Most Integrated Employment Setting – State Self-Assessment

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Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Instructions
• Begin Self-Assessments
• Analyzing Results

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Introduction

To Facilitate Voluntary Compliance with Federal Law, Regulation and Guidance Designed to Prevent the Unnecessary Segregation of Persons with Disabilities by Entities Administering Public Funds.

This tool has been created to assist Governors and State Administrations in understanding and voluntarily meeting their obligations under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12131-12134, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. § 794 et seq.  Both federal laws prevent the unnecessary segregation of persons with disabilities.

This tool is specifically focused on assisting Governors and State Administrations in understanding and voluntarily meeting their obligations in relation to the provision of publicly-funded employment and non-work day services to persons with disabilities.

For further interpretation of these laws, see Olmstead v. L.C., 527 U.S. 581, 591 (1999).  Also see Statement of the United States Department of Justice on Enforcement of the Integration Mandate of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Olmstead v. L.C. (June 29, 2011) which can be found in Appendix A of this document.

Please carefully review the Instructions below on how to use this digital assessment tool prior to beginning any sections.

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Instructions

The Most Integrated Setting (MIS) tool has been developed in system-specific sections to allow different agencies to complete sections relevant to their areas of responsibility and jurisdiction.  This digital version of the MIS tool has several special features:

• Interactive – The questions are interactive.  Your response to questions will often trigger a series of follow-up questions.  In some cases, your response may trigger additional sections or entire pages of questions.
• Response Validation – In many sections your responses will be dates, numbers or percentages.  These digital forms will make sure that your input is valid and will append percentage signs(%) when appropriate.
• Save and Continue Later – Once you have completed the first page of any of the assessments, you will be able to use the ‘Save and Continue Later’ feature (always located at the top of the screen) to save your work.  You will be provided a link to your partially completed assessment (via email) so that you can return later and continue to work on your assessment.
• Review Your Responses – When you have completed any given section of the MIS tool, you will be able to review a summary of your responses at the end, and if necessary, go back and revise your answers.  You will also be able to save the summary to your computer as a PDF document, print a copy of the summary, and/or have a copy of the summary sent to your email address.
• Privacy and Security – Your responses will be confidential and will not be shared with anyone.

Please note, some of the sections of the MIS tool require detailed information concerning the regulations that pertain to your agency, the numbers and percentages of people affected by your programs, and/or budget and expenditure numbers from the past three fiscal years. You may need to use the Save and Continue Later feature often in order to properly research your responses.

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Begin Self-Assessments

Below you will find the links to each section’s assessment form. Each link will open in a new window or tab, and you will be able to proceed with completing that section’s assessment. Please keep in mind, some sections are longer than others, greatly depending upon how questions are answered. As a reminder, you may take advantage of the Save and Continue Later feature at any time, your partially completed responses will be saved and you will be emailed a link to pick up where you left off on that section.

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Guidance on Analyzing Results of the State Self-Assessment

As state governments continue to grapple with how best to provide long-term services and supports to individuals with significant disabilities that are integrated, individualized, and focused on optimal socioeconomic advancement and community engagement, the “Most Integrated Employment Setting” State Self-Assessment Tool is intended to help agencies assess existing policies, service delivery practices, and funding trends to determine both their strengths and gaps in meeting this goal. States are encouraged to use this self-assessment tool for the dual purpose of: (a) facilitating a cross-systems review of existing policies, enrollment and eligibility processes, capacities of providers and direct support professionals, and funding priorities across systems; and (b) initiating a thorough planning process across systems focused on collective action and mutual accountability. A collaborative approach to state planning on service delivery for individuals with disabilities would inform the state’s fiscal and budgetary priorities, as well as sharpen the synergies between the various statutory planning activities required by individual state agencies.

The Most Integrated Employment Setting tool can help guide states through an exploratory review of strengths, challenges and gaps the state possesses in meeting its obligations under Federal law with respect to the provision of services in the most integrated setting. The results of this voluntary self-assessment can be used to inform future developments in policy, practice and funding across systems.  Specifically, States are encouraged to utilize the results of the State self-assessment to answer the following questions:

• What steps should the State take to better align policy, practice, and funding?
• How can the State build and sustain capacity of front-line staff in serving individuals with disabilities in the most integrated setting?
• What expectations should be placed on providers in order to assure greater access to multiple community-based day and employment services offered in the most integrated setting?
• How does the State measure progress in addressing existing gaps and challenges  over time?

The tool is intended to serve as an internal frame of reference within state government, however States interested in engaging stakeholders in the Employment First systems-change efforts may want to consider publishing some of the results of the “Most Integrated Employment Setting” tool and use the findings as a guide for facilitating external, solutions-oriented discussions.

ODEP has developed and collected an inventory of state and Federal technical resources through its Employment First State Leadership Mentoring Program that can be used to help States tackle one or more areas identified during the “Most Integrated Employment Setting” State Self-Assessment process.  For more information on ODEP’s investments in state Employment First efforts, including recommendations, strategies and effective practices for achieving compliance with Federal civil rights laws and public policy, please refer to the agency’s website at:  www.odep.gov/employmentfirst(link is external).

Finally, States may decide to conduct the state self-assessment on a regular basis to measure perceived progress in addressing challenges across state government agencies over time.