Improving Quality and Attacking Costs of Employment Services

Abstract

If supported employment (SE) services systems are to continue to grow in their ability to meet the needs of individuals with disability, they must similarly pay attention to their competitiveness (for public and private support) in a changing world. In this article we first discuss the relationships between quality employment services and various costs, and the financial incentives built into several forms of financial arrangements between funders and service providers. We then look at examples of the kinds of changes in the internal and external environments that must be taken into account; we look, that is, at some recent advances in SE methods and at a few current changes in employer interests. Finally, we propose the use of interagency SE quality teams for increasing quality and reducing costs while taking into account both financial incentives and changes in technology and interests. In so doing we develop, as an example of a quality improvement effort, a proposal for a radically different marketing conception of SE services.