State Agency Promising Practice: Maine’s Peer- Support Training - Helping People with ID/DD Transition Out of Sheltered Workshops

Authors

Jaimie Ciulla Timmons, University of Massachusetts BostonFollow
ThinkWork! at the Institute for Community Inclusion at UMass Boston

Document Type

Occasional Paper

Publication Date

2009

Keywords

Training and Technical Assistance, Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, I/DD, Developmental Disabilities, Employment, Access to Integrated Employment, ThinkWork

Disciplines

Organization Development | Rehabilitation and Therapy | Social and Behavioral Sciences | Social Work | Sociology | Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling

Abstract

In 2006, a new Maine law mandated the creation of a waiver program that promotes the expansion of supported employment programs for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (ID/DD). As a result, state funding for sheltered workshops was reduced for seven workshops and approximately 220 individuals throughout Maine. These individuals received funding under the new waiver program for community supports and supported employment services. As a result, Maine’s Department of Health and Human Service’s (DHHS) Office of Adults with Cognitive and Physical Disabilities (OACPD) developed a comprehensive work plan. A pilot project, which was included in this plan, focused on those agencies that were scheduled to transition from offering sheltered employment to only integrated employment. The pilot project is a collaborative effort between OACPD, Maine’s Developmental Disabilities Council, a self-advocacy group called Speaking Up for Us, Portland Goodwill, and the University of Southern Maine (USM) Muskie School of Public Service. It helps individuals in sheltered workshops to prepare for the transition into community work. Utilizing a train-the-trainer model, It’s Your Life: Building Connections Through Work trains persons with ID/ DD who are successfully employed in integrated settings to mentor and support others. This training enables those already employed to provide practical information and support to those individuals who, upon the closing of their workshop, may choose to be employed in their communities as well.

Recommended Citation

Timmons, Jaimie Ciulla and ThinkWork! at the Institute for Community Inclusion at UMass Boston, "State Agency Promising Practice: Maine’s Peer- Support Training - Helping People with ID/DD Transition Out of Sheltered Workshops" (2009). ThinkWork! Publications. 62.
https://scholarworks.umb.edu/thinkwork/62