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Long-Term Supports Require Vital Partnerships
The Power of Community Collaboration
As a former state vocational rehabilitation (VR) agency director, I knew that much of our success depended on key community partners. Community rehabilitation programs (CRPs) played essential roles in helping individuals with the most significant disabilities achieve competitive integrated employment. These organizations cultivated relationships with employers and provided job development, placement, coaching, supported employment, and long-term supports to ensure individuals could retain employment well into the future. In many ways, they were the boots on the ground helping the agency fulfill its mission of securing competitive integrated employment for those with the greatest needs.
Legislative Foundations of Supported Employment
Supported employment was first written into law through the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1986 (Public Law 99-506). The Act defined supported employment as “competitive work in integrated work settings for individuals with severe handicaps who need intensive, ongoing, post-employment support services to perform such work.” Each subsequent reauthorization of the Rehabilitation Act has retained this principle.
Later, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014 (WIOA) reaffirmed and refined this commitment. WIOA defines supported employment as “competitive integrated employment, including customized employment, or employment in an integrated setting in which individuals are working on a short-term basis toward competitive integrated employment… who, because of the nature and severity of their disability, need intensive supported employment services and extended services after the transition to competitive integrated employment in order to perform this work.”
These statutory definitions underscore the enduring belief that with the right supports, people with the most significant disabilities can and do succeed in competitive work.
The Role of Long-Term Supports
The success of supported employment within VR programs hinges on two critical components:
- Effective partnerships with CRPs that provide supported employment services, and
- Reliable funding for long-term supports, also known as extended services.
Long-term supports are typically funded through Medicaid waivers, state developmental disability (DD) agencies, mental health or behavioral health (MH/BH) systems, CRPs, or family contributions. Before a consumer even receives an Individualized Plan for Employment (IPE) through VR, the source of these extended services must be identified. The plan cannot move forward without assurance that long-term supports will be available once VR funding concludes.
The Role of APSE
A national leader in this work is the Association of People Supporting Employment First (APSE). APSE offers national training, conferences, and state chapters that bring together VR agencies, Medicaid waiver agencies, DD and MH/BH agencies, CRPs, consumers, and families. Their initiatives help shape policy, promote best practices, and model effective systems for both supported employment and long-term supports. They serve as a hub for collaboration and innovation — an indispensable partner in sustaining the employment success of people with disabilities.
Building Layered Partnerships
For supported employment to thrive, the leadership of every state VR agency must cultivate meaningful partnerships across all potential sources of extended services. Ideally, these partnerships are layered throughout the organization —
- Director to director,
- Regional manager to regional manager,
- VR Counselor to case manager or job coach.
These interlocking relationships form the backbone of successful supported employment systems. VR agencies must also sustain strong partnerships with CRPs and employers statewide. Together, they build the infrastructure of opportunity.
What Long-Term Supports Look Like
Long-term supports (or extended services) continue after the VR case closes. Generally, VR can only fund supported employment for up to 24 months, though exceptions exist. After that, extended services ensure continued success through follow-up and stability supports. These may include periodic job coaching, transportation assistance, help with benefits management, follow-up with employers, crisis intervention, or retraining.
Every IPE must include a plan for extended services before VR services begin. Yet, these supports must come from non-VR sources, underscoring the importance of interagency collaboration. VR is the start-up phase — the foundation. But true success requires a sustainable structure beyond VR’s involvement.
Leadership and Local Connection
In my years as a director, our greatest successes grew from strong community relationships. I was fortunate to maintain open communication with the state developmental disabilities and mental health directors, family advocacy groups, and CRPs. We held regular meetings and public forums to build shared purpose and accountability.
Equally important were the relationships my staff developed — program managers, supervisors, and local counselors who nurtured trust with their community counterparts. Their collaboration created exceptional opportunities for the people we served. Their passion and persistence formed the foundation of success. I was fortunate to work with professionals who understood that partnerships, not programs alone, sustain employment pathways over a lifetime.
Policy Matters — But People Make It Work
Federal legislation such as the Rehabilitation Act and WIOA provides the framework for supported employment, but people bring it to life. Policies alone cannot build relationships, solve local funding challenges, or ensure day-to-day communication between VR and its partners.
The success of individuals with the most significant disabilities depends on these human connections — between agencies, counselors, case managers, job coaches, employers, and families. Each successful employment outcome reinforces the public value of the VR system itself. CRPs, supported by Medicaid waivers, state DD and MH/BH agencies, and family networks, demonstrate what coordinated effort can achieve.
Sustaining the Mission
Individuals with the most significant disabilities often cannot be served effectively by other workforce systems because those systems lack the long-term resources needed for sustained success. VR partnerships with other state agencies and CRPs provide that missing bridge — creating long-term employment opportunities in competitive integrated settings. The working partnership between the VR counselor and the CRP job coach or case manager is where this promise becomes real.
As we move deeper into the 21st century, the strength of these partnerships will determine the future of supported employment. State VR leaders must continue to model collaboration with Medicaid, DD, and MH/BH agencies to ensure extended supports remain stable and person-centered. Locally, it will be the daily work between VR counselors and CRPs that turns policy into possibility.
Sustained, meaningful employment for individuals with the most significant disabilities is not an event — it is a shared commitment. And that commitment endures only through strong, intentional partnerships.
References
Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1986, Pub. L. No. 99-506.
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014, Pub. L. No. 113-128.
This blog was edited with the assistance of ChatGPT
