Please stand by for real-time captions. >> Welcome everyone I would  like to welcome you to thecenter  webinar on service provider transformation  from policy to opportunity. We  are very excited about this webinar  today. This is Rebecca Salon on the project director  forcenter. I want to go over some  housekeeping detail  so that everyone can  fully participate. 

 And listening to the webinar if  you do not have  sound capabilities on your computer  or prefer to listen by phone we  have provided you with numbers that  you can call him. There is a 415 number as  well as  800 55 number and that is a toll-free  number. You do need to put in the  meeting code but you do not need  a Tandy ID to be able to participate. Real-time captioning is provided  during this webinar. The captions  can be found in the media viewer  panel which appears in the lower  right corner of the webinar platform.  If you want to make the media view  panel larger, you can minimize other  panels like chat, question-and-answer and or participants.  >> We encourage you to submit questions. Please use the Q&A box to submit any questions you have  during the webinar  and we will direct the questions  accordingly during the Q&A portion  of the webinar. If you are listening  by phone and not locked into the  webinar you might also ask questions  by emailing them to 
     btaylor@ndi-inc.org  . Please note  this webinar is being recorded.  The materials will be placed on  the center website  at the link provided and we will  also provide the link in the chatbox  so that you will be able to  access  it here.  

If you experience any technical  difficulties during the webinar  please use the  chat box to send a message to the  host and that will go directly to  Brittany Taylor  or you may email  her again and her email address  again is  btaylor@ndi-inc.org . >> For those of you who are  unfamiliar with the LEAD Center  we are the national Center on leadership  for the employment  and economic  advancement of people with disabilities. 
     LEAD Center is a collaborative of  disability workforce and economic  empowerment organization led by  national disability Institute  and  funded by the office of disability  employment policy at the US Department  of Labor.  

Our mission is to advance sustainable  individual and  system-level change that results in improved competitive integrated  employment and economic self-sufficiency  outcomes for people across the spectrum of disability.  >> Without further  ado I would like to turn the webinar  over to Amy Gonzalez . She is senior  policy -- Amy Gonzalez  initiate as senior Polybius --  policy advisor [Indiscernible -  static] she will introduce the moderator and talk some about the webinar.  Amy? But --  >> Amy you  still may be muted.  >> Okay. [Indiscernible - multiple speakers] take it away, Amy.  >> Thank you very much Rebecca and  good afternoon everyone and welcome  to today's webinar and we will focus  on provider transformation. This afternoon you will get the  opportunity to hear from Tennessee  who has been working under the employment  [Indiscernible - low volume] program to focus on holistic systems  change. We will get to hear different perspectives on today's  webinar. Ranging from the state perspective, community  rehabilitation provider perspective, the employer perspective, and we will also hear from an individual supported by St. John  Community  Services that is in competitive  integrated employment.  >> 
     I am certain the audience will get  the opportunity to learn and engage  in a rich discussion upon conclusion  of the webinar. We are very much  looking forward to learning with  you today. What I will  do now is tendered over to the moderator  Cori Di Biase.  Cori Di Biase has been a national  subject matter expert  and has worked  with ODEP  [Indiscernible - static] integrated employment  for people with disabilities. So take it away.  >> 
     Thank you very much, Amy and thank  you so much to everyone at the office  of disability employment policy  both for helping facilitate this  event and for facilitating the entire  employment for state leadership  entering program which has sponsored so much great innovation  and change in the field. Not much  else I can add to with Amy said  to add and present to the seminar  and this is in part on issues brief that social  dynamics and its partners prepared  as part of the employment per state [Indiscernible - low volume]  on the issue of provider transformation  and it looks specifically at Tennessee  who will be desperate we  will be talking to today as  well as Iowa and it has the same  focus is Amy mention in looking at starting at [Indiscernible -  static] and working all the way  through to the individual impacts  of these types of changes. And the  importance of these kinds of changes  to both employers and  employees and job seekers.  

Without further ado I will  hand it over to the folks who will speak to us today  from the Tennessee perspective and  I will hand it over to Jeremy Norden-Paul  who is the state director of employment  and date services with the Tennessee Department of intellectual Doug  Benevento disabilities. -- Intellectual and developmental  disabilities. Take it away.  >> Thank you  so much. Can you hear me? 

I will take  that as a yes.  

Yes.  

First thank you to the Lead Center social dynamics and [Indiscernible  - static] and also a huge thank you to everybody  who has been able to attend the  webinar. No easy feat to take time  out of your day to commit to a training  or webinar so sincere thanks to  you.  

Provider transformation of the  topic we know gets a lot of attention. A lot of different calls and  webinars and presentations are dedicated  to this topic and for good reason,  right? Really important topic.  

I think it's webinar is unique  because we will start very zoomed out at the federal  and state policy level.  And then gradually our way into  hear about how the employment first  movement is impacting real people in their everyday lives.  I would like to say we will look  at both the forest and the trees. Also share perspectives from Tennessee  and please note there is no one  right way to go about employment  [Indiscernible - static] and we know  in reality we continue to learn  lessons every single day about what  we can do to make things better  and making stronger. I just hope  this is a helpful snapshot of how  our state has approached  employment first that the systems  and policy level and also how that  has impacted the lives of  Tennesseans with disabilities across  the state.  

 I always like to start conversations  and presentations about employment  first with this, like, with this  diagram even though some people  who know me well might get sick  of hearing about it but I think  it is great. Author and Ted taught  speaker [Indiscernible - static] which he calls the Golden  Circle. Really very, very simple  idea and that is when we are doing really hard work, trying to change enormous systems, we need to root  ourselves firmly in the center of  that circle with a question why. And then work our way up  from there. If you are anything  like me, as soon as I see a  problem or challenge, I instantly  think about how I will fix it and  what it will look like once I'm  done fixing it and how great it  will be once I am done fixing it  but the downside of course is it  skips over the incredibly important  question, of why we are wanting  to do that in the first place, why  do we want to fix it in the first  place? Them he has the question  that mostly rhetorical but since  we have this neat chat function  here feel free to type your answer if you have one in the chatbox  and I talked, why is employment  so important? Why do we care so  much about employment? But --  >> I will keep an eye on the  chat box as you type and if you  have any answer -- but I want to  say that there are a lot of different  reasons that resonate with me and  motivate me every single day to  do this work. Number one, I know  work place a tremendous role in  our lives and it helps us build  relationships, establish financial independence  and have a sense of integrity and  feel contribution to society, I  also look at the employment rates  across the country. I look at the  employment rates for people without disabilities  and something like 95% in the working  age population across our country. And then we  look at the same statistic for people  with disabilities and it hover somewhere  around 20%.  

When I look at the two numbers  95% and 25% and the enormous gap,  75% gap in employment rates, huge  motivating factor for me to want  to be involved in this work.  

I also look at employment as  a key public health determinant  in fancy talk but were simply put,  people who are employed are healthier 
     than the more healthy people you  have in the community, the healthier  the community is as a whole.  I see some of you chatting here  that says employment gives people  purpose, value and you are absolutely right couldn't  agree more. We also know employment  is critical to addressing poverty  and helping empower people to lift  themselves out of property. Metro  win-win situation for individuals  in the business community. Early  to take away here many different reasons  why you and why we should care about  employment and why it resonates  strongly with you and I encourage  all of us to think about those reasons  and to keep it close to you. With  you want to write it on a sticky  note or put it on a poster on the  wall or around work or a mirror  at home and something that will  constantly remind you why you care  so much about this work and to invigorate  you when you need it the most.  

