As Confusing as it Sounds

One of the goals of the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) is to help individuals with intellectual/developmental disabilities (ID/DD) find employment in the community setting. As opposed to working as part of an enclave. In this setting an enclave means working together within a group of ID/DD individuals with a supervisor from a provider agency.

Oftentimes this is contract type work, such as janitorial work. The business pays the contract amount to the provider agency. The agency cuts paychecks to the individuals from their account. Again, the ID/DD individuals are supervised by the provider agency, not by the business itself.

Let’s recap where Travis is at this point in his employment journey. In my blog, “Roll Up Our Sleeves”, I detail Travis’s temporary position with Spirit Halloween. This was by far his favorite job. He had a manager that was extremely patient. Travis did have a job coach for support at this job, but it’s important to note that it was not 1:1 for every hour that he was scheduled. She stopped by during shifts here and there to check in and offer support to both Travis and the business.

In my previous blog, “Trusting My Instincts”, I write about a short stint at a restaurant. Working at a restaurant is not a good fit for Travis. Restaurant kitchens are fast-paced and a sensory nightmare for individuals with sensory processing disorder. Managers in a restaurant setting simply do not have the extra time and/or patience to support an employee with the level of Travis’s needs.

In my blog titled, “She Lets Me be Me”, I describe his experience at a coffee shop called Elli’s Deli. This business was set up especially to offer training to ID/DD individuals. Even though the business was managed and the training was performed by an employee of a provider agency that supports ID/DD individuals, they were unable to offer Travis the supports necessary to be successful.

In my blog, “Definition of Insanity”, Travis attempted another position very similar to Elli’s Deli, called the Snack Shack. This is also a business set up especially to offer training for ID/DD individuals with the end goal of becoming ready for a community job. This position was also short-lived because of an inappropriate interaction with a customer. This position also was supported by a provider agency that works specifically with ID/DD individuals. This agency is a different one than last time around.

This same agency offered to have Travis try a position at the Habitat for Humanity Restore. I thought that this may be a good fit for Travis because he loves to wander through thrift shops. The provider agency provided an employee to manage four or five ID/DD individuals during a shift. Travis was asked to organize larger items such as suitcases. Organizing of donations happens in the backroom. When Travis became bored with this he would wander out to the sales area and shop.

While he was supposed to be working. He would call me several times per shift asking for money to buy various items. He would also engage in conversation with the Habitat for Humanity store staff and manager. This was not his manager. His manager was in the backroom sorting goods. Travis wants to be part of the “regular” team. He tries to fit in. He has difficulty understanding that he is supposed to actually be working. Not wandering around shopping and visiting.

He invites “co-workers” to his house to hang out after work. Travis does not take redirection well. Just like that, this job is over.

DVR contracts with yet another provider agency to complete a 29 hour assessment of Travis’s employment abilities. The catch is that Travis has to complete this assessment without getting paid. This agency provides employees for a jewelry store that has a local and an online presence. The agency provides training for ID/DD individuals to perform the retail functions of the store as well as manufacturing the jewelry for sale.

Team Travis thought that this could be a good fit for him. He would have a work station in the back and learn to make the jewelry and decorative pieces. It took Travis from July 2018 to November 2018 to complete the 29 hours. The provider agency wrote up an assessment for DVR detailing Travis’s work abilities.

We scheduled a meeting for Team Travis to discuss their findings and come up with a plan. The provider agency reported that Travis would need 1:1 job coaching to stay on task. They found that he was not ready at the time for a job in the community because of the level of support that he needed. They thought that he was a good fit to receive further job training while continuing to learn jewelry making at his current assessment position.

The DVR counselor was in attendance over the phone. She understood that Travis was currently not ready for a community position. At the same time she indicated that DVR would only fund Travis’s job coach if he was actually in a community position. Which he cannot handle without further training. This position was not considered a community position because even though it was a store in the community, all of the employees were ID/DD individuals being trained by provider agency employees. It was not a “real” job.

It is as confusing as it sounds.

The bottom line was that Travis wanted a community job, but his team decided that he was not ready for a community job. To put him into a position with greater demands would be setting him up for failure. He was not equipped emotionally to continue to fail in positions where he was deemed to not be “a good fit”.

DVR shared with the team that if Travis accepted a position with the same place they set him up in for an assessment, they would not longer fund it.

Again, it is as confusing as it sounds.

Travis was scheduled to work one shift per week for four hours. During the three and a half years that Travis was a client of DVR, I was never able to get a prompt response to any question, comment or email.

Not this time. In a matter of days we received a letter that Travis’s DVR file was being closed because he chose to no longer look for a community job. I contacted both the counselor and her supervisor asking them to send a new letter stating that Travis’s team determined that he was not ready for a community job. No response.

It makes a difference with benefits if you make a choice not to work versus being unable to work. He would be working in a paid position while receiving 1:1 job training. It just wouldn’t be funded by DVR.

Stay tuned for answers. How is the training funded?

What happens when DVR sends a letter stating a client is choosing not to work and closes the file.

Short answer. It’s not good.

“I’m quitting to pursue my dream of not working here.” - Author Unknown