Recruitment and Retention

"Working Together" is a group of Maine businesses and organizations helping Maine employers capitalize on an untapped source of employees: individuals with disabilities. Attached, find several examples of their outreach materials, including newsletters and a magazine advertisement.

How is Kansas engaging the disabled community? The Kansas Medicaid Infrastructure Grant and the Kansas Council on Developmental Disabilities created a summit in order to provide information on the services available in the state that aim to establish integrated competitive employment as the first priority for Kansans with disabilities. Review full agenda and complete list of handouts and presentations can be reviewed.

How is Indiana reaching out to its consumers, agencies, and leaders about MIG information? Attached are three examples of how the state both provides education and works to improve on MIG programs and initiatives. Find a survey directed towards MIG consumers, a policy and procedure document designed for employers working with individuals with disabilities, and a strategic planning document for MIG subgroup leaders.

How can MIG information be disseminated effectively? One way that Indiana is doing this is through newsletters and articles that serve to keep the disability advocacy community updated and promote employment for individuals with disabilities. Examples of strategic outreach could be replicable by other states.

How is Idaho working to provide employment and services for those with disabilities? Find two examples of collaborative planning approaches. Attached are the 2010-2011 Strategic Plan created by the Business Leadership Network and a narrative of activities and results regarding recruitment and retention of individuals with disabilities.

Self-directed programs that allow individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities to exercise greater control over their finances have become increasingly common, however challenges in the recruitment, retention and training of direct support workers have grown more acute. In this article, the authors investigate the status of the Direct Support workforce for people using self-directed supports in one Midwestern state, based on the results of a statewide survey of service users.

Review a presentation aimed at educating human resource workers on how to properly recruit and work with individuals with disabilities. Information is provided on the Americans with Disabilities Act, hiring individuals with disabilities, reasonable accommodations, etc.. Also attached is a quiz on the information that could be used to test HR professionals’ knowledge.

The Kaiser Family Foundation's Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured (KCMU) held a briefing to examine the challenges facing states as they continue to struggle with the lingering impacts of the recession and begin preparing to implement health reform. Find links to three reports released at the event, archived presentations, video, podcast, transcript, agenda and more.

To better understand the dynamics of the workforce challenges that factor in to the implementation of health reform, an initiative was undertaken to examine the situation in five states (Connecticut, Michigan, Massachusetts, North Carolina and Washington). These states represented a range of geographic and political experiences as they continued to struggle with the lingering impacts of the recession and began preparing to implement health reform. Six key findings are summarized.

Wisconsin was one of four state based projects authorized by the SSA to begin testing a proposed benefit offset feature for the SSDI program. The pilot program was able to organize and implement its activities much as had been planned, however there were serious implementation problems at the Social Security Administration, according to this report which presents findings from both a process evaluation and the analysis of participant employment related outcomes.