From a legal standpoint there  are many other reasons why employment  first is such an important movement  and I will not go into much more  detail but any  of these things because most of  you are probably very familiar are  ready with them and also is enough  to Google you want to learn more  information. Americans with disability  act 1990, huge landmark legislation  in essence prohibited his termination  based on disability in any setting  across the country. The second one  up there is the Olmstead v. L.C. and as you may  know a landmark Supreme Court decision  from 1999 which essentially said  people with disabilities  have the  right to receive publicly funded  services in the most integrated  community settings possible. And  then of course most recently we  have the HCBS   final settings ruled the home and  community based services final settings  ruled which did a lot of different  things and I'm sure you've been  through lots of different weapons  and presentations about that but  a couple of really important things  and in this content it talks about  the person planning center process  and talk about what will that person centered planning  process plays and how we deliver  services to people and make sure  it is based on what people  truly desire the lies and increase  the protections of people have in their home and community-based  settings relating to where a person  receives their services to ensure  they are provided in a true community  environment.  

Last on this slide and actually  one of my favorites, we can look  back in history and the that employment  in my opinion is interwoven into  the very fabric of our country.  Therefore it is fundamentally a  matter of civil rights. This right here is a quote of course  from a Declaration of Independence  7076. -- 1776 and probably familiar  but the quote life  liberty and happiness and I believe in a lot of people believe  having access to a job gives opportunity  to live a fulfilling life and having  a job allows you opportunity to  choose your path and to have liberty  in doing so and of course having  a job allows you to earn dignity,  respect and money which helped create a sense of happiness so  in a way I am here and a lot of  us are here because I think of myself  as a defender of civil rights with  an alongside people with disabilities  and when I read that word all in  the preamble of the Declaration  of Independence I really believe  it needs all.  

-- It means all.  I will not be the definitions but  one is from ODEP and other from  EFSLMP  and I want to make sure  they have the right with one from  ODEP and what  [Indiscernible -  low volume] employment first establishes the simple and frankly it is  a beautiful [Indiscernible - static] people  with disability should have the  same exact access  to employment opportunities as people  without disabilities and we know  the work for system was by and large designed by people without disabilities  so it is absolutely our collective responsibility to  ensure that we are working within  the system to push the boundaries of the system  to make it accessible to everyone  and as you may know there are about  46 dates if I'm correct that have  currently any employment activity  at all and about 32 of them that  have a formal policy action such as Executive Order or legislative  mandate.  >> Now I will spend a couple  of minutes talking about how we  catalyze the employment first woman  here in Tennessee and believe it  or not Tennessee was among the very  first state to declare ourselves  in employment first date back in  the early 2000 but there  were several other things that needed  to online before we could put that  verbal declaration into any sort of substantive action  so first we spent a significant  amount of time ensuring there was  commitment in different departments and stakeholder groups  to actually want to change the service  delivery system I mean that goes  back to the question of why, we  want to make sure people were tapping  into the reasons why we wanted to  make the change to the delivery  system and surprisingly easy to  get carried away with employment  first action and strategy without  spending enough time  and for me people and actually cultivating  that by in. Once we had confirmed  that we had enough by in from a  critical mass of key departments  and stakeholder groups we John --  joined ODEP employment first  state Volusia program and 2012  in the program was new at match [Indiscernible - static]  Washington state was our mentors  state and Tennessee was the protégé  state and EFSLMP as the program  is called  has since transformed over the years and continues to  provide technical assistance to  a lot of different states including  Tennessee now in 2017.  >> On the bottom of the slide you  will see a list not exhaustive but  just list some of the key groups  that we were talking about that  we needed to get at the table and  cultivate buy in from to get employment  first off to them in the first place.  

After  we set all the time cultivating the claimant  getting the right people at the  table and becoming a protégé  state with  ODEP in 2012 that set the stage  for us for the next big action which  was in June 2013,  Gov. Heslin signed  Executive Order 28th which took  the important things. First declared  officially Tennessee to be an employment  first date and actually put executive  back in behind it. Second called for  the creation of employment first  task force which meets quarterly  to address the barriers of people with disabilities  face getting into the workforce  and to not only that but come up  with creative solutions to overcome  those barriers. Parody called for  the task force to create and present  an annual record that summarizes  our progress over the past year  and that is called the expect employment report and if  I'm not mistaken that is included  in the resources for today's webinar  so feel free to check that out the  we produce one every year and it  is a really great snapshot of all  the work all of our different stakeholders  have accomplished over the last  year.. Exec of other 28 had a really  strong order for where we want to  take our state and where we want  to take the state of our work for  system. Remember of course we are  rooted firmly in why we want to  go it in the first place but in  2013 we had to have something to  tell us how to actually get there.  A roadmap of sort so what we did  is we wrote a strategic plan in  2013 and the important note is there is nothing revolutionary  about having a strategic plan and  a lot of people have them but we  want to make sure it was a useful,  living and breathing document and  not something we would just type  of to check a box and  then convert to a PDF and put on  a shelf somewhere. Actually it is  something I literally carry around  with me not only soft copy on my  computer but hard copy in my bag so when  I am at meetings at different conversations  of people I'm constantly referencing the strategic plan and writing  all over it making changes to it  and I want to make sure it is actually  a helpful robot on a journey --  helpful roadmap on a journey and  we recently updated it in 2017 to reflect all current  progress and challenges and so it  is useful document is an highly  recommend anyone on the employment  first chair to have a very strong  strategic plan and along the way we also formalize a lot of our  partnerships with other state agencies  through memorandums of understanding  MOU which as you probably know help  streamline services and clear confusion  about who delivers what  service and who pays for what and  how individuals are served by one  or more systems and things like  that.  

You see kind of list here and  I will not going to too much detail  but feel free to contact me if you  want but I will just make two notes  about these MOU's. For the transitioning youth  MOU I want to say it actually took  us a couple of years to formalize  that because we had to go through  so many different deliberations  and legal channels but it is hugely  important for how students and young  adults are served by our systems  in Tennessee as they transfer from system to  system especially.  

The other note I want to make  that the MOU between VR and Department  of mental health and substance abuse  services is currently  being developed as we speak with  the support of the Employment 1st  state leadership mentor program  through ODEP  .  

 It did not click. There we go. This is just a snapshot of  the different stakeholder groups  that help make employment -- Employment 1st real in Tennessee  and I really like this slide and  doors what is underpinning all  of this of course is the partnership  with ODEP and involvement in the  Employment 1st state leadership  into program. And other things  that [Indiscernible - static] we have  our Employment 1st task force which  is made up of different workgroups  during the different work and we  have a Tennessee work partnership  which is housed at Vanderbilt Kennedy  Center one of our states [Indiscernible  - static] does a lot of things including providing access  to research and grants and other  amazing resources.  

Have employment  Roundtable which is administered  by our developmental disabilities  Council. And that was the group  that was responsible for drafting  the youth MOU. The locals  you see on this screen are really  neat because they show all the different  state departments that are at the  table who literally sit around the  table and participate in workgroups  and be a part of these conversations.  

The note will make here is the  most recent additions to partnership  have been able Tennessee which is  a program that you might be familiar  with, a program of the Department  of treasury and  also the Department of Transportation  has been a recent addition as we  talk more about transportation been  a barrier for folks with disabilities.  And also very excited about the  Department of economic and community  development which represents sort of the business  side of the equation we are talking  about, creating employment opportunities  for people with disabilities. Again  no one right way of doing things  and we certainly have our challenges  that we face on a daily basis but  this is just a snapshot of what  things look like in Tennessee.  >> Now the last thing I will share  with you before I hand it over to  Dwayne Webb  to talk more about think that the  provider level, at the department  level in my department the IDD,  we needed about I guess over the past six months  to a year, we realized we needed  a way of ensuring that all the work  that we are doing and all of the  criteria not amazing [Indiscernible  - static] all that good stuff,  was limited with time and resources and making  sure it was done in the past, most  efficient way possible and that  we are being good stewards of stack  -- taxpayer dollars. And  very specific and intentional but  the outcomes were hoping to see  as a result of all those things.  This is not a revolutionary framework, it is just a very high level summary  framework that summarizes how we view our departments  role in moving the employment -- Employment 1st wheel so to speak.  

