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Are you looking for ways to promote continuous quality improvement in supported and customized employment and thus improve job seekers’ employment outcomes? And in the process boost your and your team members' confidence and a sense of value, and enhance their professional careers?
You are in the right place and we would love to help. We will provide you and your team with ES-Coach and tools to visualize your team's implementation of supported and customized employment and we will support you and your team to leverage the data for continuous quality improvement.
ES-Coach works well for your team if a) your team includes three or more full-time employment consultants (i.e. employment support professionals, employment specialists, job developers, job coaches...), b) your team has been providing employment support services for at least one year, and c) the majority of job seekers on your team's caseload are people with intellectual disabilities, autism, and other developmental disabilities.
Please fill out this short form to request your ES-Coach team code (needed for sign-up) or to receive updates:
Send me my ES-Coach team code and/or updates!
I submitted my interest in ES-Coach. What's next? If ES-Coach is a good fit for your program, we will send you the sign-up instructions for you and the employment consultants in your team to create their individual accounts and start using ES-Coach right away. If you only asked for updates, we will send occasional emails with updates.
My team and I signed up, what should we expect as participants?
As a manager of a team of employment consultants: Join 6 coaching calls over the 12-month duration of the project to discuss with our employment experts how to support your team in leveraging your team's ES-Coach data for quality improvement.
As an employment consultant: Receive a text on your phone with a link to three key questions about your primary support activity during the 30 minutes before you get the text. You will receive the text daily, each day at a different random time. It takes less than 1 minute per day to respond. Watch ES-Coach in action!
Everyone:
- During your staff meetings visualize the ES-Coach data dashboard, reflect on the data, set goals, and identify actions for quality improvement.
- Complete a baseline survey about demographic and professional characteristics (5-10 minutes).
- Share your feedback to improve ES-Coach through surveys, focus groups, and/or interviews (Optional).
- Receive monthly data emails and tips about how to leverage the data for quality improvement.
How much time will it take for my team to participate? Not a lot! It takes approximately 4-5 hours throughout the 12-month duration of the project.
Is there a cost for participating? Nope! It's entirely free to participate, thanks to a Kessler Foundation grant.
Until when do I have time to enroll? We plan to wrap up enrollment when all 48 seats are taken.
What have past participants said about ES-Coach? Over 300 employment consultants have piloted ES-Coach at one point or another:
- "It makes me think about my workday and allows me to put extra goals into perspective."
- "I find that it causes me to pause for a moment and reflect on how I am spending my time, energy, and resources."
- "I love how simple it is."
Who funds this project? The primary funding is through a Signature Employment Grant from the Kessler Foundation.
Who are the key partners in this project?
- The University of Minnesota (RRTC CL).
- Washington Initiative for Supported Employment (WISE).
- Association of People Supporting Employment First, APSE.
- State Employment Leadership Network (SELN)
Are my data confidential? Yes, we do not share your individual data with your supervisor, colleagues, or anyone. We may use aggregated anonymous data for dissemination purposes to help the field improve implementing best practices in supported and customized employment. This project has been approved by the Institutional Review Board at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
All this sounds great. But why again should my team sign up to use ES-Coach? We are busy. We hear you. In the world of employment services, the hustle and bustle is a constant reality. Employment programs often find themselves grappling with the challenges of hiring and retaining their staff. To tackle these issues and enhance the quality of employment support, training is frequently offered as a solution. The idea is to professionalize the staff, ensuring they are equipped to provide top-notch assistance to job seekers.
However, there's a crucial aspect that adult learning theory reminds us of – training alone might not suffice. The mere act of training doesn't guarantee that the best practices in supported and customized support will be consistently implemented. This realization has significant implications, especially for job seekers with disabilities who might be at a higher risk of not receiving the quality services they require to achieve their career goals.
ES-Coach seeks to bridge the gap between training and actual implementation by visualizing the process of supported and customized employment. By doing so, it enables employment consultants to gain better insights, set goals, and take action for continuous quality improvement of services and outcomes.
The brilliance of ES-Coach lies in its simplicity. Engaging with the platform takes less than a minute per day. It encourages teamwork and collaboration as employment consultants and staff come together to reflect on their practices, chart progress, and work collectively towards better outcomes for their clients.
One of the key aspects that make ES-Coach stand out is the coaching support it offers to managers. Our seasoned employment experts provide valuable guidance to the managers, helping them effectively leverage the data gathered through ES-Coach. With this support, managers can proactively engage with their teams, fostering an environment that thrives on continuous improvement and excellence.
Perhaps one of the most uplifting aspects of ES-Coach is that, thanks to the generous funding from the Kessler Foundation, employment programs can use ES-Coach at no cost. This funding is part of a broader effort to uphold the quality and outcomes of employment services for job seekers with disabilities nationwide. The impact of this initiative cannot be overstated, as it opens up new avenues for support and empowerment, transforming the lives of countless individuals seeking meaningful and fulfilling careers.
ES-Coach isn't just another tool; it represents a beacon of hope and progress for both employment programs and job seekers with disabilities. By combining innovative visualization of service delivery, dedicated coaching support, and generous funding, ES-Coach paves the way for transforming how employment programs deliver employment support services, leading to a brighter, more inclusive future in the realm of employment support.
Whenever you're ready, ES-Coach can assist your team in three key ways:
- Visualizing your implementation of best practices in employment support.
- Providing coaching support to leverage your data for goal setting.
- Actionable daily microlearning tips.
I am ready! Please send me my ES-Coach team code and/or updates!
Questions?
Visit www.es-coach.org
Or email info@es-coach.org
Or contact the project lead Alberto.Migliore@umb.edu
Or schedule time to talk with the project lead Alberto Migliore
University of Massachusetts Boston
100 Morrissey Blvd.
Boston, Massachusetts 02125
Voice:(617) 287-4300
Fax: (617) 287-4352
TTY: (617) 287-4350
Email: ici@umb.edu
https://www.umb.edu/
https://www.communityinclusion.org/
(Last updated 08/02/23)