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d. 2. N. i. Specify the State's Goals and Priorities for Funds Received Under Section 603 of the Rehabilitation Act for the Provision of Supported Employment Services.

Current Narrative:

The Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services (ADRS) has an extensive history and commitment to providing supported employment within the state. Currently, ADRS matches Supported Employment State Grant funds at over 10 times that amount.Our state currently receives 300,000 dollars for provision of supported employment. We currently spend over 3 million dollars in supported employment outcome based services and another million in contract services with our collaborative partners. The priority of the department is to improve services to Alabamians with the most significant disabilities. ADRS distributes supported employment funds to its rehabilitation counselors who in turn purchase needed supported employment services through a network of approved vendors utilizing a Milestones outcome based payment system. This process provides payments to authorized supported employment providers for assisting individuals to reach Milestones toward successful employment. Supported Employment providers are reimbursed for the following Milestones: 1: Determination of Needs (20% of total) (Discovery Profile can be substituted making it approx. 26%) 2. Job Development and Hire (20 % of total) 3. Job Coaching and Retention (25 % of total) 4. Successful Closure (Employment Stability for 90 days) (35% of total) ***80% of funding occurs on and after the person is employed (74% with Discovery) Each provider receives funding based on the milestone achieved for each person served. Provider goals are based upon past performance, input from the ADRS liaison counselor, and the estimated need for supported employment services in each service area of the state. Supported employment services are provided utilizing an individualized, customer driven approach, encompassing each person’s individual support needs to ensure an appropriate and successful job match. Additionally, The Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services has committed to increasing successful supported employment outcomes through collaboration and coordination with other agencies and organizations including sharing or braiding funding. ADRS is currently participating in the following collaborative efforts to help achieve supported employment priorities: We have 10 Project SEARCH sites in Alabama serving over 100 students. This collaboration involves Alabama Department of Mental Health-that provides extended services for students and youth, Alabama Council on Developmental Disabilities that provides funding for training and technical assistance, the local school systems that funds a teacher and some programs also fund a teachers aid, local Community Rehabilitation Partners that train and supervise the job coaches on site, and our department that funds two job coaches at each site. Our state is unique in that our Project SEARCH sites are led by a state team which supplies oversite to the programs and the steering committees. This state team consists of members of the Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services, the Alabama State Department of Education, and the Alabama Department of Mental Health. Individual Placement and Support (IPS) Supported Employment- This program serves individuals in supported employment who have serious mental illness and co-occurring substance abuse. This is a collaboration between the Alabama Department of Mental Health, the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs, Auburn University, and the Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services. Long term support is provided by the therapeutic team or case management at the local mental health centers. Connections is a program that serves students and youth on the Autism Spectrum and provides support services for parents. This highly successful transition program is expanding in our state from its initial program in Birmingham, to a second site Montgomery last year. We are adding two additional programs this year and 2 the following year. Additionally, to address the increasing number of students and youth on the Autism spectrum we are introducing a pilot program, Transition to Success, in the tri-county area. This program will improve present and future employment and quality of life outcomes for students with autism. Transition to Success is a collaboration between the State Department of Education, the local school systems, a nationally recognized Community Rehabilitation Partner and the Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services. GATE- Gaining Access to Employment-This program recognized by the Institute for Community Inclusion for its creative sequencing of funding is a collaboration between the Alabama Department of Mental Health, Community Rehabilitation Programs and the Alabama Department of Rehabilitation. This program is designed to move individuals with most significant disabilities away from traditional day habilitation and into competitive, integrated employment. Extended support services are provided under the waiver for individuals participating in GATE. Additionally we are continuing to collaborate with all our state entities to improve services for students and youth with most significant disabilities. We are working with the State Department of Education on improving Assistive Technology access in order to improve the transition from school to work, and entry to Post Secondary settings. We are working with Career and Technical Education to increase participation for students with more significant disabilities.

• We anticipate that through the expansion of supported employment services to youth with more significant disabilities, including 3 new youth project SEARCH sites, and the new addition of an IPS site in Montgomery, we will continue to serve more individuals with significant disabilities in supported employment. We have seen an increase in SE services over the past several years and anticipate this trend to continue. We are also serving more supported employment students in high school through group pre-employment transition services and work based learning experience. The goal for 2019 and 2020 is an increase of more than 5% of individuals in supported employment each year.