 A different part that  you see on the left and the different  drivers are inputs are largely interdependent  so hard to be successful with one  if we are not only  -- if only addressing one or two  and you really have to be addressing  all these different things and I  will not going to extreme detail  about all of them. Very happy to  talk to you in more detail if you'd  like to contact me separately but  just very briefly what we talk about  rate structure we are thinking about  ways that we can incentivize employment  outcomes throughout reimbursement  structure and the way that we are reimbursing providers and when  talking about technical assistance,  you think about whether a provider  agencies have access to consulting,  through our department, especially  as they are making the transition  from facility base to employment and  community based services with community  to practice we think a lot about  webinars and calls, and different  forums where stakeholders are coming  together regularly to develop community  and to moderate and things like that.  

Of course to medication, with  the about how we are sharing in  a very clear way, updates on progress  and success Tories and also how  we are gathering and incorporating  stakeholder input across the board.  With capacity building we think  about provider  agencies and other folks who have  access to different training then  things like [Indiscernible - static] and things like that.  Of course with inner agency coordination  were thinking about 
     how we are participating in different  stakeholder groups like the ones  I mentioned before and also formalize  and partnerships and memorandums  of understanding to streamline services.  We also think about leadership development.  That is a tricky one but we think  about ways that we are or are not  cultivating leadership . Not only within our own department  but also in the provider agencies  across the state and we know one  of the most challenging things that  we can experience is when there  is a setting cap and leadership,  some of the -- somebody retires or was agency  we want to think potentially about  what we are doing to cultivate leadership  both as a department and state agency  and also in provider agency and  community.  

And last on here you see employer  engagement which of course represents  the business side of the equation  of employment which is thinking  about how we are engaging and authentic ways with the business community  and one of the most recent additions  we made to that strategy was our  partnership with the employment  community development Department  of Tennessee.  

Of course you see here that -- was catalyzing the whole system  is of course the Employment 1st  status and Executive Order 28 maintaining  very high expectations across the  board and when I talked about being  intentional about those outcomes  we need to be very specific about  the fact that we are looking to increase the employment rate  in our state, for people with disabilities.  We are looking to increase average  wage an average number of hours  worked which also assumes we have  to have an effective way of capturing  that data.  

Without further ado I am going  to now and it over to Dwayne Webb  whom I have the pleasure working  with on a pretty regular basis and  he will share more about his perspective  as a provider level -- at the provider  level.  >> Good afternoon and welcome to today's  presentation my name is Dwayne Webb  director for date employment services  St. John's committee  services and [Indiscernible - static] a young man who I'm truly proud  of for his employment accomplishment  representatives from [Indiscernible  - static] dining services a global  business deeply rooted in diversification  as it ranks in the top 10 of 2016  diversity Inc. survey. For anyone  who might not be familiar with diversity  Inc. it is a leading assessments  are great tool realized that with you place to gauge [Indiscernible  - static] corporate America and  global scales of that is truly an  outstanding accomplishment for this  organization.  

Last two fellow colleagues and  leaders in the field [Indiscernible]  continue to pay for the way for  Employment 1st in Tennessee and  national scale and Amy and Jeremy  think you are much for all that  you do.  

To begin I would like to take  a moment to provide very brief overview  of all -- our organization from  corporate level and provide detail  in regards to the steps we took  and or provided confirmation process.  

Since the  historic 2018 68 [Indiscernible  - static] has assisted people to  fully participate in and become contributors to their  chosen communities. Our mission  reflects commitment to advancing self-direction and full  citizenship and equal rights for  people with disabilities. We currently  provide a wide array of services  for over 600 individuals in the  form of employment and community  put its patient and community living  in educational services in our Washington  DC, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Tennessee,  Delaware and Maryland 
     locations. Our strong support base  of 800 16 full and part-time employees  allowed St. John's to carry out  our mission of advancing community  support and opportunities for people  living with disabilities. But how  do we get started with a transformation?  The provider transformation process  for our St. John's Tennessee Martin  location developed out of sheer  necessity. On July 1 On July 1,  2012 St. John's community services  assume operations from a financially [Indiscernible] agency that up  in a business for the past 21 years.  At the time the agency provided  facility base service model in the  form of a shelf workshop facility  and [Indiscernible] you can imagine  the apprehension felt water company  regarding someone [Indiscernible]  long-standing organization should always been known to  provide community care and services  to the individuals and families  we serve. [Indiscernible] even more when  it was discovered that everything  we ever known regarding service  delivery models was about to change. St. John's do not believe in operating  and [Indiscernible] services. Obviously  being that we were at opposite ends  of the spectrum regarding how services  part [Indiscernible - static] on  how to make this transformation  a reality. We folks in our organizational  transformation diligently assessing 60 elements  of the step by step basis that we  felt would be crucial in assuring  we were ready for two systems transformation  and up [Indiscernible] these include establishing identity, setting  our vision, creating a plan, bring in our  stakeholders along. Implementing  the plan, correct in the data and  sharing our stories.  >> The first of the steps requires  you to take a long hard look at  yourself in the mirror. And determine  what troops you believe in what  you will build your organizational platform on. What  is going to be your identity? It  may require you to dismantle every  aspect of your organization right  down to even your name as you prepare  to move into fully integrated employment  and community-based service models.  For example our former putting them  started with community but the services  we provide in a sheltered workshop  [Indiscernible] sure did not  reflect that aspect. Both of these  locations are isolated and offer  little to no community inclusion  and involvement. St. John's  truly believe in operating 100%  of the community and providing real-world  settings for people with -- to learn  and grow and many years ago they  decided as an agency to separate  people from their communities with  not help them prepare for full and  meaningful adult life. They [Indiscernible]  back into the areas that need to  be strengthened within the new service  model some about of the community  to provide services.  

Think about that it is a very  simple principle.  We have all learned from our peers  environment as we've grown. In addition  most about all of us were bad [Indiscernible]  real-world setting rather than a  similar when like a classroom and these experiences  have led us into the career path  and life choices were made for ourselves.  The most important concept from this is that people have a  right to be in their community and  our role as a provider agency simply  to support them.  

The second step to me in the  most important part of  our conservation process was establishing  our core values of the organization. Will be the driving force behind  everything that you do in regards  to your service delivery. To meet times organization or values with  no more than the paper they're written  on, just words. In order to be successful  to organizational change must have  buy in from the very top of the  food chain trade down to newest  employee walking in the door. If  you truly do not believe in what  you're doing and how can you expect  to change anything?  

Everything we do at St. John's  is based off our core values. We  believe everyone should have a career  [Indiscernible] meaningful contributions.  Employment 1st. But include it  respected and valued. 
     This means being a part of things  and having your opinion matter in  being treated respectfully at all  times. Having ongoing information  experiences and expectations from  which to make choices. This allows  opportunities to develop skills  and interest which lead to career  development. Wide array of relationships  and through work and being able  involve [Indiscernible] best way  to develop those relationships.  And last to live in Spain committee of his or her choice  which is drastically impacted through  the financial security of gainful work. These core values  are what our staff keep in mind  when supporting individuals in employment  and community participation community  [Indiscernible - static] [Indiscernible] how will you  develop your services to meet the  benchmark establishing a mission  and core value statement?  

What benefit to these measures  bring to everyone involved?  This is where the rubber starts  to meet the road and you need to  be able to sell be why aspect to  all your stakeholders. We also have  to determine if you can actually  deliver on and  financially sustain what you are  proposing. St. John's determines  our services will be formatted around the following measures.  All activities will be conducted  100% of the community and no St.  John's facility are operated that  will separate people from disabilities  from their community. Staff will  come with the individual [Indiscernible]  in the community conduct a training  [Indiscernible] to be no better  than 1-3. And our activities will  be chosen by the individual and reflective of their interests  and choice and that all activities  be close to the individual home  and does no more long commutes [Indiscernible] .  

