KFI, Inc.

Organizational Barrier to Competitive Employment

KFI’s overall philosophy is to assist individuals to lead regular lives in their communities. Since sheltered employment and sub-minimum wages fall outside of this philosophy, the organization has made a concerted effort to end these practices. These changes have affected the entire organization in numerous ways from job descriptions and responsibilities to internal communications to the kind of space we need. To put it bluntly – we do not do anything the way we used to do it. It has taken many years to make these changes and innumerable approaches were used, but following are some of the major strategies we used.

Strategy to Address Barrier

1. The need for continual examination of values and decisions. Having an agency mission and values that support inclusion is not enough. Each decision along the way needs to be held up and examined against these ideals.

2. Finding and/or working to create flexibility within funding and regulatory systems. Separating “guidelines” from actual requirements, deciding what is and is not important, finding “bridge” money.

3. Recognize the importance of collaboration. Identifying people within the state system who can be helpful—cultivate allies.

4. Understand that space defines what you do. Large “program” space will result in gatherings of people. Smaller or office space will make this impossible.

5. Understand the importance of relationships Between staff – emphasis on development of positive working relationship and internal flexibility (work schedules, job duties, etc.).

6. With people supported – maintain ongoing relationships where appropriate, but assist people to have opportunities to become regular members of their communities With families – develop and maintain a positive working relationship with families
Between staff and the people they support – appropriate, committed, trusting relationship with those who staff supports.

Case Example of Organization Change Strategy

KFI’s closure of all group work situations, including the sheltered workshop, and the elimination of sub-minimum wages have occurred within the larger context of the organization’s movement away from specialized (segregated) and group programs to community and individualized supports. These changes have taken many years to accomplish, but were led by the early (and surprising) success of individuals who moved out of the work activity center directly into supported employment. This early success caused staff to question the effectiveness of sheltered work settings in preparing people to be successful employees in regular community businesses. At the same time other staff started to question the usefulness of conducting separate groups within a day program rather than individual approaches for non-vocational activities (e.g., meal preparation). Therefore, the entire organization began to rethink the need for groups and the isolation of people from their communities. This consistency throughout all aspects of the organization led to a major shift towards individualized community supports.

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