‘No one ever asked before’: Expanding the notion of long-term support resources for supported employment

Abstract

Identifying sufficient resources for providing long-term support for every individual who needs and chooses to have supported employment jobs has been problematic since the inception of supported employment. This paper reviews the original development of a funding model for supported employment, and why that model does not meet current needs. A list of creative alternative strategies is presented to encourage individuals with disabilities, advocates, funders, service providers and others to seek out new possibilities for support. For some individuals, the answer to long-term support may be assembling and maintaining a patchwork of support resources that changes over time and as support needs change. Despite, or perhaps because of, the dramatic changes that have occurred in the vision of supported employment, new coalitions are needed that can lead to redefinition of roles, new partnerships, shared resources, reduction in duplication of services, and increased incentives for using existing resources differently.