E1MN-- A state-agency partnership
working together to deliver a more seamless and timely
employment support system.
As a Vocational Rehabilitation Services or State Services
for the Blind employment service provider,
it's critical that you collaborate
with other professionals to support a more seamless
employment support system.
Since your role is focused on providing services
during the find phase, let's look at some important ways
you can collaborate during that phase.
During the find phase, you help the person find a job
and initiate employment support services.
To support collaboration during this phase,
if the person doesn't have a My Vault account,
help the person set one up to securely share information.
With a My Vault account, the person
can easily and securely share documents
like their employment portfolio, IPE, and placement plan.
You should also set up a My Vault account
if you don't have one yet so you can securely share information
with the person.
If the person doesn't want to use a My Vault account,
help them identify a different method
to store and share information with others on their team.
Throughout the find phase, another key to collaboration
is to provide the person and the VRS/SSB counselor
with regular updates.
For example, provide the VRS/SSB counselor
monthly progress reports.
During those regular updates, let
the person and the VRS/SSB counselor
know if services or timelines are deviating from the plan.
Together, you can brainstorm solutions
to any issues that come up.
During the find phase, you meet every 60 days
with the person, the VRS/SSB counselor, and other people
who are important to the person.
These meetings are a good time to reflect
with the person and the VRS/SSB counselor
about the information learned during job search and the focus
for the next 60 days.
Expectations of 60-day meetings include
review progress, identify and address
any barriers that might come up, amend employment or placement
plan as needed, discuss implementing new strategies,
and agree that placement plan and follow up services
will continue.
The final critical point of collaboration
occurs when a person becomes stable in their new employment
and needs to transition to long-term employment support
services, also known as keep phase services.
Communicate regularly with the VRS/SSB counselor
and the person as the person approaches stability.
The VRS/SSB counselor is responsible for communicating
with the waiver case manager to set up waiver employment
support services, but your updates
can help ensure that transition is timely and smooth.
On My Vault, upload and share with the person
important details about their job
so that they can easily share those details
with their VRS/SSB counselor, waiver case manager, and waiver
employment service provider.
For a smooth transition, it's critical
that you communicate regularly as the person approaches
stability.
That wraps up this overview of collaborating
with other professionals.
You can see that by collaborating,
you're helping to achieve the shared vision.
We will work together 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.