The Job Developer's Handbook: Practical Tactics for Customized Employment

One of the most practical employment books available, this forward-thinking guide walks employment specialists step by step through customized job development for people with disabilities, revealing the best ways to build a satisfying, meaningful job around a person's preferences, skills, and goals. Internationally known for their innovative, proactive job development strategies, the authors motivate readers to expand the way they think about employment opportunities and develop creative solutions.

Readers will get fresh, proven tips and ideas for every aspect of job development for youth and adults with significant support needs:

• discovering who the person is and what he or she really wants



• ensuring goodness of fit between employer and employee



• finding—or creating—"hidden jobs" in smaller companies



• empowering people through resource ownership (investing in resources that employers need)



• skillfully negotiating job duties while managing conflicts that might arise



• creatively maximizing benefits using social security work incentives



• encouraging family support while respecting the individual as an adult

To make each part of job development easier, the book arms readers with practical content they can really use: easy-to-follow, step-by-step guidelines; checklists of critical questions to answer; success stories in both urban and rural settings; and sample scenarios, dialogues, and interview questions.

Equally useful to veteran professionals and those just starting out, this compelling guidebook breathes new life into the job development process and helps readers imagine a wider world of employment opportunities for people with disabilities.

Mr. Griffin is Senior Partner at Griffin-Hammis Associates, LLC, a full-service consultancy specializing in building communities of economic cooperation, creating highperformance organizations, and focusing on disability and employment. He is also Codirector of the U.S. Department of Labor’s National Self-Employment Technical Assistance, Resources, and Training project with Virginia Commonwealth University and former Director of Special Projects at the Rural Institute at The University of Montana. He is also past director of an adult vocational program in southern Colorado, former Assistant Director of the Rocky Mountain Resource and Training Institute, and former Founder and Executive Director of CTAT in Colorado.

Mr. Hammis is Senior Partner at Griffin-Hammis Associates, LLC, a full-service consultancy specializing in building communities of economic cooperation, creating highperformance organizations, and focusing on disability and employment. He maintains an ongoing relationship with the Rural Institute at The University of Montana, where he served as Project Director for multiple self-employment, employment, and Social Security outreach training and technical assistance projects, including the Rural Institute’s Rural Entrepreneurship and Self-Employment Expansion Design Project. He works with organizations nationally and internationally on self-employment, benefits analysis, supported employment, and employment engineering. Mr. Hammis has worked in supported and self-employment since 1988 and is personally responsible for the implementation of thousands of Plans to Achieve Self-Support leading to employment, self-employment, and enhanced personal resources for people with disabilities. In July 1996, Mr. Hammis received the International Association for Persons in Supported Employment Professional of the Year Award for his “outstanding support and commitment to people with disabilities, especially in the areas of career development and the use of Social Security work incentives.â€

Ms. Geary is a nationally recognized trainer and consultant focusing on creating and supporting community, employment, and economic advancement of people with disabilities. She specializes in customized and self-employment. She is Lead Associate with Griffin-Hammis Associates, LLC. She also publishes InfoLines, a newsletter highlighting practical and successful strategies for customizing employment. Besides providing various conference and training presentations, Ms. Geary is also currently working with an organization in Maryland to improve its outcomes via implementing discovery-based customized employment; heading up a National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR)–funded self-employment project for people with brain injuries through the Brain Injury Association of America; and consulting with several statewide customized and self-employment projects in Florida. One of these projects is Start-Up Florida, one of three Office of Disability Employment Policy–funded state self-employment projects.

Ms. Geary was formerly with APSE: The Network on Employment, where she served as Executive Director for 10 of her 12 years with the organization. In that role, she traveled around the country, meeting with individuals and organizations and providing training and presentations at numerous conferences and events. In addition, Ms. Geary has been a leader in protecting the recent advancements in public policy that affect employment of people with disabilities.

Prior to her work with APSE: The Network on Employment, Ms. Geary worked in direct service and program management for a local community services board in Virginia, where she maintained a 100% job retention rate for her entire tenure. She was recognized by APSE for her work, receiving the first award for “excellence in direct service provision†in 1989, and later was honored as the “outstanding graduate student” in her graduate degree program.

Ms. Geary also serves as the primary support for her sister with disabilities, who uses supported employment, supported living, and other community supports, and has had many experiences within her own family with school accommodation, thus giving her a thorough personal understanding of the issues facing people with disabilities as they seek to gain access to employment and all areas of life.