Family Perspectives of the Vocational Rehabilitation Needs of People with

Disabilities Mark Tucker Michael Shoemaker San Diego State University Utah State Office of Rehabilitation

Family Definitions

• Only the family, society's smallest unit, can change and yet maintain enough continuity to rear children who will not be "stranger ... s in a strange land," who will be rooted firmly enough to grow and adapt. Salvador Minuchin

• My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard. Mother would come out and say, 'You're tearing up the grass'; 'We're not raising grass,' Dad would reply. 'We're raising boys.‘ Harmon Killebrew

Family Functions

• To grow in love and to develop harmony in relationships

• For marriages to find fulfillment• To provide a setting where talents and skills can be

developed• To rear children• To provide for some of the physical, mental, social,

emotional and spiritual needs of family members• To protect and not to harm

The Family as a System• The family is a unit• Each family member plays a crucial if not unique role• When one person changes in the family the whole

family can not prevent being impacted as well • Homeostatic forces within families work towards

dampening the effects of change and move toward stability

• Change happens more quickly, thoroughly and is maintained better when more than the individual makes changes

Families in a Broad Context

Urie Broffenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory

• A theory of individual development• We both act and are acted upon.• Four systems: microsystem, mesosystem,

exosystem, macrosystem• A lens to understand and impact families

Families From Various Cultures

• Have different sets of rules for behavior• Most individuals can not articulate their culture’s rules

of behavior, but navigate them quite well• There are some generalizations if not stereotypes• Native Americans families value children and include

them in work and social events.• Many Hispanic children have godparents or

companion parents that provide advice, discipline and watch over the development of children.

Family Interactions with VR and Supported Employment

• Making room for families: general state guidelines, 100 square feet

• Attitude is big: hindrance or valuable resource• Families encourage individuals to apply for and follow

through with vocational rehabilitation• Families are a source for transportation, housing,

income and support to maintain employment• What are family members seeing that the individual is

not seeing or acknowledging?

The Rehabilitation Act• Family roles:

– Provide information pertinent to eligibility– Provide information about the vocational

rehabilitation needs of an individual– Serving as an applicant’s or client’s representative

• Services to family members:– Services may be provided to family members

when necessary to the vocational rehabilitation of the individual

Comprehensive Statewide Needs Assessment

• Purpose– Identify needs of individuals with disabilities– Informs development of State Plan– Required under the Rehabilitation Act– Conducted at least once every three years– Focal points:

• Most significant disabilities, racial/ethnic minorities, workforce investment system, community rehabilitation programs

Comprehensive Statewide Needs Assessment

• Processes– Methods vary among agencies– Extant data

• National, state, and local population statistics and estimates, VR agency data,

– Direct contact with stakeholders• Surveys, interviews, focus groups, public

forums– Typical stakeholder groups: individuals with

disabilities, VR staff, partner agencies, employers

Methods

• Document analysis/content analysis• Obtained 25 CSNA reports• Time frame: 2007 - 2013• Identification of family-related needs in reports

– Primary themes– Secondary themes

Findings

Roles Played by Families

• Primary Themes:– Financial support– Encouragement– Transportation

• Secondary Themes:– Bridging gaps in services– Networking

Family-Related Needs

• Primary Themes:– Lack of family support as a barrier– Family issues as barriers– Awareness of services– Child care– Systematic efforts to involve families

Family-Related Needs

• Secondary Themes:– Involvement in IPE– Understanding rights– Counselor-client-family partnership– Low family expectations for the individual– After-school programming for transition youth– Faster access to services for youth– Respite

Family-Related Needs

• Racial/Ethnic Minority Families:– Higher incidence of disability (African American,

Hispanic/Latino, Native American)– Underserved by VR (Hispanic/Latino, Asian,

migrant families)– Cultural barriers– Language barriers– Difficulties remaining engaged in VR process– Discrepancies in outcomes (expenditures,

earnings)

Strategies to Work with Families from CSNAs

• Engaging the family in understanding the individual’s capacities and interests

• Helping families to understand rights• Enhancing family awareness of available services• Engaging family capacity to provide emotional support and

to network on behalf of the individual• Assessing family expectations concerning the individual• Designing intentional process for involving family in

vocational rehabilitation• Intentionally soliciting information from families as part of

the needs assessment process

Additional Strategies

• Make families feel welcome• Be an active listener; genuinely consider their ideas • Communicate regularly and clearly• If the client is fine with it include the family in decision

making conversations and ask family members to commit to help the client to be successful

• Build trust by following through on promises

Exercise

1) What ways have you found to engage families and improve their participation?

2) What have you found that does not work well?3) What are you already doing that you might do more

of? 4) What have you not tried yet that you think might help

to increase family participation?5) If you are a family member of a person with a

disability, what has been your experience working with employment service professionals?

Summit Group/RPEN

• The Summit Group http://vocational-rehab.com/• The 6th Annual Summit on Vocational Rehabilitation Program Evaluation, Sept 16,17, Providence, RI www.vrsummit.org

• The Rehabilitation Program Evaluation Network http://vocational-rehab.com/rpen/what-is-rpen/

Contact

Michael Shoemaker, M.A., CRCUtah State Office of Rehabilitation(801) 538-7746mtshoemaker@utah.gov

Mark Tucker, Ph.D., CRCInterwork Institute/SDSU(619) 594-3498mtucker@interwork.sdsu.edu