Customised Employment - streamlining sustainable transitions.

Questions raised from the NDCO webinar

Question / Answer
Is there a list of organisations in VIC who have undergone this process and how do I get hold of it? / Yes, there is a list of providers in Melbourne, Geelong, Sydney and Canberra who have attended this training and I can email the names of these organisations who are actively participating in the Customised Employment approach.
Can this be funded under SLES? / Discovery is part of the new SLES guidelines – yes
While the Discovery process seems like a commendable program, it seems to focus on either open or self-employment as the ideal outcomes. Is there any scope for Supported Employment to be included as an appropriate outcome for some. Either as an end result / Yes - Whilst supported employment was not covered in the trial it is a valid option for some people. Unfortunately the discovery process identifies an individual's best pathway and doesn't always align to the types of supported employment available (if any) in that person's area. For supported employment to successfully incorporate this model it would need to be more flexible, diverse and potentially support people in open employment settings (supported open employment).
How do you fund the extra funding to support such a huge plan / The trial in the Perth Hills was designed to explore year 10 – year 13 transition support. Whilst we don't have the answer, we would view employment support as being concurrent and something people could use to transition through a range of options. They may start out using NDIS employment supports, and build their capability to move into supported employment (particularly if it was more flexible in a community setting), and if they had the capacity to continue to develop may end up reducing their support level through a DES service for example. The idea is that whilst significant support and funding is required early on, it can be gradually decreased over time.
Was there a centralized database of those industries who were keen to participate? List of industry partners who could assist in the process? / No - Customised employment in this context looks at the individual rather than the existing industry. Some providers here in the West are looking to establish linkages with Rotary clubs in order to fill this role – particularly around business partners.
Will this be rolled out all over Australia? / Unsure, it will depend on the NDIS and the direction chooses to take.
What is the involvement of DES providers in this pilot? / Some Des providers worked in partnership (with memorandum of understanding) with NDIS providers. Some registered to deliver the school-to-work transition. The concept was that as a young person moved through year 10 – 13 they would do some after-school work in an area they want to work in, and when they become Des eligible this work would support the DES provider to then get them a job in the open market (make them more employable)
I may have missed something but Customised Employment seems to have a time limit - is that correct? ie end of Yr 12? If so, what happens then. If things aren't carried over beyond Yr 12 what does that do to the individual's mental health. To have experienced something so powerful and intense and for it not to be sustained. I appreciate the significant positive effects of the program but are there stats re when the program finishes? What happens next? / It's a great point you make and something we are mindful of. For the individuals assessed as under the eight-hour benchmark, the NDIS has supported them in their work role through Find a Job Keep a Job. For those above the eight-hour benchmark who require some support, they need ADE providers and supported employment policy to become more flexible to enable more options and diverse pathways through NDIS (Which is happening but a very slow beast), and for those more capable the DES providers / Jobaccess to do the same. We currently don't have the statistics on what happens when the program finishes (working on it), some of the young people we know have established their own capability or their family help. We don't view it as a time-limited process, it is the initiation of a concurrent, long-term process of building someone's capacity to earn and their capability of improving in line with the NDIS principles.
I have been working in this area for over 30 years. I don’t think your model is new as its Best Practice is established but using NDIS funding and doing real employment for students in yr 10 is new. Well done / Agree, thanks.
Do you have specific training modules or units of competency to use in employability/work skills training / No – not formally.
How do you get the employers on board? Can you give further info about the procedures around the Discovery process / The customised employment process is about the individual, and it is about supporting the individual to engage with the employers that best suit their skills, capacity and interests. Through the informational interviewing, work experience/volunteering, cold canvassing etc the individual would be supported to engage with the employers. It's about understanding the person, and then seeking the employer to best suit their needs. In a more natural way. For some people who are going to be DES eligible, it's important that their discovery process is passed over to the DES organisation to get a better job match.
With the research area, is there evidence of profit margins for businesses? / Not something we have looked at, but this is about the individual rather than the employer and getting a good job match with the person who is passionate about the work, in work which would suit their abilities/skills and therefore make them more productive.
Would this be available for people who have been assessed at 15 hours work a week, rather than the 8? If people (like the ones you showed) are working up to 23 hours a week (possibly for minimal money) - this will affect their Disability Support Pension. How does this scheme work hand in hand with DSP? / No – only was available to young people between years 10 –13 for after-school work. It will affect disability support pension which is suspended for two years should they earn too much money. They need to report their earnings with the Department of human services, and their disability pension is adjusted accordingly.
