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Interviewer: I remember when I was doing
direct services. I had this mentality of a "cookie-cutter approach."
Just give it to me straight. What do I need to do to make things happen
or to make things work? Really in employment, there is no "cookie-cutter"
approach because of the individualization and the customized options
that we pursue with people with disabilities. Every scenario or situation's
different. If you had to say that there was a formula for success
when you're pursuing self-employment with individuals with significant
disabilities, what is that formula? What do you need to make this
be successful for people?
Nancy: The first thing is it is key to
make sure you start with a customer-driven approach. That it is what
the person has a passion for. Supported employment through self-employment
may not be something everybody wants. You need to make sure that it
matches the person's passion. That involves market analysis, making
sure that there is a pool of customers for what the person wants to
sell. Also key is having a team approach of folks who are going support
that individual in their employment endeavor. Then also [you should]
try to blend funding to maximize resources that would be available
to the individual for start-up. Then working in a productive way with
all those entities such as: the One-Stop, Vocational Rehabilitation
Services, Social Security Administration, and Work Incentives.
Interviewer: In your opinion on the flip
side of the coin, what do you think is the single most barrier or
challenge when developing self-employment opportunities?
Nancy: I think probably making sure that
the folks involved have enough information about benefits regulations,
whether it is Medicaid/Medicare waivers, subsidized housing, etc.
so that the individual's benefits are not put in jeopardy, because
someone wasn't knowledgeable enough about those regulations as they
were planning. For example, there are some restrictions on unearned
income vs. earned income that can result in someone's benefits being
just done away with.That is the key. A lot of the entities that have
to do with employment that we're trying to use in a generic way, that
would be available to anybody, don't have all of that knowledge. Make
sure that the benefit analysis piece is in place with experts who
know about that. Also, try to work within policies and procedures
that are a bit archaic and really limit the individual instead of
promoting opportunities for him/her. That's the systems change piece.
Interviewer: The barrier then is not necessarily
with the individual themselves, the job seeker, it's the system, the
personnel, the staff, and their knowledge?
Nancy: Exactly!
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