Employment First Massachusetts

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Job Coaching

Supporting Workers with Developmental Disabilities: The Employment Specialist Perspective

The partnership between employment specialists and job seekers/employees with developmental disabilities is at the core of quality employment services. This month, Jill Eastman, the employment services program coordinator at the Institute for Community Inclusion, explains the employment specialist/job seeker relationship.

Read more and listen to the recording here

Building Friendships at Work
This toolkit for employment specialists, job developers and job coaches can help you take better advantage of opportunities to facilitate friendships at work for those you support.

Employment Specialist Toolbox Fact Sheet
This fact sheet explains the array of tools and strategies that are key to the employment specialist / job coach role.

Natural Supports and Social Inclusion Fact Sheet
This fact sheet expounds on the meaning and significance of natural supports and social inclusion and offers tips to employment staff on how to engage employers and coworkers in facilitating employment success.

Workplace Inclusion Checklist
This document provides a list of activities, routines, and rituals that are typically available at a workplace and that can serve as catalysts for facilitation of natural supports and social inclusion.

Assessing Workplace Culture Fact Sheet This fact sheet emphasizes assessment of workplace culture as a vehicle for developing natural supports and social inclusion, and advises employment staff about what to look for in this situation.

Workplace Culture Survey
This is a comprehensive and formal tool for use in closely analyzing a workplace for natural supports and workplace inclusion potential. Instructions on how to administer this tool are included.

Transportation Resources
This listing offers a variety of resources to assist with transportation challenges.

Travel Training Packet
This packet contains a variety of tools to assist with safe and comprehensive transportation planning, including public transit travel training sheet, pedestrian safety skills checklist, emergency contact information form, etc.

Placement Support Plan Form
This form provides a collaborative format in which to identify and coordinate what types of assistance the job seeker will need following job placement, including who will provide which supports.

Working With Individuals with Challenging Behaviors: A Problem Solving Guide
This fact sheet offers a framework to understand and work through challenging behaviors. Interpreting what the behavior is communicating, seeking a functional analysis, and generating alternative solutions are part of this process.

Job Coach Self-Evaluation Checklist
This tool provides a checklist of questions for employment staff to reflectively evaluate their job coaching style and skills at a particular job site.