DiversityInc reports that the Department of Justice has launched an investigation into SourceAmerica and the AbilityOne program it oversees. Here's the link so you can see the report: http://www.diversityinc.com/news/agency-employing-people-with-disabilities-under-investigation-amid-fraud-corruption-allegations/ . I'm wondering if any of our group have had dealings with SourceAmerica and/or AbilityOne, and what your experiences have been. It looks like such a great project from their website at http://www.sourceamerica.org/ and I will really be disappointed if these allegations have any merit.
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Hi, Donna -
Thank you for sharing this information with the community. In reading the article you cite, this paragraph helped me to better understand the basis for this investigation.
Companies under contract with AbilityOne pledge that at least 75 percent of their employees have a severe disability and would be unable to work in a traditional job. An estimated $3 billion of taxpayer’s money goes to AbilityOne per year, and this money is supposed to fund these contracts. Supposedly, however, half of the companies in these contracts do not meet the required percentage of employees with severe disabilities.
Here is a some of the history of the Ability One Network from their website. I have worked with adults who were employed under Ability One Programs and, in those instances, believed that they were serving individuals with severe disabilities by providing them with real, and meaningful, work opportunities. However, I can also appreciate that it is important to review the "nearly 550 nonprofit agencies" that partner with federal customers to provide "legislative and regulatory assistance, communications and marketing materials, information technology support, engineering and technical assistance, and ... professional training".
Hopefully, this investigation will create greater transparency across the network, and provide for more opportunities to support these individual in being involved in the workforce.
Best,
Mike Cruse
Career Pathways and Disabilities in Adult Education Moderator
michaelcruse74@gmail.com
Hi Donna,
This is not a new scenario for organizations that serve adults with disabilities. I have seen it for years. I have stopped going to the agencies that have those big contracts because it angers me too much. As with all large government programs, education included, the key to getting the intended outcome is supervision. Frankly, many of these scenarios exist due to years of a lack of appropriate educational opportunities for individual with disabilities. Particularly adults with disabilities. The contracts were created to serve individuals who could engage in work or work activities but not at a competitive level. As those contracts became more lucrative, the workers may have became less disabled. The structure of the contract and supervision become, as you can see, very important. It is possible to provide the services you saw on the website, it takes significant effort and honest intention. The move by the federal government to limit sub minimum wage contracts and including pre-employment training services in Medicaid are some ways to creating a more meaningful approach to this concern. The best way, in my opinion, would be to offer meaningful pre-vocational training in k-12 designed to dovetail into adult vocational training that leads to employment in the private sector.
Hi, Robin -
Thanks for sharing your perspective with us. I agree that "to provide the services you saw on the website, it takes significant effort and honest intention". I also agree with your comment about needing to develop more options for pre-employment training services, though Medicaid, K-12 and adult vocational rehabilitation. Do you have experience working with specific agencies that you feel provide strong models for pre-employment training for individuals with disabilities?
Best,
Mike
Michael,
Sorry, they vary. Literally from year to year, (due to funding /policy changes) individual to individual employee of the provider and aging out of or into different service providers. Additionally, national agencies differ from area to area in terms of services provided and quality of those services. The services that are needed are well known but rarely provided due to the above. One of the foundational difficulties has been the lack of appropriate pre-employment activities in k-12 programs. That often causes a significant need in adult services where, in general, the cost is much greater and the payment much less. Vocational Rehabilitation has recently been charged with the task of providing significantly greater 'pre-employment' services for 'in school youth' . That process may eventually help to organize and bring consistency to the system. In theory, that would help alleviate some of the generational problems of graduating many students unprepared for work or any post-secondary training. Truthfully, the only constant in this process is most individual's qualification for Medicaid regardless of age or other provider funding. That is a policy issue to be dealt with.......
Hi Michael,
I have given your question some additional thought and local research. Like most 'best practices' type questions, answers are usually local. I have asked locally and researched some both from my own experiences and just internet searches. I can not find either in my memory or internet searches providers that offer a level or type of pre-employment services for adults with disabilities that I would say are a consistent model. Partially because real (not sheltered workshop or supported employment ) pre-employment for AWD is not a common service. I have seen individual agencies develop their own out of frustration and have seen success. (the CIL of South Florida had a good one. It ended because it was not billable under Medicaid and the 'extra' educational funds were discontinued) One comment I have heard over the years from adult ed teachers and counselors is that they have felt a need to try and add pre-employment type material into their adult ed classes for all their students, but especially for AWD because they saw such a strong need. In Miami Dade Schools, our AWD baking and pastry program used a Florida course code for AWD/CTE and a brilliant teacher to include very strong pre-employment and skills training and it worked very well. There might be some value in a model that combines specific and strong pre-employment curriculum and skills training that works better than ones that try to include them on the actual job. I would love to hear from AWD and adult ed teachers as to what has worked for them.
Hi, Robin -
Thanks again for your comments. I'm also interested in hearing from others about what works for them, and for learners in their programs. I especially appreciate the question you raise about the value of pre-employment curriculum and skills training in a classroom setting, versus on the job site. I think a lot of the success here depends on the transfer of learning from one context (school or classroom) to the other (job site). Of course, this idea of skills transfer is also important for individuals as they transition from one job, or employer, to another.
If we're talking about transfer of pre-employment skills training from a classroom to the job site, what do you, and others, think helps make this kind of instruction 'strong'? What does high quality pre-employment training look like in the classroom? How can we help ensure that learners are able to transfer this knowledge to actual work settings, and into the rest of their lives?
Best,
Mike
Hi Mike,
Here are some closing thoughts on this. Standard pre employment skills in post secondary (and often in k-12) are actually a 'set of behavioral rules ' that will get demonstrated by instructors. From that point on, the student is expected to model the behavior correctly. If the attempt is not totally correct, the lesson is a failure and the steps above repeated assuming rote practice of a 'finished' behavior, and repetition is the correct learning process. Regardless of setting (standard classroom, CTE classroom or on the job) learning thru approximating and correction of the behavior that is 'close' is not always practiced. Not all students learn in the standard way stated above, particularly those with significant processing difficulties and those with no prior social knowledge of the work environment. When the process allows for approximation and correction thru practiced instruction, the skills are eventually demonstrated correctly and generalized better. Combining that with what I call a CTE environment (real work environments that are preformed in a technical classroom)eg... culinary CTE classes that perform in a work environment by feeding the facility meals, is, in my experience, the best pre-employment learning environment for many students, particularly those with disabilities. I would be interested in hearing what pre employment skills are being taught in adult ed practitioners centers.
Hi, Robin -
Thanks for your comment and sharing your experience with pre-employment training as a 'set of behavioral rules'.
I want to share a resource for you, and others, to explore on the subject of integrating employability skills. The College and Career Readiness and Success Center, The Center on Great Teachers and Leaders, and RTI International have developed a learning module for professionals. This collection of customizable, train-the-trainer materials is designed to support adult education programs to build their knowledge and capacity for integrating employability skills at the state and local levels.
The module includes PowerPoint slides, handouts, a sample agenda, a workbook, tools for individuals or state work groups, and a facilitator's guide. You can download all of these resources for free here. Best, Mike Cruse Career Pathways and Disabilities in Adult Education Moderator michaelcruse74@gmail.com