(Madison) — The Wisconsin Board for People with Developmental Disabilities (BPDD), in partnership with inControl Wisconsin, congratulates AchieveAbilities LLC for receiving one of six awards to disability service providers to improve business engagement strategies and to reduce Medicaid-funded job coaching support for adults 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 and supported employment service providers how to use best practice strategies to train and support workers with disabilities, including developing on-the-job supports through co-workers. In some cases, once job training is complete and co-worker support is in place, the business 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.
AchieveAbilities, a community-based organization serving Dane County, is dedicated to supporting adults with disabilities in achieving meaningful employment and fuller participation in their communities. With the support of the grant, they aim to strengthen their capacity to train employers, co-workers, and communities to be natural supports for employees with disabilities, thereby reducing long-term reliance on formal staffing and creating more sustainable outcomes for people with disabilities. By using innovative approaches, they will help people with disabilities achieve their employment goals and become more integrated into their workplaces while also helping to alleviate system-wide, staffing shortages.
“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.
