E1MN-- a state-agency partnership working together
to deliver a more seamless and timely employment support
system.
As a VRS or SSB staff, it's critical
that you coordinate employment services when
a person transitions from plan to find phase,
throughout the find phase, and when a person transitions
from find to keep phase.
The way you coordinate employment services
looks a little different during each phase.
So let's start by looking at the transition from plan
to find phase.
As a reminder, during the plan phase,
the person is getting help to discover
their interests, strengths, and then prepare for a job.
In most cases, the person will be getting help
from a waiver employment service provider
to plan for employment.
At any point during the plan phase,
the waiver case manager or the waiver employment service
provider may contact you with the person
to ask general questions, like what services and supports
the person will get through VRS/SSB, when or how to make
a referral, or how things from the plan phase
can be used in the job search.
When answering these questions, be sure to direct people
to the work toolkit.
A description of VRS/SSB services,
how to refer a person to VRS/SSB,
and what to include in the referral can
be found in Supporting people on waivers, find phase.
The VRS/SSB waiver liaison is a new role
created to make it easier for waiver employment service
providers and waiver case managers
to connect with VRS/SSB.
Waiver case managers and waiver employment service providers
can contact a VRS/SSB waiver liaison
when they're not sure where to start
or when they want to talk to someone
who's been specifically trained in working
with waiver services.
The VRS/SSB waiver liaison is available for consultation
during the plan phase and can help navigate the timing
on when the person should begin the VRS/SSB process.
You can find a list of VRS/SSB liaisons in the Work Toolkit
under Supporting people on waivers, Plan.
Lastly, when talking with the person in the plan phase,
let them know how VRS/SSB will use the information
they're gathering as a foundation
for find phase services.
Explain the positive summary and the employment portfolio
will inform development of the VRS/SSB employment plan.
To prevent the need to repeat information or activities,
this is an example of how working together
can provide a seamless service delivery system.
Now let's look at the find phase.
As a reminder, during the find phase,
the focus is on helping a person find a job
and receive initial job supports,
then get referred for long-term employment support services
under the keep phase.
VRS/SSB staff have a lead role during this phase,
which includes coordinating employment services.
One of the primary employment services a person on a waiver
may need is an employment service provider who
can help the person find a job.
You have an important role in helping a person choose
a VRS/SSB employment service provider that
will best meet their needs.
To begin, find out if the person was working with a provider
during the engage or plan phase.
Continuity in employment service providers
is a powerful way to support seamless and efficient service
delivery, as long as the person wants to continue
working with that provider.
If the person worked with a waiver employment service
provider during the engage or plan phase,
check minnesotahelp.info to see if that provider is also
a VRS/SSB employment provider.
Providers that are vendors through the waiver
and through VRS/SSB are called dually enrolled providers.
You can find the steps for checking the provider's status
on minnesotahelp.info in the Work Toolkit, Supporting
people on waivers, Find phase, How
to find dually enrolled providers.
If the person was already working
with a dually enrolled provider, ask the person
if they would like to continue working with that provider
during the find phase.
If the person was not working with a dually enrolled
provider, or they would like to work with a different provider,
help the person make an informed choice regarding a provider.
As you help the person choose a provider,
consider if the person will need a waiver employment service
provider during the keep phase.
If so, use minnesotahelp.info to find options for dually
enrolled providers to support a smooth transition
between find and keep phases.
During the find phase, it's possible the person may
be using waiver services such as residential services, day
services, or transportation services.
If any issues arise during the find phase
with the person's waiver services,
it's critical that you help the person communicate
with their waiver case manager and any other team members
to resolve any issues that may impact their job search.
Now let's look at the transition to the keep phase.
As a reminder, during the keep phase,
the person will obtain the supports
they need to keep their job through waiver funding.
In many cases, the person you're supporting
will need long-term waiver employment services
during the keep phase.
You play an important role in coordinating with the waiver
case manager to get those services in place
during the transition from find to keep.
To ensure the transition is smooth,
it's important that you verify the person has waiver
employment services during the development of the employment
plan.
Usually, you'll identify if the person has a waiver
during intake and eligibility.
You can verify the person has a waiver by doing a benefits
lookup in their My Vault account.
Doing this activity sends a request for benefits lookup
to the Minnesota Department of Human Services.
DHS looks up the person's record and sends the results back
to the My Vault account within two days.
The benefits lookup provides information
about all of the person's current benefits,
including confirmation of the waiver.
You can find information about doing the benefits
lookup in the Work Toolkit under Supporting people on waivers,
Find page.
See the Work Toolkit hands-on tools page for information
about setting up a My Vault account.
Another important step you should
take to effectively coordinate services during the transition
from find to keep is to determine the employment
stability date with the person and communicate that date
with the waiver case manager.
Once the person is stable in employment,
they're ready to transition to the keep phase,
funded by waiver long-term employment support services.
If a person will need long-term waiver employment services,
the case manager needs to know the details about the job
so they can get waiver services set up and ready to go.
As soon as the person has a job offer,
it's important for the VRS/SSB counselor
to let the waiver case manager know the following details--
the job title, the hourly wage, the average weekly hours,
hire and start dates, and the name of the business.
The waiver case manager can then begin the authorization
for employment support services, which can take up to 30 days.
The VRS/SSB counselor will let the waiver case
manager know when the person has become stable in their new job.
A person's stability date typically
happens when the person is satisfied with their job,
the employer is satisfied with the person's performance
at work, and the person has adequate employment supports
in place to ensure continued employment stability.
By the time the person becomes stable in their new job,
the waiver case manager should have the waiver employment
support services ready to be authorized and provided.
As you do with others served by VRS/SSB,
you will stay in contact for up to 90 days
to ensure no other services need to be coordinated.
Then close the person's VRS/SSB case.
That wraps up this overview of your responsibility
in coordinating employment services.
As you saw in this video, by collaborating
with other professionals, you're helping
to achieve the shared vision.
Together, we'll work to align our systems so that people
who are on HCBS disability waivers
get seamless and timely supports to make informed choices
and meet competitive, integrated employment goals.