2018 TASH Conference

The Pathways to Careers (Pathways) initiative is designed to customize and support competitive, integrated employment options for individuals with disabilities, strategically engage employers to host internships and offer employment; and provide needed resources to achieve full inclusion. Pathways provides individuals with disabilities with the information and choices they need to find success in the community workplace. It exposes participants to a wide range of jobs and work settings through paid internships, providing experiential learning opportunities on their path to meaningful employment. Pathways demonstration sites have been operational since 2012 and during that time a third-party evaluation has been conducted by Mathematica Policy Research (MPR). Findings from the evaluation of the demonstration (qualitative and quantitative), a clear understanding of capacity development requirements for providers, feedback and input from demonstration site staff, state agency leadership, employer partners, families and other stakeholders are being incorporated into plans and resources for expansion of the services to new sites in 2018. Also, recent policy and newly publicized resources such as the WINTAC's Essential Element for Customized Employment and funding structures for Customized Employment are being incorporated as aspects of the planning to support sustainable, quality Customized Employment services. Staff from Marc Gold & Associates and the Pathways team will discuss the findings, the input from stakeholders and the additional technical guidance available with conference participants to explore the requirements and challenges inherent in scaling and sustaining a quality Customized Employment service delivery approach that leads to Competitive, Integrated Employment options for individuals with significant of impact of disability.