Working Collaboratively to Support Students in Central Montana

What do you typically do for outreach activities to identify students who could benefit from your services?
Jeanne Devereaux, the VR counselor, is based in Great Falls but provides services to schools in Lewistown, Hobson, Winnett, Winifred, Roy, Denton, and Stanford. She works out of the One-Stop office (HRDC) in Lewistown at least one day each month. At the beginning of the school year she sends letters to all of her schools reminding them of services available from Vocational Rehabilitation for juniors and seniors. She will visit and touch base with the larger schools to work with staff and/or special education teachers.

How do VR and the One-Stop work together for students?
Many students with and without disabilities are already accessing youth employment services through the One-Stop. Jackie noted that she typically gets calls from the school-to-work or special education staff when students want to participate in a paid work experience. However, there are many other services that students or Individualized Education Program (IEP) teams aren’t requesting. The One-Stop can assist with applications for Supplemental Security Income, low-income housing, and energy assistance. They offer career classes, assistance with résumé writing, and employment applications. Most of the One-Stops also offer assistance to people wanting to start their own businesses.

If a student has a disability and might qualify for services through Vocational Rehabilitation (VR), then the student can be referred to VR as well as to the One-Stop or Workforce Agency. Montana Vocational Rehabilitation (MVR) will work with HRDC to complete assessments to determine what services are needed to reach an identified occupational goal. If assistance such as job coaching or job development is needed, MVR might contract with HRDC to provide these services. The school typically provides the job coaching as part of their support for the student.

Vocational Rehabilitation encourages the Workforce counselors to refer anyone they think might be eligible for VR services. It is the VR counselor’s duty to determine whether or not the person is eligible. If an individual is being served by VR, Jeanne may refer them to additional services that are available through the One-Stop, such as energy assistance, housing, or employment counseling. Jeanne also stated that she depends on Job Service and HRDC to assist with the job development and facilitation of the employment assessment sites.

How are schools involving the One-Stop and VR in Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) and transition planning?
The VR counselor and the youth case manager from the One-Stop are invited to some students’ IEP meetings but they could be more involved, helping students and their IEP teams clarify post-school employment outcomes, strategies to reach these outcomes, and identifying services and supports that might be available to the student. In November 2004, Fergus schools hosted a transition forum where families, students and school staff from Lewistown and surrounding towns were able to access more information about what services are available for youth who are transitioning from school to adult life.

How are you ensuring that eligible students are being identified and referred?
Even with her proactive outreach, Jeanne is concerned that some students are still overlooked and not referred to her services - typically these are students who might have a hearing impairment or a physical disability but who are not receiving special education services. Jeanne also expressed a theory that in smaller, more rural communities, students with disabilities and their families are used to “making do”...they create their own adaptations and ways to be productive and oftentimes aren’t aware of or don’t seek out additional assistance that might be available from an agency such as Vocational Rehabilitation.

Collaborative funding example:
R.J. was a senior last year at Fergus High School. He was one of five students from Fergus to participate in the Linkages to Employment Project. The school-to-work staff, Michelle Bass and Newell Roche, directed the Discovery process for R.J. to gather information about his interests, skills, and abilities, and to learn about what supports he might need to be successful in employment. The school completed R.J.’s Vocational Profile and facilitated his planning meeting to develop the steps to find R.J. a job. Jackie Rammelt from HRDC attended his planning meeting along with Job Service and other people who knew R.J. well. R.J. had been referred to Vocational Rehabilitation as well as to the One-Stop.

The team decided that since it was R.J.’s last year of school, he would benefit from trying out several jobs that were custom tailored to him. Vocational Rehabilitation funded HRDC to pay his wages for the three job trials. In this case, the school performed job development and provided the job coaching but in other instances, VR may fund another agency to provide job development as well. Since R.J. was interested in mechanics and cars, his work experiences included: stocking parts at Car Quest and pulling inventory and performing data entry on the store’s computer; and assisting in the cleaning of cars and upholstery at Mike’s Detail Shop and at Super Lube.

By working collaboratively and blending the available resources, more custom tailored services can be made available to students to maximize their preparation for the world of work.

Teamwork Works!
Examples of Fostering Collaboration Between Schools and Agencies
Transition Poster and Packet - The Bitterroot Valley Transition Task Force decided to develop a product for teachers, families and agencies that would help all parties better understand how to navigate the transition system and increase collaboration. The Task Force created a poster that could be displayed in the classroom to show the path or map of accessing adult services. An accompanying resource notebook was also compiled, and both tools were shared with local schools, agencies, and families. Later, the poster and notebook were adapted and modified for use in the Missoula County Public Schools and the Mission Valley schools. See Appendix C for a sample of the transition poster.

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