T-TAP: Strategies: Organizational Change

Presentations:
	Topic: Organizational Change Presenter: Beth Durke Allegan County Community Health, Allegan, Michigan

	Topic: Organizational Change Presenter: Barry Maxwell EmployAbility, Inc., Bartlesville OK

Fact Sheets:
Successful Organizational Change - Over the past 20 years, there have been substantial changes in the delivery and funding of day and employment services for individuals with disabilities. This fact sheet will summarize the experiences of six CRPs that successfully shifted focus from facility-based services to community employment outcomes in which individuals with disabilities earn at least minimum wage. The experiences of these organizations suggested seven characteristics that support organizational change and higher rates of participation in competitive employment.

Developing a Business Plan for Organizational Change - Developing a solid business plan is a critical step for Community Rehabilitation Programs (CRPs) who want to expand their agencyís competitive, integrated employment outcomes. This fact sheet describes strategies that CRPs can use to develop a business plan for organizational change and is based on the experiences of Tri County TEC in Stuart, Florida. Tri County TEC is a member of the CRP Leadership Network that was formed by the Training and Technical Assistance for Providers project (T-TAP).

KFI Reshaping Staff Roles

KFI logo KFI (Katahdin Friends, Inc.) was founded over 40 years ago as a school for the area's children with mental retardation. The first 20 years of KFI's history concentrated on centralized services and transporting people to buildings owned by the organization. KFI's experience over the last 20 years; however, has been providing services in the communities where people with disabilities live. KFI has expanded to become a regional provider of community-based services to people with disabilities.

KFI now assists people with disabilities to:

find work at local businesses (rather than in a sheltered workshop),

live in their own apartments (rather than operating group homes),

use the communities recreation and social services (rather than run and offer programs only for people with disabilities).

Read About Reshaping Staff Roles

The National Survey of Community Rehabilitation Providers, FY2002-2003

Over the past twenty years extensive research and practice has demonstrated that individuals with significant disabilities can be successful members of the labor market. Federal policy also emphasizes employment through regulation and legislation including the Rehabilitation Act and Rehabilitation Services Administration policy, the Workforce Investment Act (WIA); the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act; the Olmstead Decision; and President Bush's "New Freedom Initiative".

Despite these initiatives, data on the employment of people with developmental disabilities suggest that there continues to be a bias toward sheltered and non-work services in funding and service delivery, including a substantial continuing investment in sheltered employment services. Two recent reports from the FY2002-2003 National Survey of Community Rehabilitation Providers (CRPs) give a current snapshot of CRPs and the services they provide. Read the Reports

Monitoring Resources and Outcomes for Community Employment

T-TAP is providing technical assistance to ten organizations seeking to improve the employment outcomes of individuals served by these agencies. As part of this process, T-TAP is assessing resources and outcomes at project sites using three tools developed by project staff at the Institute for Community Inclusion. Implementing an organizational change process requires careful attention to both resources and outcomes. For organizations that are supporting individuals with disabilities in community employment, the primary resource is staff time. Principal outcomes include the individual’s access to employment and the quality of the employment experience. The tools being used by T-TAP can be used on a point-in-time basis, with minimal time commitment. The five TA sites are implementing the Staff Time Log and the Individual Employment Outcomes Log every six months, and the Organizational Survey once every 12 months. Monitoring Resources and Outcomes Tools

Organizational Change Strategies

Organizational change is a multi-dimensional, complex process that must be anticipated and planned. Often one of the primary disrupters of change can be the people involved such as management, employees, board members, customers, and families and their reaction to proposed changes. Resistance to change is a well-documented human experience and can derail the strategic efforts toward organizational change. The following web pages are examples of strategies that the CRP Leadership Network have used to address barriers to competitive employment at the organizational level, Organizational Change Strategies

The Contradictions of Leadership: Making Customized Employment Work

-By Cary Griffin & Dave Hammis, Griffin-Hammis Associates, LLC

Business ownership, and other Customized Employment options, do not happen by accident. Creating inventive career opportunities with consistency and quality requires leaders and management systems dedicated to redirecting funds, rethinking policy, changing practices, truly engaging consumers and families, forging partnerships with the public and private sectors, and investing in staff competency and retention far beyond traditional community rehabilitation practice. In this paper, Griffin and Hammis offer Ten Contradictions as a starting point in re-thinking our roles as leaders; leaders at all levels of an organization, and in various circumstances including at work, in our families, our communities, and in the world at large. Word | Text

This website was developed by T-TAP, funded by a cooperative agreement from the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Disability Employment Policy (Number E 9-4-2-01217). The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the U.S. Department of Labor. Nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply the endorsement by the U.S. Department of Labor. Virginia Commonwealth University, is an equal opportunity/affirmative action institution providing access to education and employment without regard to age, race, color, national origin, gender, religion, sexual orientation, veteran's status, political affiliation, or disability. Privacy Policy. If special accommodations or language translation are needed contact Katherine Inge at: kinge@atlas.vcu.edu or Voice (804) 828 - 1851 | TTY (804) 828 - 2494.