Blending, Braiding, and Sequencing (BBS)
To improve employment outcomes for people with disabilities, state and local partners can proactively combine resources in three ways:
- Blending: combine dollars from multiple funding streams to create a single “pot” of commingled dollars (like baking a cake).
- Braiding: use multiple funding streams, separately and at the same time (like making a bracelet).
- Sequencing: use multiple funding streams separately and one after another (like running a relay race).
Blending, braiding, and sequencing (sometimes referred to as “BBS”) has the power to not only improve employment outcomes for individuals, but also sustain programs.
In this newsletter you will learn about several BBS resources, including:
- a joint communication signed by nine federal agencies and a frequently asked questions document on BBS,
- a success story that shows BBS in action, and
- webinars and other resources about BBS.
Joint Communication and FAQ
With support from the LEAD Center, nine federal agencies issued a joint communication in 2022 called “Resource Leveraging and Service Coordination to Increase Competitive Integrated Employment for Individuals with Disabilities.” This federal joint communication, along with an accompanying frequently asked questions (FAQ) document, encourages state and local partners to proactively implement BBS strategies across systems to improve employment outcomes for youth and adults with disabilities.
The FAQ gives definitions for BBS and offers examples of programs and funds that may be blended, braided, and/or sequenced to support competitive integrated employment, including but not limited to:
- Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) Waivers,
- Medicaid State Plan Services,
- Vocational Rehabilitation Services,
- Ticket to Work, and
- Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Adult and Dislocated Worker Programs.