Learning From Leaders with Developmental Disabilities
Initially, Jake wanted to own his own coffee shop. After thinking about it a little more he decided that he’d rather work at a coffee shop than own one. Today, instead of working in the coffee shop as he imagined, he works at a pizzeria for fewer hours than he hoped to. At two recent focus groups the WSRC learned from Jake and many others about the challenges facing people with developmental disabilities navigating DVR’s service system.
The focus groups, which were held in September in Tacoma and Spokane, were funded by the Medicaid Infrastructure Grant (MIG). Washington State was awarded this grant by the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services. The goal of the grant is to make various service systems work better together for people who are Medicaid eligible. As a partner in MIG, the WSRC has spearheaded an effort to gain feedback from people with mental illness or developmental disabilities who have worked with DVR. People with these experiences of disability make up the majority of DVR’s caseload but are less likely to succeed in going to work after receiving services. To understand this trend, the council developed a project based on an empowerment model. Two peer facilitators led groups of participants through a process of answering questions that addressed systemic issues and supported the Council’s effort to develop policy recommendations for DVR.
Resa Hayes of Spokane and George Adams of Bremerton did an expert job of facilitating the September focus groups by orienting participants to the VR process and soliciting particular suggestions about how DVR could do business differently. Through a partnership with the Washington Protection and Advocacy System, the Council supported Resa and George to lead their community in speaking up. They drew seventeen participants together to reflect on what would be happening differently if DVR successfully supported a greater number of people with developmental disabilities to achieve their job objectives. In reflecting on the success of the project, Resa Hayes said, “The focus groups are important because they help DVR do their job better. The self-advocates who participated in the focus groups did a good job of answering hard questions. They didn’t sugar coat it. It was a very good workshop.”
More than criticism of DVR, the focus groups were an opportunity for DVR customers to influence the services they receive. Hayes and Adams will be presenting the findings of their work at the Council’s October meeting in Yakima. The presentation will be followed by a written report. The developmental disabilities focus groups are the second half of a larger project. In 2005, the Council sponsored a similar effort led by people with mental illness who receive DVR services. The written reports generated by these focus groups will be presented to DVR’s leadership team along with policy recommendations developed by the Council based on what we learned from participants.
View the report from the mental health focus groups completed in 2005
View the report from the DD Advocate Group to the WSRC
