," Crites said. "People are becoming more informed and more aware of the fact that there's a valuable resource that's been untapped."

Crites said supported employment, like classroom inclusion, is a highly individualized process. Not every disabled person has the capacity to function in the regular workplace. People have to be matched with the right job, and then supports need to be in place to help them be successful at that job.

To increase the odds of that success, any person desiring supported employment must first work with a team to develop a personalized plan. Crites said case managers, family members and others work with an individual to match his abilities with a job that he could perform well and will want to do. If the team agrees that the person is a good candidate for supported employment, it then helps match the person with an employer.

"Our job as service coordinators is to help if the team feels that person can be serviced," she said. "We try to build supports, but we don't intend for those supports to stay there."

Job coaches assist the disabled person while he develops his skills, but are only used temporarily. "It's only supported at the beginning, just like on-the-job training," she said. "Studies have shown that the natural supports where a person works are more effective than job coaches."

The families of the handicapped worker are often concerned about the loss of government benefits, but Crites said there are programs in place to ensure that government support is not pulled before the person can support himself independently. Often, families are also concerned about how the community will perceive their relative, she said, which is why the case-by-case basis of supported employment is so important.

"Everybody's an individual; it's not for every person," she said. "I have had jobs where my boss didn't like me. For folks with disabilities it's the same thing. For success you have to fit the job and the job has to fit you. We're not looking for anything special, we'd just like to have the chance."