Monitoring Resources and Outcomes for Community Employment

Currently, T-TAP is providing technical assistance to five organizations seeking to improve the employment outcomes of individuals served by these agencies. More specifics on who is currently receiving technical assistance from this project can be obtained by using the following link,
http://www.t-tap.org/ta/recipients.html.

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.

As part of the project’s outreach efforts, T-TAP is posting these tools for other agencies to assist with the monitoring of resources and outcomes for community employment. A brief summary of each of the tools follows.

Staff time log The goal of the Staff Time log is to provide a snapshot of staff time investment across eight major activity categories. The Staff Time Log can be used to answer questions such as, “Are staff spending too much time providing individual support,” “are we shifting resources from facility-based services to community support over time,” and “are we investing enough in job development?” The Staff Time Log is completed for one full calendar week by all staff, with the possible exception of staff that has purely administrative roles (e.g. you may choose to not include the business manager or receptionist). Staff indicates the primary activity for each 30-minute interval during the day. Ideally staff should complete these as the day goes on and memories are fresh. If a staff member is out sick or on vacation, no hours should be recorded. The agency needs to be sensitive to staff concerns about using this tool. Depending on organizational culture, staff may be allowed to complete the form anonymously. This may be done either by returning Logs directly to an external evaluator or by having staff hand them in without identifying themselves. The goal is to look at organizational resource allocation, not individual staff performance.

Organizational Survey. The purpose of the Organizational Survey is to assess the extent to which staff have a common understanding of organizational values and strategies. The Survey asks staff to indicate their agreement with statements that assess organizational practices, funding practices, strategies for employment, personal experiences, and perceptions of changes in responsibilities and expectations. Staff may have concerns about providing honest answers to some of these questions, and providing the opportunity to respond anonymously is important.

Individual Consumer Outcomes Log. This log assesses the quality and quantity of individual outcomes by collecting a one-week snapshot of an individual’s activities including the total hours spent during this week across five activities or jobs (individual employment, small group supported employment, individual community-based non-work activities, sheltered employment, and facility-based non-work services). Quality of employment measures includes wages, payroll status (is the individual on company payroll or program payroll), benefits, and the type of job. As in the other tools, data are collected for one week only. The actual hours in each job or environment for that week only should be recorded, even if an individual is on vacation or otherwise has an atypical week. The goal is to assess trends in outcomes on an organizational level, and these variations will even out across the organization.

For more information or if you have questions, you may contact:

John Butterworth
Coordinator of Technical Assistance
T-TAP / Institute for Community Inclusion
UMass Boston
(617) 287-4357
john.butterworth@umb.edu