(Madison) — The Wisconsin Board for People with Developmental Disabilities (BPDD), in partnership with InControl Wisconsin, congratulates Rock River Heritage, Inc. (aka Fort Atkinson Club) for receiving one of seven statewide Partners with Business grants that support businesses and schools to launch hiring initiatives and strengthen business-school partnerships.
The Fort Atkinson Club is a nonprofit center that aims to be a space for all to come together through education, arts, wellness, business, and community events. The center strives to serve the entire community and wants to be an inclusive employer that hires and supports employees with intellectual and developmental disabilities to reach their potential. To achieve these goals, Rock River Heritage plans to educate their team on how to authentically include and nurture employees with disabilities. The center also plans to host educational events for the broader community on employment for people with disabilities.
The “Partners with Business” initiative was signed into law in 2018 and is based on a successful, cost-effective strategy from BPDD’s Let’s Get to Work youth employment project that shows businesses how co-workers can provide supports to employees with disabilities on the job.
Partners with Business supports workers with intellectual and developmental disabilities to be successful on the job by using a combination of natural and formal supports, both of which are provided by the employer. Using the Partners with Business model, employers, supported employment service providers, and schools use best practices to train and support workers with disabilities, including on-the-job supports through co-workers. Once co-worker supports are developed and job training is complete, the employer may receive funds from the long-term care system (i.e. Family Care, IRIS, Partnership) or other sources to designate co-worker(s), instead of agency-provided job coaches, to provide necessary ongoing supports.
“The Partners with Business approach has shown success reducing the need for outside job coaches and has demonstrated increased numbers of hours worked per week by employees. Overall, workers supported through Partners with Business have needed fewer public supports to get and keep their jobs. It’s a win-win employment strategy for people with disabilities in Wisconsin,” explains Beth Swedeen, Executive Director for the Wisconsin Board for People with Developmental Disabilities.
These grants are part of the 2017 Wisconsin Act 323, passed on April 16, 2018. To view the statutory language, visit: https://docs.legis.wisconsin.