What benefit does this newly credit plan of action bring  to the individual? Does it meet  the core values we set for ourselves?  >> For us it allows for connections  with the community and relationships  for social outlets. It provided the opportunity to  explore different types of community  resources, build skills and develop  strong resume for future work. Gave  individuals chance to contribute  to the community and build confidence  and self of this make sense of self worth and share responsibilities  with other community members and  allowed for greater independence  and interdependent relationships  through the development of community  access skills and cultural interest.  As he started to move the individuals  out to the communities and truly  begin to provide them with the opportunities  to grow and develop they were bombarded  with real-life experience.  

Newfound information and expectations  from which they were not able to  make more choices as they attain 
     to their career goals and aspirations.  This in turn led us to take a deeper  look into the discovery process  which we utilized to develop skill  sets that we ultimately translate  into successful job placements.  

On the other side of that coin  what benefit the newly created plan  brings to the community. The community  and met even people with [Indiscernible] first time expense  for community members. It increase  the available tools of individuals available for nonprofits  are dependent on volunteerism. And  businesses looking for skilled labor .  

It provided an opportunity for  communities to see people with disabilities  as contributors rather than often  needing contributions. Last they  provided chance for new generations  to grow up with people with disabilities  thereby increasing acceptance and  understanding of diversity.  >> Regardless of how good of a plant  you have created, it will mean absolutely  nothing if you cannot maintain workflow  margin to carry out operations.  This will require you to take a hard look at every aspect  of your organization to financially  support the transformation process.  It will require you to analyze business  trends [Indiscernible -  static] and core competencies to  maximize every resource at your disposal.  

One of the biggest and most impactful  resources you have at your disposal  is your staff. At the onset of transforming  our services St. John's evaluated personnel it require. Be strategically  reposition personnel in key  management roles and modifying pre- [Indiscernible - static] to be the  core competencies of the organization. They then  mentor that powered and held accountable  those personnel to meet financial  demand necessary to carry out system  changes.  Be met by weekly to discuss relevant  issues and report on each department  current situation as it pertained to internal matters  of control looks operate more effectively  and efficiently in the new service  environment.  

Other factors when it comes to  maintaining your margin may pertain  to how you break your services to maximize  finding and how you look at a potential  opportunity for untapped revenue profits as  they line up your operational mindset  and strength. The primary funding  source that we utilized during our  transformation and process came  from the incentives on the ID rate  system provided regarding service delivery.  

Employment community participation  services offer largest financial  benefit when compared to segregated  environment like our shelf workshop  and they habilitation Center.  

We also generated revenue through  our run over  agreement with Tennessee vocational  rehabilitation services. We provided  employment [Indiscernible]  benchmarks. We access local accounting and grant funding streams. Regroup  fundraising efforts. We look at  selling off and utilizing the buildings that once held facility-based structure to residential  services as potential new sources of revenue  and we obtained outside grants to  provide specific training opportunities which targeted  staff development and organizational  core competencies and job development.  >> Now that you created this plan  to change everything everybody has  known over the past 41 years, how  do you address the concerns the  stakeholders will have because there  will be pushback. What are the reasons  for the resistance ? Simply  put people tend to be creatures  of habit and they like to have their  security blankets in place because  they have a fear of the unknown  that generates concerns about one's  own competency level. We had to  analyze the concerns of the mind  of the family and individual templates  by getting to the real root of the  issue by answering one simple question,  how does this affect me? The question  itself may have been simple but  the answers were far more complex.  How do we achieve this?  

You achieve this by having conversations  that matter. You know you  just cannot go wrong with opening honest medication and  this was established they went by  our leadership team and they brought  [Indiscernible] in nature and disseminated to all of our stakeholders  as well as the community to reassure  everyone that services will move  forward and have positive impact  on those involved.  >> Came to the table with anyone who  wanted to talk about the changing  of services. We did this in one-to-one  conversations. Group discussions.  Phone calls. It did not matter, we were  here 24 seven and available and  we get people opportunity to express  their thoughts good or bad and in  turn try to explain why we were  rendering services in this manner  by paint a picture of what true  community integration would look  like for the family member. We further  offered opportunities for people  to take tors of our services and  engage in trial program expenses  and show what would change in what  would not change with new employment  wraparound services of community  participation.  >> We sought feedback from community  and stakeholders on a regular basis  to measure the levels of satisfaction  and effort to create in areas of  concern before they manifest into  bigger obstacles. By maintaining  ongoing contact we further enhanced  and establish true sense of trust  letting staff and families and individuals  know we as an organization were in this together.  We also conducted ongoing training  and professional development with  our employees on it Pro learning  skill to strengthen their skill  set and Bill sense of competence  as a part chain  to our service model and organizational  objectives.  

Were some of the lessons we  took away regarding overcoming the resistance and ensuring the  plan that we wanted to implement  was in place and carried out to  the standards we set? We learned the change was continuous  and you had to be able to adapt  to survive.  

By empowering our employees a  creative  opportunities to Mets interest in  skills and abilities of the individuals  we were able to build a sense of  ownership which stood  in the complete by in and we learned  real quick Lane a solid foundation would be  the groundwork for our success in  transformation.  

Are raising the bar of expectation  we brought about a work standards,  were static most important thing is  you most definitely have to have  a backbone to remain firm in committed  in your mission because you will  be tested by your employees, by  individuals and by the families  and by the communities and that  you always had to remember to remain  possible that some positive. Organizational  transformation is a marathon and  not a sprint. We began with 100  and not a sprint. We began with  103 individuals on July 1, 2012  and NetSuite [Indiscernible - static] current resources and establishing  community recreation, and nonprofit  volunteer [Indiscernible] real-world  skill train.  

2013 we  were asked to join employment first  task force 
     with other key leaders in the state  which really gave us insight into  how service delivery systems were  evolving. In 2014 we began to pick  up momentum as he started to build  their resources to fill capacity  and we wrote at our first by the  program that was 100% employment  community based  best transitioning individuals back  to their own communities for services  and support and in 2015 we tried  that yet this -- EFSLMP grant and later in August  we close and transition services  away from the  rehabilitation  services further making imprint  in the community as 33 more individuals  entered into employment and or keeper to speech of services.  

We completed our journey on July  1, 2016 when we shut the doors to  our sheltered workshop facility and  fully shifted our services to 100%  integrated employment and community  does patient support.  

You been able to build and maintain  employment program the currently consists of 47 individuals working  in the community. To each of these  phases are started the individuals  demeanor change as the new community based program involved in the individuals  were forming connections at the  community for relationships and  social outlets. They were given  opportunities to explore different type of community resources  to build skills and develop strong  resume for future work options and  I finally had a chance 
     to truly contribute to their community  and build their confidence and a  sense of self-worth and share responsibility  with other community members. We've  also been able to share stories  through the work of the ID public  information officer Matthew Perry  at Matthew has filmed several videos  throughout our conversion process  and most powerful statement I think  have been made for change comes  directly from the individuals he  has failed. Individuals will spend  20-30 years and facility-based programs  that are now able to speak to their  friendships they form in the community  and opportunities they been given  out to truly make informed choices regarding their  lives and careers.  

One of the most recent videos  spotlights our guest speaker and  his employer and believe Jeremy  has placed a link in the chatbox  and continued resource page as well if you'd like to take a few minutes  to watch my connection it is available  for your viewing and  I will turn the discussion back  over to Corey and thank you for  the opportunity.  

Thank you very much, fantastic  summary and thank you for  your insight in this topic both  of you.  

Now we would like to turn this great opportunity -- I have had the pleasure and privilege of  working with [Indiscernible  - static] in my career and one of the companies  we can look at to really understand  what it means when we say that the  inclusion of diversity in a  company plan for hiring or on boarding  for retaining employees are really  developing employees, is not just  a good deal idea but a  good business idea. And what we  had to -- of course the idea that when we talk about diversity,  we are of course including notion  of disability and that diversity  and disability has to be part of  our employee base.  

