Extended employment support: Analysis of implementation and funding issues, Education and Training of the Mentally Retarded/Developmentally Disabled 33

The purpose of this study was to examine current practices and perceptions of supported employment provider agencies regarding extended services. From a total survey sample of 385 agencies, 345 (89.6%) were vendored to provide extended services. The average extended service caseload was 27 consumers or 57 % of the average supported employment caseload. More than half of agencies used the employment specialist who initially performed training to monitor extended services. Only four of ten extended services consumers received more than the minimally required support level of two contacts per month. Although state mental retardation/developmental disability and mental health agencies were the primary sources of extended services funding, providers used a variety of funding sources and methods for extended services. Respondents who were able to negotiate reimbursement rates were more likely to indicate that their funding method promoted consumer choice and movement of consumers and resources from segregated services to community-based employment. Findings are discussed in relation to the growing use of natural supports in extended services, and the relationship of funding mechanisms to service quality and access. Individuals with severe cognitive and physical disabilities historically have had low expectations for competitive employment because of their needs for extensive training, job modifica-tion, follow-along services, and/or employer and coworker preparation. Since 1986, a Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) service option, supported employment, has been the avenue by which many thousands of individuals with severe disabilities, often relegated to sheltered work or non-work programs, have become competitively employed (Wehman, Revell, & Kregel, 1997). Supported employment is a combination of two service phases: (1) time-limited employment services primarily funded by state VR agencies, whic