1. Alaska Integrated Employment Initiative (AIEI)
Advisory Board Meeting
May 11 & 12, 2015
Anchorage, AK

2. Welcome Introductions around the room… Everyone please give: Your name
Where you’re from
Why employment for individuals with disabilities is important to you

3. AIEI – Project Update
Goal: To improve employment outcomes for youth and young adults with disabilities (16-26).
Recent accomplishments:
Diversity Job Fair
OFCCP Workshop & State Agency Networking Session
Discovery Class Pilots & Discovery Training
Certificate in Employment Services CRP Training

4. Focus of Day 1:

5. Beneficiary Employment & Engagement Initiative Data Workgroup
Purpose:
Determine what employment data is currently collected regarding individuals with disabilities across service delivery systems
Identify what employment data is not collected currently that would be useful
Make recommendations for agencies to add additional identified indicators
Identify common service definitions across state departments
Rich and Amanda
Examine existing data collection and management across service delivery systems and to extrapolate those data points that are relevant indicators of employment of Trust beneficiaries.
Identify useful data points that are not currently being collected and make recommendations to data management systems on incorporating them in future research.
Identify common service definitions across state departments and agencies and facilitating adoption of those definitions in policy to assist with streamlining provider qualifications and certifications and provide a basis for quality assurance and standards in service delivery to beneficiaries.
This workgroup consisted of individuals already involved in data management systems in state government and federal grants, policymakers and/or representatives within state government, providers of beneficiary services, beneficiaries and others interested in improving data collection, management, reporting and streamlining service provision through common service definitions.

6. Beneficiary Employment & Engagement Initiative Data Workgroup
Data Workgroup Efforts:
The workgroup consisted primarily of state agencies that collect data from service providers and within their own systems
The Trust awarded a contract to Agnew Beck in early January to lead this process with assistance from the Governor’s Council staff
The workgroup held their first meeting on January 15th with representatives from Behavioral Health, Business Partnerships, Education & Early Development, Labor & Workforce Development, Employment Security, Vocational Rehabilitation, the Mental Health Board, Governor’s Council on Disabilities & Special Education and Public Assistance
Went over the RBA process and the basic set of data elements recommended by ICI in their report:
Work setting/type (e.g., individual integrated job, group supported job, self-employment, subsistence employment)
Average hours worked in a given period (monthly is probably best)
Weekly or monthly gross income over that same period
Employment, not job, retention in a quarter and year (i.e., days or weeks working in the community in the time period even if the person changed jobs)
Consider: Source of paycheck, eligible for paid time off
Workgroup input was placed into a spreadsheet (next slide) that was completed in early March
Additional meetings were held with Juvenile Justice and Corrections to look at their data collection
A third and final meeting will occur in May to determine the best population level indicators to use for the 4 result areas that were also developed with this group and to discuss possible integration of new data elements that can be measured across systems
Rich and Amanda

7. Point folks to the ledger size print out of the spreadsheet in their folders.

8. Lunch Lunch is on your own.
Please be back by 1:00 P.M. as we will begin to look at building an employment data outcome strategy.

9. Building an Employment Outcome Data Strategy
Facilitated discussion by John on:
Overview of best practices nationally
Outcomes and variables
Identifying priority data elements
Existing data infrastructure
Parameters of data collection: Target population, frequency, format, strategy
Data utilization
Recommendations and priorities for state agencies
John and Rie – open their PowerPoint

10. Break
Please take a 10 minute break…

11. Building an Employment Outcome Data Strategy
Resume facilitated discussion with John…
Back to John and Rie – open their PowerPoint

12. Meeting Adjournment & Evening Event
Dinner is on your own.
Tomorrow’s meeting starts at 8:30 A.M.
CinemAbility showing
Where: at Regal Tikahtnu Theatre
1102 North Muldoon Road, Anchorage, AK 99504
When: Check in at 5:30 PM
Showing is 6-8 PM
Graciously sponsored by:

13. Welcome to Day Two!
Today we will be focusing on…

14. The Next Frontier of Benefits Analysis in Alaska
Two Levels of SSA Benefits and Work Incentive Trainings:
Financial & Work Incentive Navigator
Basic level of knowledge
Community Work Incentive Coordinator (CWIC)
High level of expertise
Rich & Larrisa

15. The Next Frontier of Benefits Analysis in Alaska
Financial & Work Incentive Navigator Training!
Trainings Teach Individuals to:
Assess a person's financial and benefits situation in relation to employment
Provide basic information about work incentive possibilities and financial planning
Refer to benefit experts, such as Community Work Incentive Coordinators (CWICs), for in-depth work incentive and financial planning services
Financial and Work Incentive Navigators are trained to provide information for basic benefit situations
The 3rd training of this type in Alaska is currently in process.
Rich & Larrisa

16. The Next Frontier of Benefits Analysis in Alaska
Community Work Incentive Coordinator (CWIC) Training!
Collaboration with the Trust to send Alaskans to CWIC training at Virginia Commonwealth University
# of CIWICs fully certified in Alaska
# of CWICs in the process of certification
Avenue to access this high level benefits training
Benefits Counselors (CWICs) provide high level advisement for more complicated benefit situations
Rich & Larrisa

17. Facilitated Discussion with John and Rie
Opportunities for Embedding and Finding Benefits Counseling: National and Alaska Perspectives
John and Rie – open their PowerPoint

18. Disability Benefits 101: Alaska Calculator – DB 101
Demonstration by creator, Bryon MacDonald
Rich connects group with Bryon – via webinar? If so, add link here_________________

19. DB 101 – Q&A

20. Please be back in 10 minutes. 
Break
Please be back in 10 minutes. 

21. Develop DB 101 Integration Recommendations to State Agencies
Goal: To build structures within the state system for dissemination and integration of this new resource.
Specific recommendations for:
Department of Health Social Services
Department of Education and Early Development
Department of Labor and Workforce Development

22. Closing Thoughts
“…the problem of un- and underemployment is not lodged within individuals with disabilities. This is to say, un- and underemployment do not derive from an inherent weakness, “illness,” or some other set of personal attribute(s) within a disabled individual, but rather they are problems that reside within the institutions of society, and therefore require a policy solution.”
P.Hanes & Associates, Review of Alaska-specific
Work Disincentives for Individuals with Significant
Disabilities (1998).

23. Last Updates & Adjournment
Lunch is on your own.
2:00 P.M. - 4:00 P.M. Rates Small Group Meeting (Special Olympics Alaska Building)
Only the following members need to attend this meeting: Angela Salerno, Jim Kreatschman, Nikki Powis, Don Enoch, Millie Ryan, Amanda Lofgren, Maureen Harwood, Rich Sanders, Patrick Reinhart, Kristin Vandagriff.