We had the opportunity today  to speak with two managers with  Sodexo,  Ben Markie operations manager and  Jesse Kowalewski the marketing  manager and we will ask a couple  of questions and gentlemen thank  you very much welcome to the webinar.  

Thank you and I appreciate it.  

Thank you.  

Can you tell me how did you first  meet with some -- Mike McCrory who  will vote  talked to them.?  

I will take that one.  

This is Jesse. Might actually came in  and I was the one who got the chance  to interview Mike McCrory and talk  about all his experience that he  had already gained  and he told  me he was working for Burger King  for 20+ years. Whenever an employee comes in  and all they say is I love to work,  I can do the job, it is kind of  like you ought to be able to trust  in that person and you know you  will get good as this from them.  

This is  been, I have known might,  I believe his first day of work in late August or early  September, the first thing that  really jumped out was that he has  a great work ethic, great personality, really bonded very quickly with  other employees. It actually  helped the spirits of our other  employees worked there for while  and they really enjoyed working  with Mike McCrory, great personality  and great  work ethic like was said.  

Excellent. Thank you. Long have you worked  with St. John's, when did you first  meet them?  

This is Ben Markie.  I first work  with St. John's probably  going back to July of last year.  That is only because  I am new to the area and I understood  there was a long relationship with 
     doing prior to that and when I came  in he came in to get to know me  and the new management staff pick  with that I got to know Duane and  what they were about. I also have  a background in that field, from my father, who does a similar  kind of job to what doing does currently. In upstate New York where I  am from.  

We actually had a  work early -- working relationship  with Sodexo  for probably a little  over 2225 years. It has been wonderful  partnership that we have had a for  numerous years, and continues to  grow. We are excited about the opportunities that [Indiscernible]  had as the University grows as Sodexo  gross on the campus  and as you  grow our program as well.  

Great. Great. This is  kind of a difficult question and  we're talking about a 22-year-old  relationship your that maybe a question  for Ben Markie, what was your first  impression when you started meeting  Duane and other folks from St. John's , what kind of organization did  it seem to you?  

It seemed like he had a very  close-knit relationship with the clients. Also close-knit relationship with myself and he is very hands-on regarding issues and he is  on the spot if I ever need anything there or if  I ever have a new job that opens  up I am like hey Duane to have an individual  that might be able to fit this in  his right on top of it and this  would be a perfect job for this  employee. And with that is great  because sometimes you work with  agencies on different things whether it is partnering or anything,  sometimes you don't hear back from  a so he is definitely someone who  is very involved and you can tell  he generally -- genuinely cares and will come  up anytime we need anything whether  it is a weekend or we a. So we have  always had a great working relationship.  

Great . And how has this relationship  with St. John's account working  with Mike McCrory, how  has this experience  impacted your  view of diversity as a  topic and the folks in your office, other  managers and yourself how has it  kind of influence the way you think  about that work diversity? 

As you know I mentioned kind  of at the beginning of the call  Sodexo  itself the company in general  is ranked in the top five of diversity  in the last five years, the the company as a whole and  our company in general is only striving  just to make sure diversity you  said in the sense of the word is  just a growing and expanding as  big as it can. Something that would  be great like you mention if you  take it down into just our business,  just where we are at and you see Martin dining services  and our diversity, our employees  and everybody working together,  I think we are really taking over what the word diversity means in  general. Because we are taking residence, people who live  in this community from all aspects  and all backgrounds and we're coming  together and actually providing  -- I know from my standpoint from  the marketing side -- our national  surveys, at entry we conduct one every single  semester, and every single year,  from illness of our staff, it is  maxed out at 99. And I can verify  that especially for some of employees  like Mike McCrory  the experience  -- these individuals are very  special and these are the ones agree  to every single morning. There the  want to tell you good morning a  matter if it is rain or shine in  so I diversity level that we are  getting and also incorporating with  the students at the University,  is unbelievable. Such a great thing  to see too. 

That is great and thank you very  much. We have  -- happy with the notion that  I think more and more companies,  or more employers are understanding  the benefits of hiring individuals  with disabilities just as they look  to every other aspect of  diversity in their hiring but if  you were speaking with a colleague in the field, someone  who do not have a lot of expense  with this other were talking about considering hiring  individuals with disabilities but  not having a lot of experience or  background, what would your advice  to them be? How would you tell them  about what your experience has been?  

I would say develop a good relationship with the individual, like Dwayne,  here at St. John's and understand what  you're looking for as far as are  looking for [Indiscernible - low  volume] cooker someone to clean  tables or whatever it may be. If  they have any reservations, they are  some of the most dedicated employees, always on  time and never call out, there's  an issue month ahead of time, this  day they may need off, the biggest  things that I look for is  their ability to follow through  on some of the promises , which is like a right we will  have a job coach up there every  day, NICE that at St. John's -- and I see that at St. John's.  Have Mike McCrory is  there and I see the job could come with  him and if you will work with an  agency, you will need the support  from them. We definitely received that tenfold in any issues they  may have, I can go to the job coach  and say this is an area we need  to look at and pretty much fixed  that day and I do not tend to  have the same issues repetitively.  By issues I'm not saying that they  are huge or anything, but to small  things that come with employment . I would say the benefits far outweigh any of the negatives, if there are even any . I have not seen any in my time.  

Okay, great. Final  question for now although I'm sure  that will be bunches of questions as we move  to the question-and-answer feature  and you touched on this somewhat  but I sort of want to give you one  more chance to talk about this. There definitely a lot of employment  service providers and employment  service providing agencies in the  audience today. What they know about  providing the best possible customer  service to a company like Sodexo  and even [Indiscernible -  static] what should they know before  the first time that it might at  they are preparing for the first  time they even pick up the phone,  to call someone like you what should  they know, how should they prepare  to be the best possible this might  provide the best possible customer  service? >> Gentlemen, you might be on mute.  >> [Indiscernible - multiple speakers]  spent now I hear you.  

Let me start over. Before you pick up  the phone they should look into  what type of service that company  or  Sodexo  [Indiscernible] and for us it  is for service in other areas of  our business are in facility demands  or housekeeping, then you are going  to want to know the type of jobs  that they have had in those institutions. Here we offer food-service and  strictly food-service and other  Sodexo  may  do facilities for the school which  is basically cleaning, doing janitorial  work in those kinds of things. Knowing  the types of jobs that we have been  fitting them to the individuals, definitely something that as a manager I look at and  say Dwayne,  do have an individual that could  fit this kind of job or that kind  of job? He is pretty good at finding  them pretty quickly. This person  has this background , for years, which is another thing  to look at is how many years an  individual has been working in a  certain field. Definitely help them  transition to our account. I know  with my cure he worked in  food for a number of years. -- Michael he worked in food for  a number of years and gave him a  jump over another play. I think  we currently employ upwards of 10 individuals in different  areas and areas of clean table and  dish room to cooking, to working  salad stations. Knowing diversity of the jobs  we offer and been able to fit individuals  to those is something that I would encourage people to look  into before you go  to the manager or whatever account  it may be an you see individuals and in all you  do this kind of work and I feel that may be a  good fit for those kinds of jobs  because they have done this in their  past the new short out very well  with our account.  

Sometimes to tack on at the end  there -- it goes to show all you  have to do is literally make the  call. If you have a prospect or  an account that you have in mind  or if you're needing to  become or start that relationship, just do not hesitate because just from our perspective and the  student perspective and university  perspective, our employees that  we have, and times that they  are off that day, people can tell, these  are the types of employees like  been mentioned, so dependable, there  on time every single day. Not to  mention just the attitude, they  bring with them. It is over the  top and that is something especially  working with students, at a university, it is that think that the student  sometimes need that pick me up and  need the customer service so do  not be afraid to contact the company  that you're looking for because  the service that you are providing  and the individual we get to work  with, kind of a life-changing event,  that is kind of provided, such a  wonderful relationship that you  can get started so do not be afraid  to contact that employer.  

