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Quick ViewOpportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities, Employment First, Governor’s Council for People with Disabilities, Assistive Technology of Ohio, and the Ohio Departments of Aging, Developmental Disabilities, Job and Family Services, Medicaid, and Mental Health and Addiction Services collaborated on the creation of the site. (Page 46)
Transition services are funded by the various state agencies that serve the individual youth in accordance with requirements under WIOA, IDEA and other pertinent laws. In addition to the Interagency Agreement between the Ohio Department of Education and Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities, Ohio’s Employment First Task Force works across multiple systems to align policies and practices and issues guidance to the field as needed to ensure that students receive the services needed to ensure achievement of employment and other post-secondary outcomes. (Page 150)
In FFY 2013, OOD in partnership with the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities (DODD) established a dual certification program as part of the Employment First Partnership Agreement. This dual certification program is designed to ensure continuity of services and allow for more successful transition from time–limited to long–term supports. In addition, it is designed to better respond to the needs of individuals served by the program as well as our business partners.151-allowing them to provide VR services to individuals being served by OOD in the Employment First Partnership. Performance–based job development is utilized to ensure a more outcome–focused method of service provision. Staff providing services under this waiver must pass an online course and attend mandatory trainings on VR services, fee schedules, billing, and reporting expectations before they can begin providing services. They must also attend in–person trainings on employer engagement and on–the–job supports within one year of passing the online supported employment web course to continue providing services. (Page 151-152)
As mentioned previously, OOD partners with the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities (DODD) to expand vocational rehabilitation (VR) services to individuals with developmental disabilities as part of the state’s overall Employment First Initiative. It also should be noted that DODD is the lead agency for Ohio’s Employment First initiative, which was signed by Governor Kasich in March 2012. OOD is an active member of the Employment First Task Force, which is examining existing practices in the state system to identify and address barriers to employment for people with developmental and other disabilities. (Page 157)
In 2015 and continuing into 2016, Ohio has been selected as a core state in the Employment First State Leadership Mentoring Program. Through this grant, which is funded through the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), the Employment First Taskforce has identified action steps that each agency will complete to promote the core principles for transition in Ohio:
- Competitive, integrated employment is expectation for all youth with disabilities;
- Transition planning for youth requires multi–agency collaboration;
- Early dialogue with individuals and families is critical to ensuring employment outcomes;
- There are multiple pathways to employment; and
- Person–centered planning is key to the development of effective services and supports for transition–age youth. (Page 158)
OOD will provide targeted training to enhance personnel development. This will include targeted training on Employment First, supported employment, eligibility, transition procedures and clarification of roles and responsibilities of OOD and school personnel. (Page 160)
Mental health: OOD’s service provision is higher for individuals with psychosocial and cognitive impairments. This is most likely explained by the fact that OOD in the past four years has concentrated efforts through focused contracts with local Mental Health and Drug Addiction boards, local Developmental Disabilities boards, and most recently through the Ohio Department Developmental Disabilities funding for Employment First. Each of these populations also has an organized representative presence through established county public agencies across the state. (Page 169)
OOD has several Interagency Agreements that are designed to implement service delivery models that will increase outcomes for specific populations served by the VR program. The Employment First Partnership Agreement with the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities and the Ohio Transition Support Program with the Ohio Department of Education are both examples of this. (Page 179)
Employment First Partnership Agreement: OOD has continued its Employment First (EF) Partnership Agreement with the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities. OOD has expanded the number of VR counselors providing services under the agreement from 15 to 25 counselors during this time period. In FFY 2015, the EF program exceeded all performance goals. This includes exceeding its rehabilitation goal by 150 percent and its plan development goal by 200 percent. (Page184) and (Page 186)
Employment (second and fourth Quarter after exit): Adult and Dislocated Worker: Historical WIA data exists for these cohorts for us to use in calculations and projections. Applying the employed second quarter after exit to the historical WIA population yields only a modest difference between WIA’s entered employment first quarter after exit and WIOA’s employment second quarter after exit for these two cohorts. Therefore, we propose using the PY 2015 WIA common measure level as a starting point for establishing a performance history for the second quarter after exit measure. For the fourth quarter after exit, (Page 310)