OSERS Proposes Pathway to Competitive Integrative Employment
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) has released a framework for integrating the services of various federal offices to help individuals with disabilities identify potentially successful career opportunities. In a paper targeted to policymakers and service providers, OSERS outlines ways to optimize and support a thoughtful transition to work that includes youth. It notes, “For community engagement to expand employment opportunities, service providers should coordinate planning and service provision. This is particularly important for the success of youth transitioning from school to post-school activities. Providers may expand opportunities for community engagement that lead to employment opportunities in several ways. By having staff, including job developers and job coaches, trained in customized employment strategies, providers may use discovery methods to better understand an individual’s interests, skills, and abilities, which may lead to exploring potential employment opportunities in their community.” Selecting key programs and services such as assessment, person-centered planning, prevocational service and volunteer/apprenticeships, occupational training, and community engagement, the OSERS paper presents a matrix that highlights potential interagency supports and activities. The matrix can easily be used as a planning guide for program development and grant proposals.
Read their framework here.