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Browsing by Subject "supported employment"
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Item Building Essential Skills Together: Developing Employment and Skill Building Opportunities for Adults of All Abilities(2021-04) Lawson, Rebekah; Van Antwerp, Leah; Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Health and Human Sciences; Winkler, DanielleThe purpose of this doctoral capstone project was to address the gap in vocational and life skill services for Autistic young adults during their transition to adulthood. At the Building Essential Skills Together nonprofit organization, there is a goal to address this need and offer inclusive supported employment and life skill programs to adults of all abilities. Participants in these programs included two Autistic young adults on the Building Essential Skills Together team. Both young adults participated in food truck and cleaning/maintenance supported employment opportunities, completed weekly concession skill building experiences, and hosted a virtual trivia night using their interests. One young adult also participated in a 5-week life skills program led by the doctoral capstone student. This project utilized visual scripts, modeling, and prompting techniques during supported employment and skill building opportunities, and vocational and life skills assessments were established for future evaluation and tracking purposes. The Assessment of Functional Living Skills (AFLS)- Vocational Protocol was modified for the nonprofit’s food truck and cleaning/maintenance supported employment opportunities, and a non-standardized skills inventory was created for the life skills curriculum from the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework: Domain and Process (4th ed.). Development and implementation of supported employment and life skills materials during this project were guided by the Ecological Human Performance Model and Strengths-Based Frame of Reference for Autistic Individuals. Site feedback was obtained through electronic surveys at the conclusion of the project and indicated that project materials and implementation promoted inclusivity, independence, confidence, growth, and meaning for team members, as well as a foundation for the nonprofit programs.Item The Comparative Effectiveness of a Model of Job Development versus Treatment as Usual(2018) Carlson, Linda; Smith, Galen; Rapp, Charles A.; Mariscal, E. Susana; Holter, Mark C.; Ko, Eunjeong; Kukla, Marina; Fukui, Sadaaki; School of Social WorkJob development is critical to assisting people with serious disabilities to obtain jobs, but little is known about the actual methods that make job development effective. Using a post-only quasi-experimental design, this study examined the effects of the Conceptual Selling® method on the number of job development contacts and number of job placements. By controlling for employment specialists' characteristics (age, length of time in current position, years of human service experience, and years of business experience), the authors determined that the employment specialists trained in the Conceptual Selling® method had more job development contacts per employer, leading to more effective job placements for employers contacted, than the control group.Item Employment specialists' competencies as predictors of employment outcomes.(2010-05-25T20:16:20Z) Taylor, Amanda Christine; Bond, Gary R.; McGrew, John H., 1953-; Rand, Kevin; Devine, Dennis J. (Dennis John)Employment specialist competencies were examined as predictors of employment outcomes for consumers with severe mental illness participating in supported employment. Using a cross-sectional correlational design a variety of self-report and supervisor-rated performance measures were examined for their association with three consumer employment outcomes (e.g., the percentage of consumers on an employment specialist's caseload that were competitively employed, the percentage of consumers on an employment specialist's caseload that were employed 90 consecutive days, and the rate in which consumers dropped out of employment services). Six mental health agencies with a total of 57 employment specialists and 14 supervisors from across the nation participated in the study. Competitive employment rates ranged among employment specialists from 0% to 80%. Higher supervisor-rated job performance, supervisor-rated employment specialist efficacy, percentage of work time spent in the community during the past month, and number of contacts with consumers during the past month were related to improved consumer employment outcomes. However, employment specialist attitudes, knowledge of supported employment, conscientiousness, and self-efficacy were unrelated to employment outcomes. This study is one of the first of its kind to examine employment specialist competencies as they relate to supported employment for consumers with severe mental illness. While supported employment is a great improvement over traditional vocational programs, further examination of employment specialist competencies could hold the key to unlocking employment success for many more consumers.Item Helping veterans achieve work: A Veterans Health Administration nationwide survey examining effective job development practices in the community.(APA, 2018-06) Kukla, Marina; McGuire, Alan B.; Strasburger, Amy M.; Belanger, Elizabeth; Bakken, Shana K.; Psychology, School of ScienceObjective: Veterans Health Administration vocational services assist veterans with mental illness to acquire jobs; one major component of these services is job development. The purpose of this study was to characterize the nature of effective job development practices and to examine perceptions and intensity of job development services. Method: A national mixed-methods online survey of 233 Veterans Health Administration vocational providers collected data regarding frequency of employer contacts, perceptions of job development ease/difficulty, and effective job development practices when dealing with employers. Qualitative responses elucidating effective practices were analyzed using content analysis. Results: Vocational providers had a modest number of job development employer contacts across 2 weeks (M = 11.0, SD = 10.6) and fewer were face-to-face (M = 7.6, SD = 8.4). Over 70% of participants perceived job development to be difficult. Six major themes emerged regarding effective job development practices with employers: using an employer-focused approach; utilizing a targeted marketing strategy; engaging in preparation and follow-up; going about the employer interaction with genuineness, resilience, and a strong interpersonal orientation; serving as an advocate for veterans and educator of employers; utilizing specific employer-tailored strategies, such as arranging a one-on-one meeting with a decision maker and touring the business, individualizing a prescripted sales pitch, connecting on a personal level, and engaging in ongoing communication to solidify the working relationship. Conclusions and implications for practice: Respondents highlight several potentially effective job development strategies; tools and resources may be developed around these strategies to bolster job development implementation and allow opportunities for fruitful employer interactions.Item A Pilot Test of Group Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to Augment Vocational Services for Persons With Serious Mental Illness: Feasibility and Competitive Work Outcomes(Wolters Kluwer, 2018-05) Kukla, Marina; Strasburger, Amy M.; Salyers, Michelle P.; Rollins, Angela L.; Lysaker, Paul H.; Psychology, School of SciencePersons with serious mental illness (SMI) struggle with work functioning even with the assistance of vocational services. The current study sought to address this problem by examining a cognitive-behavioral therapy to augment vocational services. Fifty-two adults with SMI receiving vocational services participated in a pre-post feasibility trial of the Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Work Success (CBTw) intervention. CBTw is a 12-week manualized intervention that addresses cognitive and behavioral factors that impact work functioning. Competitive work outcomes were assessed in the 12 weeks preceding baseline and after the intervention. The results demonstrate strong session attendance and a low attrition rate. There were also significant improvements in work outcomes. Specifically, among participants unemployed at baseline, 50.0% attained work during follow-up. These findings provide preliminary evidence that CBTw may be a feasible intervention to augment vocational services; further controlled research should examine its benefit to work outcomes in people with SMI.