Multi-System Collaboration: Supporting Individuals from Pre-Employment through Employment and Community Engagement across the Life Course. Bringing Employment First to Scale, Issue No. 14

To meet current federal regulations and provide the opportunity for individuals to receive services in the least restrictive environments, states are focusing on providing day habilitation services in inclusive community environments, rather than traditional congregate facility-based programs. The two main services of day habilitation focus on helping people work and participate in community activities and civic life while engaging with nondisabled people in their communities. To ensure that a person can live an "everyday life" regardless of the supports they need, it is important to consider employment and non-work services in tandem. The two services are Community Employment (CE) and Community Life Engagement (CLE). Understanding effective interagency collaboration to support individuals with Intellectual and/or Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) requires a multilevel view of the agencies themselves, including their roles and relationships within a federal framework, their statutory and regulatory obligations at the state level, and the key touchpoints they have in the lives of individuals with disabilities and their families. Collaborative efforts can affect all these levels. This paper looks at the roles of federal and state agencies with responsibility for education, vocational rehabilitation (VR), and I/DD services over the life stages of students, transition-age youth, and adults. In addition, the paper examines the pivotal role of meaningful and effective person-centered planning (PCP) in ensuring that, at the individual level, the various agencies are successful in partnering to achieve positive individual-level outcomes. [This report was co-authored by ThinkWork! At the Institute for Community Inclusion at UMass Boston.]