How to Build an Integrated Work
Opportunity by Really, Really Trying
Step 1 – Embrace the idea that individuals
need to move out of segregated settings
 Step 2 – Realize they are going to need
supports above and beyond the SEMP
model
 Step 3- Look for opportunities
 Step 4 – Repeat Steps 1-3 until something
sticks – or change the order
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Here’s our story…….
Looked for business performing
similar work to what we were
completing in the work center
 Knock on doors (or truthfully – walk
right through them if they aren’t
locked)
 Once you find the opportunity – lead
with your strongest team

We Knocked – The Door Opened
A local distribution center was utilizing a
large number of temporary employees
from various staffing agencies to make
boxes and fill displays with organic milk
cartons
 In December of 2012 a small crew of 8 -10
individuals from our work center and 4
staff took on a 3 day project
*spoiler alert – we have been working there
ever since

Light Bulb Moment!
Individuals in our work center have been
training for this type of work for years, the
only thing that was different was the
address
 Individuals from Cantalician could keep up
with the “temps” working alongside them
 Individuals were much more motivated to
succeed than their counterparts

Startup Lessons Learned
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Assign staff that can see the possibility and are not personally afraid of
the opportunity to move into the community
Assign more staff than you think you need and then assign 2 or 3 more
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Respond to all panicked phone calls by bringing the cavalry to the
project
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know they will eventually fade
This lessened any apprehension the distribution center had regarding
working with individuals with disabilities and kept staff from quitting
Don’t forget about the people left back at the ranch

They will feel the shift in resources

Acknowledge that life is different

BRING DOUGHNUTS
You’re Doing a Fantastic Job!
(oh great – now what!)
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Quickly realized that the small project was
turning into a long term gig and the distribution
center wanted us to bring more people to the job
We had about 12-13 individuals working and the
as the “new opportunity” became a routine job –
the number of staff supports needed at the site
dropped
Individuals were now scheduled for 2-3 days per
week and we needed to enroll them in SEMP
Begin Enrolling People in SEMP
(easy right? – think again)
Enclave
Wow – You Guys are Amazing
(Great – We are running out of people!)
The distribution center is really happy
with us and they begin scheduling fewer
and fewer temps. We now have about 20
people employed
 Opportunities for individuals goes up
 Integration goes down
 We need to look for partners

We contact other work center programs
looking for individuals who are
interested in working
 This doesn’t go as well as you’d think

Integration, Integration, Integration
The temporary agency is now out of the
picture, and all we really accomplished was
moving the location of the work center
 Once again we went back to the drawing
board and looked for viable partners
 We realized we needed to find a partner
that was also looking for work for (typical)
individuals

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We partnered with Catholic Charities refugee
resettlement program and hired 20 production
workers
Although this group is anything but “typical” the
experience for all involved has been amazing
Lessons Learned While Growing
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Keep your administrative team abreast of what
you are doing even if you know they are going
to scream
Get buy in from your CEO, Board of Directors,
HR and Finance Department
Convince them this is paving the way to
services of the future
Bake Cookies
Repeat as often as necessary until everyone
agrees with you or at least stops saying NO
Isn’t this great?
(maybe not for everyone)

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Opportunities for individuals with disabilities =
Number of individuals with new cell phones =
Number of people gaining valuable work
experience =
Number of individuals in SEMP =
HR resources and frustration =
Fiscal Department resources and frustration =
Number of grey hairs =
It just keeps growing….
(Can too much of a good thing be a bad thing?)
We now have over 100 people employed,
working in 3 locations on 3 different shifts
 We have to start worrying about the
Affordable Health Care Act
 We have to start considering benefit
packages
 We have to worry that our pricing will
never cover these additional costs
 We have some explaining to do……

You need a Business Plan
(But we have BA’s in psychology – now what?)

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Our CEO, CFO, HR Director and Board of Directors
insist we develop a business plan
We highly recommend you put yourselves
through this (painful) process
We used the template on the Small Business
Associations Website (with some modifications)
We found a mentor in the staffing business who
wasn’t our competition
We have to consider spinning this off to be a
separate company
The question you are just dying to ask
(But we just keep talking)

What did we do about transportation?
 Scheduled everyone that could ride the Metro (Para
Transit) to the bus accessible location
 Enlisted the help of our local ETP coordinator and
secured funding for a portion of the cost for a van service
for the location that is inaccessible by Metro
 Hired a part time driver and bought a 15 passenger van
 Charged the individuals a $10 a day co-pay for their
share of the cost (this doesn’t mean they actually pay it!)
 Stopped sending transportation bills to people’s homes
and moved to a pay per day system
Let’s talk about the staffing you need
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Started with 2 production supervisors, a
production foreman and the Coordinator of
Sales and Production
Our knowledge of work flow and efficiencies
became very valuable to our customer
Juggled staff through the work locations like
Let’s talk about the staffing you need
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Brought in job coaches to do training and provide
follow along
Moved away from job coaches to do training and
provide follow along
Moved to full time vocational trainers at the job site
providing training, working on the line and fighting
fires
Moved away from production supervisors on site and
moved to assistant supervisors for each shift at each
location. Assistant supervisor positions are now
100% funded by the customer (this took 1 year)
Let’s talk about staffing you didn’t know
you needed
FULL TIME JUGGLER
Experience with OPWDD –SEMP, ESEMP and ETP services, ACCESVR and manufacturing practices. Able to deal with constant changes
to the daily schedule, refusals to work, irate residential managers
and constantly changing cell phone numbers. Ability to speak
Burmese, Nepalese or any African or Far Eastern language a plus.
Let’s talk about staffing you didn’t know you
needed
Full time Production Manager
Experience with a high paced distribution/manufacturing
environment. Ability to coordinate a work crew of 25 with
varying degrees of skills and English language proficiency while
maintaining a safe work environment and keeping a sometimes
crabby customer very happy. Ability to speak Burmese, Nepalese
or any African or Far Eastern language a plus.
Lessons learned about the individuals we serve
“These things must be done delicately”
We were most successful when individuals
worked 2 to 3 days per week
 All were given the option of what they
wanted to do on their days off
 Most chose to return to continue receiving
prevocational or day habilitation services
 Having staff that the individual is familiar
with go with them makes all the difference

For example…
 Q:
“Do you want to work at (insert name of
community work location here)?”
 A: “No!”
 Q: “Do you want to go and work with Cindy
today?”
 A: “Yes!”
 Fast
forward 3 months later while visiting a
work site… “Tell Cindy I said hello!”
Lessons learned about the care providers of
individuals we serve
(These things must be done even more delicately)

Families and/or Care Providers were very cooperative
at first, however, attitudes changed significantly when:
 transportation
bills arrived in the mail
 Social Security checks decreased
 Income taxes needed to be filed
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Provide as much information and examples on how
income will effect benefits and earnings
Show them the math
Keep your fingers crossed
More lessons learned
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Our agency as the employer works. Having a buffer
between the customer and the individuals we serve
= long term retention.
Having staff cross trained and utilizing work center
staff to cover at the work site
Having OPWDD/ETP work with us to cover a
portion of the transportation expense and additional
staffing costs
Bringing a variety of skill levels works
 Integration
not just for the sake of integration but to
meet the needs of the customer
Contact Information
Consulting provided for a small fee
Just kidding!
It’s really expensive.
Darren Lisicki, Coordinator of Sales and Production
[email protected]
716-901-8956
Anne Spisiak, Director of Community Services
[email protected]
716-901-8906