Presented by Ronnie Kauder at the 2012 NJ "Facing the Future XX" Conference

1. National Research on
Partnerships with Employers
March 23, 2012
Facing the Future XX
Doubletree Hotel
Somerset, NJ

2. NTAR Leadership Center National Research
 Focused on employer-initiated and market-driven approaches
to recruiting, hiring, accommodating, and retaining employees
with disabilities.
 Prepared national study, entitled, Ready and Able:
Addressing Labor Market Needs and Building Productive
Careers for People with Disabilities - Models for Innovation.
 Conducted follow-up research on Braided Funding strategies
that advance employer initiatives to include people with
disabilities.
Employer Partnerships, March 23, 2012 2

3. Researchers
 Robert Nicholas, Senior Visiting Fellow for Disability
Research, Heldrich Center, Rutgers University
 Ronnie Kauder, Senior Practitioner-in-Residence, Heldrich
Center, Rutgers University
 Daniel Baker, Associate Professor, Elizabeth M. Boggs
Center on Developmental Disabilities, University of Medicine
and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ)
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4. Employer Initiatives
 Numerous innovative approaches for employer-driven
initiatives to recruit, hire, and retain employees with
disabilities.
 Recognition by employers of the “business case” = people
with disabilities add value to the employer’s workforce and
positively affect the “bottom line”.
 Partnerships with workforce intermediaries are key in
successful employer-driven initiatives. Innovative
collaborations with and between workforce-supplying
organizations enable employers to recruit, hire, train, and
support employees with disabilities.
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5. In-Depth Research:
Partnerships and Collaborations
Case study research looked at:
 Large national companies that organize local partnerships
with service agencies, e.g. Walgreens, Lowe’s, Lockheed-
Martin.
 Industry-specific (sector) initiatives that feature
intermediaries coordinating multiple employers and multiple
service agencies, e.g. JVS and the banking/finance industry.
 Staffing companies that coordinate outreach and disability
services to provide multiple employer customers with
qualified employees, e.g. GoodTemps, Manpower.
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6. In-Depth Research:
Partnerships and Collaborations
 National intermediary organizations that connect
employers with students with disabilities in higher
education, e.g. LimeConnect, Career Opportunities for
Students with Disabilities (COSD), Emerging Leaders and the
National Business and Disability Council.
 Local networks that assist multiple local employers to
recruit, train, and retain employees with disabilities, e.g. New
Bedford Chamber of Commerce, Project SEARCH, Start on
Success.
 Local organizations that foster and promote partnerships
between employers and service providers e.g. Chicago’s
disabilityworks.
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7. Ready & Able Finding 1:
Employers Respond to the Business Case
 Employees with disabilities possess the skills needed for the
job.
 Employers see employees with disabilities as meeting their
business and workforce needs.
 Successful experiences with employees with disabilities
increase employer openness to hiring, accommodation, and
retention.
 Business-to-business marketing of best practices for
employing people with disabilities is most powerful.
Employer Partnerships, March 23, 2012 7

8. Ready & Able Finding 2:
Innovative Collaborations Facilitate Hiring
 Employers do not want to have to maintain relationships with
many varied workforce supplying organizations.
 Employers want a single point of contact to coordinate
assistance and support they need to recruit and hire.
 Assistance and supports provided through the collaboration
are based on employers’ needs and standards.
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9. Innovative Collaborations Facilitate Hiring
 Partner organizations organize and coordinate supports and
provide technical assistance on workforce and disability-
specific issues.
 Employers’ location and hiring patterns are partially
influenced by the effectiveness of public-sector partners.
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10. Ready & Able Finding 3: Collaborations
Ensure that Workers are Qualified and
Productive
 Internships and mentorships facilitate permanent hiring.
 Training in occupation-specific and “soft” skills.
 Provision of needed supports and accommodations to assist
employees to be successful once on the job.
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11. Ready & Able Finding 4: Successful
Collaborations Nurture and Reward
Leadership
 Leaders are willing to develop, coordinate, nurture, and
manage the collaboration.
 Leaders have the ability to motivate, inspire, and connect
employer leaders.
 Leaders act day in and day out as champions to make things
happen.
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12. A Story of Mutual Success
 Expanded employment opportunities for people with
disabilities.
 An underutilized source of valuable employees for
employers.
 Opportunities for public and non-profit organizations to be
trusted, reliable partners that deliver results for both people
with disabilities and employers.
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13. Why Research on Braided Funding?
 There are many programs, services, and public categorical
funding streams that support individuals with disabilities to
become and remain employed.
 Frequently, individuals with disabilities need services and
supports from multiple programs or systems to achieve their
employment goals.
 A significant challenge for community partnerships is their
ability to braid resources from multiple sources to respond to
the employer’s workforce needs, HR processes, and training
requirements.
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14. Braided Funding
Braided funding, for the purposes of our research, was defined
to mean the access to and coordination of multiple sources of
funding to provide services and supports needed by people with
disabilities to obtain and retain a job.
In braided funding strategies, funding streams remain visible and
are used in common to produce greater strength, efficiency, and/
or effectiveness.
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15. Profiles of Success
This study profiled four employer-responsive models that have in
common the following factors:
 The presence of an employer (or group of employers) that
wants to recruit and hire employees with disabilities.
 A partnership between the employer(s) and one or more
community organizations that provide valuable supports and
services to hire and retain employees with disabilities.
 The use of braided funding strategies that are essential to
making the partnership and the model work.
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16. The Profiles
 Lowe’s distribution Center in Pittston, PA. Lowe’s established a
partnership with the Arc of Luzerne County. The Arc assisted
Lowe’s in recruiting two local service provider agency partners and
serves as the single point of contact.
 Project SEARCH in Cincinnati and replication sites in New
Hampshire, Georgia and Washington.
 Start on Success in Pittsburgh and Baltimore.
 Eastern Connecticut Workforce Investment Board
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17. Summary of Findings
 Braiding funding strategies from multiple programs allow the
provision of better service to people with disabilities to meet
employer needs.
 Different braiding strategies can be used, even with the same
program models.
 A key element in success is to have a single point of
contact who will coordinate all services for employers.
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18. Summary of Findings
 Local workforce systems can effectively coordinate resources
to support employer efforts to include people with disabilities
in their recruitment strategies.
 Funding for follow-along supports for job retention is an issue
beyond an initial period on the job. This particularly affects
people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
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19. Implications for the Future
 Employer-driven initiatives represent new and rich opportunities
for increased community employment for people with disabilities.
There are successful models that can be replicated in many
communities, with many different braided funding strategies.
 Disability service and workforce development organizations
should:
– Foster collaborative relationships among workforce-supplying
organizations that make it easier for employers or employer
organizations to work with publicly funded programs.
– Adopt a single point of contact approach to dealing with
employers
– Be creative in braiding funds from various sources
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20. Implications for the Future
 For business-serving organizations and employers:
– Recognize that people with disabilities are a valuable
resource to meet employer needs for reliable skilled
employees.
– Look to engage in partnerships with responsive workforce
development, disability service organizations, and other
agencies to recruit, hire, train, retain, and support
employees with disabilities.
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21. NTAR Leadership Center Contacts
 Kathy Krepcio, John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce
Development, Rutgers University krepcio@rci.rutgers.edu
or 732-932-4100, ext. 6306
 Ronnie Kauder, Senior Practitioner-in-Residence, John J.
Heldrich Center for Workforce Development,
kauder@rci.rutgers.edu
 Robert Nicholas, Senior Visiting Fellow for Disability
Research, John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce
Development, rnich@rci.rutgers.edu
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