The Rural Routes to
Employment Project:
Customizing Employment,
Expanding Communities
Beth Keeton, Southeastern Regional Director
The Center for Social Capital
www.centerforsocialcapital.org
GRIFFIN-HAMMIS, LLC
The Rural Routes to Employment Project
• Established through a FDDC (Florida
Developmental Disabilities Council) grant
with the Center for Social Capital
• Initial funding: 1 year (extensions possible)
• October 1, 2011: anticipated start date
Center for Social Capital/Griffin-Hammis Associates
Rural Routes: Year 1 Project Goals
• Identify and work with 5 rural communities
– Discern barriers & opportunities to consumerdirected employment
– Application process
• Open to agencies/entities throughout state
• Application disseminated through state networks
• If interested: contact project staff
– bkeeton@centerforsocialcapital.org
– pcassidy@griffinhammis.com
Center for Social Capital/Griffin-Hammis Associates
Rural Routes: Year 1 Project Goals
• Facilitate public meetings & focus groups
in each of the 5 target areas to:
– Engage communities
– Identify stakeholders
– Generate data on barriers & opportunities
Center for Social Capital/Griffin-Hammis Associates
Rural Routes: Year 1 Project Goals
• In each location:
– Form Community Action Teams (CATs)
– Perform comprehensive resource mapping to
inform employment creation in collaboration
with entities such as:
• Project 10
• The Institute for Small & Rural Districts
• Local Economic Development authorities, civic
groups, and other other community partners
Center for Social Capital/Griffin-Hammis Associates
Rural Routes: Year 1 Project Goals
• Develop scalable models of rural
economic development and employment
program refinement
– Building upon community partnerships and
collaboration
– Utilizing an economic development approach
– Identifying community/business “needs” and
providing a solution
Center for Social Capital/Griffin-Hammis Associates
Rural Routes: Year 1 Project Goals
• Conduct best practice training on:
– Customized Employment
– Self-employment/microenterprise including
– Family and consumer-directed assessment
(Discovering Personal Genius)
– Employment support
Center for Social Capital/Griffin-Hammis Associates
Rural Routes: Year 1 Project Goals
• Develop replicable, cost-effective model
employment initiatives based upon:
– Blended funding
– Employment creation
– Consumer controlled methods
Center for Social Capital/Griffin-Hammis Associates
Community Action Teams
The CAT approach emphasizes that through
collaborative efforts of a variety of interested
stakeholders resources and strategies are better
leveraged to support individual job seekers to
achieve their employment goals.
Center for Social Capital/Griffin-Hammis Associates
CAT Roles & Responsibilities
• Work to identify areas in practice and policy that
impede or enhance CE implementation and
outcomes
• Work collaboratively and strategically to resolve
those issues locally
• Share identified issues with FDDC and other key
state agencies for statewide impact
Center for Social Capital/Griffin-Hammis Associates
How CATs Support Employment
Outcomes
• CATs specifically organized and trained to utilize
flexible strategies & tactics to increase
individualized employment outcomes for people
with disabilities in their local communities
– Employment is key focus and primary responsibility
• Made up of a broad representation from the
community (i.e. schools, businesses, providers,
community organizations)
Center for Social Capital/Griffin-Hammis Associates
Rural Routes: Training Components
• Discovering Personal Genius
• Customized Employment
• Resource Ownership
• Self-Employment/Microenterprise
• Benefits Planning & Analysis
Center for Social Capital/Griffin-Hammis Associates
Rural Routes: TA Components
• Each site receives comprehensive TA, including:
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Helping coordinate collaborations
Implementing strategies to blend funding
Assisting to develop additional resources
Providing outreach to the local employment community
Helping with benefits analysis and planning
Problem-solving identified barriers in practice & policy
Center for Social Capital/Griffin-Hammis Associates
Customized Employment is
• Based on Interest-Based Negotiation
between the Job Seeker and the Employer
• Person-Centered
• One-Person-At-A-Time
• Identifies the Ideal Conditions of
Employment using Discovery
• Includes Self Employment
Center for Social Capital/Griffin-Hammis Associates
Customized Employment is
• Not a Service or Program –
It is an Approach
• Not Group-Based
• Not Labor Market-Driven
• Not looking for that Dream Job
• Not Vocational Evaluation & Testing
• Not Interest Inventories
Center for Social Capital/Griffin-Hammis Associates
Customized Employment is
• Especially effective for Individuals with
High or Complex Support Needs
• Applicable to anyone, with any disability
(or without) seeking employment
• Circumvents the Comparison of Applicants
made in Competitive Hiring
• Relies on natural relationships, supports,
training
Center for Social Capital/Griffin-Hammis Associates
Customized Employment
• Discovering Personal Genius
• A planful approach that reveals life themes
• That presents a path of Discovery
• That begs Investigation
• That creates Options
• That breeds Innovation in job development
• Go where the career makes sense
Center for Social Capital/Griffin-Hammis Associates