Has there been much formal research into this model in Australia, and do you have a university research partner already? In particular, has anyone investigated the interactions with employer organisations and whether this has influenced understandings of inherent requirements and practices of creating and adjusting workplaces and work roles? / No, definitely more work needed in this space.
How would an organisation make further contact with regards to training in customised employment? What would the cost be? / Send us an email.
Is School To Work in WA the same as School Leaver Employment Supports (SLES) in NSW? / No, they are different but share some similarities. School-to-work in WA focused on the discovery process and after-school jobs from year 10.
Do you have any advice or strategies for educating and advising potential employers on adapting Customised Employment practices, and how to adapt existing workplace environments to cater for more people with disabilities? / For discussion.
Do you have a customised training package that providers are able to use? I am looking for Employability Work Skills training material / Yes the training package (non-accredited) is delivered over a 2 day training workshop and following on from this training is a series of mentoring sessions to assist organisations to implement the strategies from the training.
NEIS should have funding for a Cert Iv in Business or Cert III in Micro Business Management. / It does but that can be a barrier for some people with intellectual disability
Were DSO's in WA, already involved with finding employment, or career counselling. Or was your training to DSO's their first employment experience / Yes – some were. Others were not. We are currently evaluating to see which providers were the most effective to determine whether this was a variable that impacted success for people with disability
I work for a Volunteer Support Service and I am trying to work with organisations to make their volunteer roles more inclusive (particularly for people with disability and mental health considerations). Do you know of any similar supports such as the School to Work program specifically for volunteer roles? / No.
Have you considered changing the phrasing you use. I used to show employers a "Job Redesign" concept, rather than "Job Creation". The emphasis was on showing employers that they could transfer some tasks from higher-paid workers to lower paid workers. / Great suggestions.
What % of participants in the Discovery process are accepted onto DES programs? What % of Discovery process participants become employed or self-employed, and for what hrs per week? / Unfortunately we do not have these statistics.
What does Gaelen mean as Yr 13? In NSW school goes to year 12. Does he mean a year after school too? / Western Australia allows some students with disability to participate in an additional year of schooling if they require more time.
Can we have a template for informational interviewing? / Yes, we can email this template to those who are interested.
How much does it cost the Client / Student? / School-to-work was NDIS funded.
Did the providers leading discovery need accreditation? How was consistency managed? Was there a template provided? / NDS provided ongoing mentoring and training to providers. The consistency management was a difficult problem, and relied on staff from the NDIA checking discovery records which need to be submitted by providers. They were able to identify some providers who were underperforming and needed retraining.
What role do schools play in the discovery process? I work at a Special Development School with students in the final two years. We provide our students with many ready to work opportunities including work experience both in and out of school, individual / Schools play an important role as backup information providers during the discovery process to assist providers when completing the discovery process, the total team effort includes schools as partners in the discovery process along with parents (where possible), the person with disability, their support network and of course the provider they are working with.
I am working for a provider that assists with Finding & Keeping A Job as the Employment and Learning Coordinator, what networking organisations would be best to approach for assisting my clients transitioning. / Ticket to Work networks are a good option.
I wanted to know what business to business was. / Business within a business relates to someone contracting as a micro business, but delivering the service within an organisation to be more inclusive and involved in the community. E.g. someone doing coffee runs.
We work predominantly with DMS not ESS however we do work to support the idea of job redesign, job share opportunities and job seeker strengths and resources while addressing non vocational barriers. We do struggle with the multiple health conditions and allied health supports job seekers need to address health conditions so they are work ready. Some GP's seem reluctant to make referrals for pain management & medical specialists with waitlist for needed surgery's being up to 3 years. / Excellent point and valid.
Delighted that schools have let you into yr10,11, but potentially, could this be incorporated into the Vic Careers Curriculum Framework that provided career counselling aims by year yr 6 (thinking about yr3) through to yr 12, for the kids with disabilities, and then linked with more employer involvement in schools with talks, visits, work experience, SBATs etc
Re PWAcquired Disabilities eg Stroke , MS, - other non work caused injury/condition, as Peter said , the discovery [process would be useful. / Yes, we look at it more of a collaborative effort to enable after-school work and the work the school is conducting for a better outcome. The linkages between schools and other services is essential and very difficult to maintain.

April 2018