All  right, great and thank you both  very much like I said I'm sure we  will get some additional questions to the general Q&A section here  but for now thank you again  and I will hand it back over to  Dwayne, and you can introduce us  to  Mike McCrory and the two  of you can tell us about  his work.  

Thank you. It is my honor and my pleasure  to introduce you to a young man  who I am very proud of in his work accomplishments and  that is Mr. Mike McCrory.  How are  you doing today?  

Good.  

Get you  a little closer to hear you good  there. What is your current job  title is at Sodexo  

I am a cook.  

You are cooking what does that  entail, can you tell me some of  the things you are known at in the  college?  

[Indiscernible - low volume] 

You are pretty good at working  that grill, right? What are some  of your other responsibilities?  I know a lot of times I see you  with the routers and cyclic that  would eat -- thermometers and what he doing with those things?  

Different things.  >> Different aspects of what is going  on there as well. Outstanding. Can  you tell me about what you are doing  before you started at Sodexo  where  did you spend the majority of your  day Monday-Friday?  

Working.  

And you are also somewhere else  aware was that makes  

At the workshop.  

What were some of the things  you did at the workshop.  

[Indiscernible - low volume] 

Those are just limited contract  you worked on there. You had the  experience of being in a shelter  facility [Indiscernible] now you  have the opportunity to work six  days a week at Sodexo.  What do  you prefer better? Do you prefer  what you are seeing in your current career path?  Better than what you used to be  doing?  

I like it.  

What are the big factors to it?  

Money.  

I think all of us like  the aspect of on this pay for on  his work so that is outstanding.  

What interest you in becoming  a cook, might makes  

 [Indiscernible - low volume] but  kind of got started doing a little  cooking around housing kind of lead  into some different explorations.  Outstanding, outstanding. In your  job process, with Sodexo, how do  we  here at St. John's assist  you in getting your job. What do  we do to help you do that?  

Proper training, 
     community work.  

The deal but in essence who landed  the job when it is all said and  done?  

I did.  

Very proud of you for that.  

Can you tell me how your life  has been different since he started  working with Sodexo ?  

I like  the students and the employees in  the staff.  

Have you made any new friends ?  

A lot of them.  

Outstanding. If you had the opportunity  to talk to someone that is listening  today and they were kind of thinking  about getting a job in the community  for the very first time, what advice  would you give them?  

Give it a try and  take advantage of it.  >> I appreciate that. Anything else  you would like to share that we  might not have as regards what you're  doing? Are nailed it pretty much  had?  

Melted pretty much on the head.  

Sounded a good thing. I think  Mr. Mike McCrory is done with this  questions  so we will turn it back  over to you.  

Okay and thank you very much I'm not surprised that there are  additional questions from the Q&A  as well. We will start  to the Q&A section now. You can see on your interface  that there is a Q&A bar and we do  have quite a few questions are really  coming in a we will try to get to  them, as many as we possibly can.  I will dive right in with the question  for Germany and maybe Dwayne, you  have insight on this as well.  If  you are working with providers who  are in this transformation process,  but they  really feel like they need to hold  on to some aspect of a sheltered workshop, okay we  will try, we will be pushing for  folks to be transitioning in the  community but we really feel the  need to hold on to that service,  to some degree, as we're moving  forward, what is  your response to those providers  and what advice would you give them?  

[Indiscernible - multiple speakers]  >> Yes, I will give my two cents and  curious what you think about that  Dwayne,  so I had that conversation  with providers are all sorts of different folks in  one of the things I learned is that  we had two years [Indiscernible  - low volume] because I think it  is important for us [Indiscernible  - static] what I  always like to do is approach the  conversation because first of all  learning about the history of the  workshop and what role is played  in people's lives over the years  so I say when the things they do  it for writers especially as I like  to understand what goal [Indiscernible]  why it has been so important and  what purpose it serves for the people  that they support and whether it  is locational -- vocational training or whether  it is community with their friend  or whether it is safety or convenience  in terms of expectation and every  workshop will have a different set of answers  and first things first I like to  understand what role that workshop  is played over the years and continues  to play which I think will influence  sort of up your trepidation that  a provider might have of letting go of those workshop  services so once we narrowed down  on the role that it is played, I  would like to sit down and collaboratively  think about if there might be other  ways that we can achieve those things  in the same purposes  and a slightly different way for  example if it has to do with convenience  and transportation what sort of  transportation innovations are coming up with  and what sort of transportation  partnerships are we coming up with  an is it a matter of community and  friendships, that is an impetus  for us to think about ways that  the person is forming an imaging  friendships in their community whether  at home at work and elsewhere and  if it has to do a safety I think  it is a legitimate conversation  we can have about mitigating risks and having the tension  between the dignity of risk but  also being very safe at the same  time so I guess my answer there  would be it depends on the provider,  depends on the role it is played  a part time in the more that you  can understand about why that workshop  has been important to folks the  easier it will be to bring potential solutions as they  transition more towards community  services and Dwayne, I would love  to hear what you think about the  question.  

I agree with you 100% germy.  Our workshop was in operation for  31 years. When you start to break  down those walls and start moving individuals  out into the community integrated  employment setting, you will have  a lot of questions and concerns  that will come from your staff.  From the management level to the direct care level to the  families to the individuals. They have grown accustomed to those  services and they've grown accustomed  to having if you will false sense of security inside  a building structural like that,  what we had to do was ultimately  start breaking down 
     those barriers by peeling away the  layers just like you with an onion  and get to the final aspect of it, how is this going to affect me  as an individual as a staff person,  as a family member and [Indiscernible  - low volume]  it becomes such a stable for so  many years in a small rural area that when we start talking about  transition, everybody is like you  are closing workshop? Well we are  not closing but transitioning our  services to something better and  that is how we tired this might  try to portray that. We approached  our closure of our workshop methodically. We had  a lot of in-house contract work  that we had for many, many years  some upwards of 30 years that we  have had at that location. Way that  we moved away finally from [Indiscernible] simply draw a line in the sand  and go to those vendors and say  as of July 1 we are no longer providing the  service to you and we are fully  integrated in the community, the  individuals are proven they can  do the job task that you have asked  them to do on a piecework rate and  now time for you to step up the  higher individuals directly into  your company. We saw a lot of companies  that we had done work with do that  very thing and then we had some  companies that we had always lent  -- method deadlines for and when it came  time for them to step up and bring  those individuals in, as skilled  labor, they opted a different route  and we are okay with that because  we want the best for the individual  and we know for us and  what our mission and values stand  for that is 100% inclusion in the  community that is customized that  it employment make a individual  has a meaningful day.  

All right. Thank you gentlemen  very much. I will do  another question probably great  for both germy  and plan to get the perspective  on. -- Germy and Dwayne,  to get perspective on.  

Can talk about [Indiscernible  - static]  how is that related to the ongoing  employment first efforts and again germy if you could talk  about that from a state perspective  and Dwayne, if there any partnerships  you can talk about on your organizational  level and that would be great.  

 Correction: Jeremy.  

