| Popis: |
State employment agency policies and practices vary widely in their level of commitment to improving access to integrated employment for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). State IDD agencies are charged to seek creative approaches to policy formation, organizational change, and service provision that directly influence the development of employment opportunities. The goal of this study was to understand the promising practices and strategies being used by state intellectual and developmental disabilities agencies in order to understand what factors make these strategies successful, the lessons learned from implementation, and how the themes derived from this analysis can help to further articulate integrated employment as the preferred outcome for individuals with IDD. Semistructured, one-on-one telephone interviews with key state IDD agency personnel revealed six themes that were common across 30 state agency practices. These were (a) identifying barriers, (b) forming a coalition, (c) developing a mission and strategic plan, (d) aligning the infrastructure with vision and policies, (e) building stakeholder capacity, and (f) measuring progress and monitoring implementation. Recommendations are offered to state agency administrators to broaden perceptions about methods for expanding integrated employment options and outcomes at the systems level. |
