Narrative: d. 2. G. i.

Excellence in placement services is fundamental to more fully living into DEED’s vision statement of “a healthy economy, where all Minnesotans have or are on a path to meaningful employment and a family sustaining wage, and all employers are able to fill jobs in demand”. Coordination with employers is also key to VRS’ priority to embrace employers as key customers resulting in increased employment outcomes. VRS has developed three updated strategic priorities and measures related to coordination with employers. These priorities replace the priorities listed under Goal 4: Employer Engagement in Section (P) Evaluation and Reports of Progress. A. Develop and implement a VR consumer talent pool structural framework within the electronic case management system. The talent pool will be developed to gather and tap information to facilitate matching consumers to employment opportunities. Metric: Secure approval and resources to develop the consumer talent pool structural framework as part of a larger rewrite of the case management system. B. Develop and implement Low Risk Hiring and Retention Options designed to increase employment outcomes and workforce diversity. Metric: Track the VR consumer participation and employment outcomes in low risk hiring and retention options on a quarterly basis. Options include on–the–job training, job try outs, internships, 700 hour program and Schedule A hiring. Metric: Create and delivery raining to help employers identify, develop and sustain natural supports for employees with disabilities in the workplace. C. VRS will lead and convene Placement Partnerships focused on developing, maintaining, and strengthening relationships among VRS, VR Community Partners and employers. Metric: The placement specialist team will develop a quarterly report on the major activities and outcomes for active placement partnerships. Metric: VRS will share the quarterly report with partnership participants and use as a tool to increase understanding and collaboration for increased employment outcomes. Metric: WIOA Common Performance Measure 6 (effectiveness in serving employers) will be developed and addressed in an annual report. Following is a report of progress on the revised priorities: The Disability Employment Resource (DER) was developed to support business engagement. The initiative helps businesses meet their workforce goals by employing people with disabilities in competitive integrated positions, while employment professionals learn more about how to align their placement goals with business needs. The DER curriculum improves business engagement by delivering information to bridge the gap between business and human services, dispelling myths that can prevent employers from considering people with disabilities, helping human service professionals understand the business perspective, providing tools for starting and building relationships, and connecting businesses with information and resources to help them succeed. The DER model has four stages of engagement: The first stage is Visibility. Strategies are provided to identify businesses and develop contacts. The second stage is Credibility. The focus is on educating and informing the employer by asking for opportunities to present employment information to the business, hosting informational events, and sharing stories about business successes in employing people with disabilities. To encourage engagement, the employer may be asked to conduct mock interviews with job seekers or mentoring a job seeker. The third stage is Fulfillment. The focus is on finding qualified candidates for the employer’s job openings. The fourth stage is Reciprocity. The focus is on supporting the new employee by mentoring the person’s supervisor, if needed, and providing job coaching and other support services to fully integrate the new employee in the work site. Minnesota has developed 15 Placement Partnerships throughout the state to provide a single point of contact for employers and to enhance the skills of placement professionals. Placement 101 is a three day training to provide professionals with an introductory level of knowledge and skills in providing placement services for VRS consumers. It is available free of charge to VRS and community partners. To date, 17 classes have been completed, providing training to over 300 placement professionals. In addition, 30 trainers have been trained (15 VRS staff and 15 community rehabilitation program staff) to ensure an adequate number of trainers to continue the project. In addition to supporting joint training to maintain qualified staff, the placement partnerships share job leads and host job fairs and other community events. In 2012 a Next Generation Placement Design Team was developed, consisting of 18 key VRS and CRP leaders who engaged in a facilitated process to develop the ‘Next Generation’ of placement services for the benefit of job seekers and employers. The model was piloted in each region of the state (northern, metro, and southern) and at the Deaf/Hard of Hearing Units in St. Paul and St. Cloud. The model is currently being expanded statewide to all geographic areas of the state and all VR communities (VRS, community rehabilitation programs and limited use vendors). The vision of Next Generation Placement is that job seekers will be better prepared to actively engage with the placement team to secure integrated competitive employment. The placement team will provide coordinated, effective and individualized support to the job seeker and employers, including access to ongoing supports to help the person maintain and advance in their employment. Employment will increase self–sufficiency, thus further increasing the person’s integration in the community. The employer will also be more engaged and willing to provide job skill evaluations, job tryouts and on the job training. The initial evaluation of the project is very promising. For example, one employer has completed 79 job skill evaluations or job tryouts, and hired 31 of the people. The employer has directly hired another 25 people. The SGA Project, implemented in August, 2015, is piloting another strategy for engaging consumers and employers. The consumer works with a core team consisting of a counselor, benefits planner and placement specialist. The consumer can add additional people if desired, such as an independent living counselor or mental health worker. The counselor and placement specialist focus on helping the person decide on a vocational goal that exists in the local economy, while the benefits planner helps the person set an income goal. The placement plan is developed at the same time as the Employment Plan, even if the person will be entering a training program. If the person is entering a highly competitive field, the placement specialist may recommend internships or other services that will give the consumer a competitive edge over other job applicants. Frequently, the internship leads to a job offer.