Sure, I can talk on that briefly  NCF Dwayne, has anything to add.  First thing  I would say is when I talked earlier  about getting the right people at  the table are getting the right  people on the bus, that includes  our workforce system and Department  of Labor and workforce development  of that is one of the things easily  overlooked . We have so many different state  agencies working in different directions  whether my department, DI DDR talk  about vocational rehabilitation,  Department of Labor, you name it,  we are all in some way shape or  form involved in employment initiatives  and one of the dangers there is  that we totally overlook a potential  partnership so I would say first  things first make sure your Department  of Labor is at the table having  this conversation understanding  what resources they have available  and chances are some of the things  are trying to address can be much  more easily addressed if  you have them at the table and obviously  or easier said than done this is  work in progress for us are Department  of Labor is at the table but still  an ongoing conversation about how  we collaborate and what is we can  do together one example of that  is how  we can access and utilize data about  employment rates and industries  and so I think that is a real right  area for collaboration, thinking  about which industries tend to be hiring folks with disabilities  and thinking about 
     is there enough diversity in which  industries are hiring and I think  there also is potentially a lot  of data in there about employment  rates and if there are particular  counties are cities across state  that have higher or lower success  rates than others and want to have  the rich data information you are  actually able to strategize which  counties you want to work more closely  with her which cities want to examine understand  why there been successful so I would  say number one week sure they are  at the table and then number to  look at areas for potential collaboration  especially around data sharing for  individuals working at distances  will hire employees.  

We are excited with  some of the initiatives coming out  and opening the doors for us to  start working with individuals coming  out of school systems at a much  earlier age than we were once able  to do so very excited  about opportunities we have moving  forward on the employment front  on those regards.  

Great, thank you. This is a question I would like  to direct,  first of the  folks at Sodexo and then  germy  and Dwayne,  -- germy and Dwayne,  you can chime  in. The question comes down to how  do if I'm a service provider  how do I go out and gauge businesses and really analyst them in this  notion of hiring  them with disabilities especially  employers as was being talked about employers previously have had a  relationship with the shelter workshop and use some  kind of peace will contract, how  do you go out and engage employers  with the notion of [Indiscernible  - background noise] [Indiscernible]  and let us start with Sodexo and  really from your perspective  how  you as a business and what is the  best way to reach out  to you and start building a partnership  with you folks?  >> I feel growing  in person is great and bringing  information with you  to say here is what  my company is about, here is what  we do. We  have been doing this for however  many years I have a lot of individuals that  meet the criteria for some of the  jobs we have here. [Indiscernible  - background noise] Sit down and  give them an interview and see what  you think. And then you can also  -- I like to say all management is responsible and  open-minded, sometimes that is not  the case and as Dwayne,, he  said  he was the manager of the company and he put somebody  -- you just don't feel comfortable  and they are not on board, would not push the issue with the  company because you would not want  to put that individual in that issue where they are not  supported by management and I think  that is probably the worst thing  that could happen. To not have the  support of their bosses in what  they do, I feel that that opens up a lot of issues.  You don't want -- you want to look for companies  that are on board with the ideas  and it may be hard to change their  minds but if you could bring information  on what the company is about and  individuals that can meet the criteria  for the jobs, and take time and sit down with  that manager, I think it will definitely  go a long ways and like I said it  would be the same [Indiscernible] like a good fit this manager is going to  take care of the individual that  comes here and that is just as  important and  from my perspective as a manager  I make sure these guys are six vessel  and I would not want to hire somebody  who will start and fail. But I  always look for in that area of  management bringing relevant information that backs up your argument for hiring those individuals.  

What they [Indiscernible] anything we do it obviously we  believe as Employment 1st is the first preferred outcome for the  individual because it offers the  most benefits for the individual but  we also do our due diligence in  regards to really carving out [Indiscernible] personal profiles of each individual  that works with us in the organization  to ensure the top placements that  we would -- job placements that  we move forward with will be  fit for the individual and the business  and we do want a win-win situation for the business because the business  is gaining a skilled label for personnel  and gaming piece in mind [Indiscernible] at  the same token we want to make sure  the individuals replaced or placed  in positions and they want to have  a career interest in, and also can  open up the doors for further growth  and development and  it could be within the company or an entity within the feel [Indiscernible] for  competitive employment roll it comes  back to your role as an  employment provider to make sure  you're doing everything you can  possibly can to place the individual  and those [Indiscernible] and not doing so in a manner  that did somebody in the job because that is what you have available  at the current time.  

I would just say ditto  to everything those gentlemen said  and just some of my perspective  into key points in the first one  is in my experience and I used to  be a job developer site before went  into this percent is that businesses  really want to hire put in place  so it is how you make the business  case and approaching the business from that perspective and not doing  this because it is about charity or it is not about feeling good  necessarily but when we are approaching  businesses it is about making that prospective business  case. Number two I would say the  less people know the more they make  up and that is something you probably  heard before and so if people don't  know what it is like  to hire people disabilities are  not actively engaging people and  informing and educating and cultivating  by and then people will have their  own ideas and perceptions and possibly  misperceptions about what it means  to hire inclusively in high with  people desperate people disabilities  I think it is incumbent upon them  to take that challenge seriously and people  are not having to make anything  up for having misperceptions but  rather they have proactively received  information from us. Just agree  with everything that Dwayne,  and Sodexo set.  

 Great and thank you very much.  

Next question I want to direct  to the folks at  ODEP and Amy Gonzalez and her colleagues.  The question is we need more  technical information surrounding what to consider when  transforming services and do you  have any suggested resources? I  was the first we will attach a number  rate resources to this [Indiscernible]  there will be further information  there because  there are great resources but Amy  could you tell us about some our  resources around this?  

Yes, I can. In April 
     ODEP plans to release a provider  transformation manual  that is going  to contain a wealth of resources , the manual is divided  up into modules  and addresses transformation from  a holistic perspective. Our  plan is to share the resource broadly so that it can be  used nationally. So more details  will be forthcoming but please keep  a lookout for that resource.  

 Great, thank you very much. Here  is a question about staff training  and of course there are a lot of  new skills involved when a  provider makes his move from a more  seltzer services into -- shelter services into employment  driven services and starting with  Dwayne,  can you talk about some  specific strategies you implemented to assist and develop  your staff, the skill set among your staff and managers for  this?  

Sure. One of the things that  jumps off the page at me is we had  an opportunity to Tennessee to hear a grant  that enabled us to go to Detroit  Michigan to the first [Indiscernible] workshop to  workplace conference. It was an  opportunity that we utilize to take  two of our most tenured employee 22 and 23 years respectively that all had ever known is workshop  setting and have them go to a training  conference where they were able  to hear from subject matter experts  and others in the field about what was coming and some  of the techniques and how to apply  this. Another aspect that we have  utilized is strictly this year  history of our agency. Our history -- our agency has been around  for hundred 47 years. We started  providing community employment services  back in the late 80s, this is something  that are  community has known for quite some  time. For us coming in 2012 under  the umbrella of St. John's we kind  of had a blueprint already in place in regards to  how her staff should be able to  provide training that would be acceptable  to meet the demands in a fully integrated  setting such as employment community  participation but we have taken  advantage of every opportunity we  possibly can whether it be national  level or internally and we are constantly  looking at growing and honing the skill sets of  our staff to provide the ultimate  services for the individuals that  we have.  

Great,  thank you, Jeremy, to do want to add anything  to that?  

Thank you Corey. If you recall  the slides that they shared about  the framework [Indiscernible - low  volume] key areas with capacity building  and we know it is incredibly important  and Dwayne, he talked about  different  strategies that each of the providers  are doing and we think a lot about  what sort of initial training and  job coaches and job developers have  access to our  department and we have a system  called rely on us and some initial  training they can go through and  we want to encourage as many folks  as possible to take advantage of  training places like APSE an acre  and obtained that  SP accreditation [Indiscernible] such as kind of thinking about what resources  not only are available but how we are promoting them to  people and the only other point  I would make is that we tend to  think of myself included we tend  to think of training as kind of  a very expensive cost prohibitive  thing and if I only had 1 million  bucks I could go to all these fancy  training and true good trainings  are often expensive but a lot of resources and strategies [Indiscernible  - static] does only cost time and energy and shadowing is  successful in reaching across the  aisle and reaching out to other  provider [Indiscernible - static]  and learning from people who are  already doing it successfully so  I think [Indiscernible] a lot of  that grassroots capacity building like I said will only cost  you time and energy which is valuable  but does not require as much actual  money.  

Great, thank you.  >> I have a question from a number  of different participants in the  webinar. Related to how to engage families in this process and  to enlist their support and commitment to  the transformation, I think Duane  I would like to start with you but  Jeremy I would like to hear  your thoughts as well.  

I think it was back to what I  said earlier but honest and open  to medication. You really don't  need to come in when you address  [Indiscernible - low volume] you  need to come in and sit  down at the table and eat talk about  what is going on in the state of  Tennessee and on a national level  and be able to provide any information  and a sortable manner and sort --  try to give families every opportunity  to make a sound choice and what  services they would like to see  their family that my family member  have and at the same token the that  for the individual and we did that through one-on-one conversations  and phone calls and emails and we  try to reach out to our families  and offer [Indiscernible] and we  encourage our families to come and  tour the program itself and to see what their son  and daughter would be doing in a  day to day capacity. Give it a trial  run and test the waters if you will with it  and what we were able to see his  once families had an understanding of what you are trying to implement  for their son or daughter they were  okay with that and they understood  this was a better service for their  son or daughter and you still have  family members that were on the  fence about things and I remember  sitting in an office having a conversation  with the family about they knew  their daughter of 39 years and this just would not work and there's  going to be behaviors and [Indiscernible  - background noise] The young lady  now is very successful in  the community and once you -- what  you have to do as a provider is  fine with interest that individual and what you can do that educate and benefits that individual and  when you do those things and put  forth the effort and really crap the services around that individual  choice and preference, then you  really start to see success come  in and if the individual is happy  with what they are doing then the  family is happy and the family wants the best for their sons and  daughters just like we do as a provider  agency. We have ongoing communications. With our individuals and family  and we plan everything out on  a week, multi-basis and we ensure  those services are being rendered  and exactly what the individual  and families are looking for.  

 Great, Jeremy, anything to add?  

I would just say from this day  prospectively know providers like  Dwayne,  and  others are uniquely and powerfully position to be interacting with  families and individuals on the  sort of topic so anything we can  do as a basis were providers and  endeavor and there are a lot of  different ways to do that and we  have [Indiscernible] one  of the things we will do is we will  always make ourselves available  and I will always make myself available  to attend a  family meeting, Board meeting, any  sort of venue where people -- family and community members are gathering  and if they want any more information  like what I said the less you know  the more makeup and if they are  needing access to information are  needing a sounding board or someone  to listen to their fears and aspirations  and hopes for the future, we will  make ourselves available to support  the provider in that way so I think  it requires partnership between  provider agencies and the state  to make sure it does not become  us versus them versus them situation  but rather we are all on the same  team that may not seem to see eye  to eye [Indiscernible] the more  information you  have access to the better and more  were able to listen to and understand  hopes and fears and be able to bring  things collaboratively about the  future.  

Great and thank you. I will turn  it one more question here, I think I would like to hear from the folks  at Sodexo  and from Dwayne, as  well.  Someone asked they have been successful as  a provider agency in developing  some employment placement, good  employee relationships, but they  are having employers ask that the job coach,  the staff person that works with  the individual in question that they stay on and  our present with the employee at  all times. How do we address that  question and say okay the job coaches  there to provide support but  they should be transitioning out  and ultimately this relationship  should be between employee and employer. And that job coach should be able  to transition out of that relationship.  >> As an employer , you always look for [Indiscernible  - background noise] [Indiscernible  - low volume] job coach they  are the first couple of days but  we really look for them to develop  independently into their role and  they've done that pretty successfully  here with job coaches that are at  St. John's. They do check in  with them couple of times a week but for the most part the individuals  are pretty independent. Once they get down to the job and what is expected and what they  will do you can sort of step back  and let them handle it around  that. A lot of cases, sometimes  it just takes a couple of extra  days of training but in the long  run definitely is worth it because  they are defendable, they show up  all the time, never late. Just look  to please because for so many or for someone who has worked  for Sodexo  over  the years I've seen a bunch of growth  and they are competent and independent and I think having 
     the job coach always there would  be a hindrance to that because they  will ask them my doing this or that  right quick sometimes the best way  to learn is on their own.  

The one thing we do with our  job coaches is weak look to them. That is the primary ticket of what  we try to do and we want to provide  just the right amount of support  for that individual to be successful in his or her job selection and  we will always be there to offer  support when needed to the individual and or to the business but what  we also want to do and what we  have been able to do with Sodexo  is established those natural supports  within the working facility  that  enables individual instead of turning  to a paid support are now able to  turn Tory fellow coworker and get  that extra assistance they need to be  successful and by doing that again  that creates further independence  for that individual and for the  business for that matter.  

Okay, great. It looks like we have just another  couple of minutes I will ask one  more question and I think we will  be pretty quick. With any of the  presenters have a sample strategic  plan to share which moves from a  sheltered workshop to community  employment for all individuals who  support it? I know we are already  sharing your teacher plan that  Jeremy was talking about from the  state perspective but I want to  ask  Dwayne, do you have any resources  like that that folks could refer  to that we could potentially share  ?  

If I had the blueprint to provider  transformation,  that would be a gold mine right  now. Every provider , whether in a rural area or metropolis  area, every provider is going to  have growing pains that are going  to be different from the other providers  in question. The six fundamental  and open -- elements addressed during  my presentation, something  that no matter who you are going  into a transformation process, you  will have to address those components.  You will have to look at things  from a budgetary standpoint. A staffing  capacity standpoint. The buy in standpoint from the  very top of the food chain on down.  There are a rough skeleton  draft of how to go about  provider transformation. But then somebody the keys and  say here it is, that is really unique to each and every provider  that is out there, to the population  of individuals they serve to the  geographical location that they  work out up. I would be more than  happy to assist any provider that  has a question or any self advocate  or whoever in regards to how to  make this work and they could feel  free to reach out to me and I will  offer any assistance that I can.  We have had to learn through trial  and error and we're still learning  and just because you get everything  close down and transform does not  mean you stop growing and learning. We still experience going pains  along the way, 
     we are fairly new to this and again  July 2016 is when we closed the  door so we're still learning as  we go but we have made the biggest  hurdle and have met that guideline  of being 100% out in the community  and I would be happy to offer any  assistance to anybody.  

Great and thank you very much  and I would not be surprised that  people take you up on that. I will  simply close out my piece by saying  might, Jesse Ben, Jeremy  and playing take you for much for  your -- Dwayne, thank you for your  participation  and thank you to  the audience members will be enjoying this is much as we have and I will  end it over to Rebecca to close  this out.  >> 
     Some of the links 
     of the resources that the presenters  talked about, as well as provider  transformation, issue brief on the  next slide, reference to  [Indiscernible - background noise] Technical assistance briefs and  there is a live link that you will  be able to get them at and we wanted  to highlight that we have archived  that webinar from last week on the role of interagency coordination  and loss were transition  and we have an upcoming webinar  in April on the  able app which is  a wonderful new resource, it is  a tool to encourage people [Indiscernible  - background noise] Work and to gain financial stability so there  is a link there so that you can  [Indiscernible - background noise]  Sign up and register for it, that slide gives you all the ways  that you can connect to the LEAD Center and if anybody  from  Sodexo would like to say anything  in the final minutes we have left  ?  >> No, maybe not.  

Okay. In that case I  just want to thank everyone for  participating and [Indiscernible  - multiple speakers] 

Hello, I'm sorry we were having technical difficulties and this  is Amy Gonzalez and we want to thank  all the panelists and everyone for  participating in the webinar today.  We appreciate the questions and  rich dialogue and we hope presence on  the webinar take what they learn  and apply it in the fields of thank  you to everyone and thank you to  be LEAD Center and have a wonderful  afternoon.  

 Thank you.  >> [event concluded]