Project Description:
. Need
2. Overall goals and objectives
3. Unusual features
4. Expected benefits
The purpose of the Putting Faith to Work project is to build capacity and support communities of faith in Texas to serve their members who have physical and/or developmental disabilities who are seeking employment and career advancement. Our responsibility at the Texas Center for Disability Studies at The University of Texas at Austin is to provide support, coaching, and encouragement to congregation teams as we partner on this innovative effort.
NEED: While communities of faith are acknowledged for the spiritual, emotional, and practical supports (e.g., child care, social activities) they provide, the capacity of congregations to reach deeply throughout their local communities to connect individuals with disabilities to employment and career opportunities remains largely unexplored.
In January 2014, a collaboration of four University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) were awarded a Signature Employment Grant from the Kessler Foundation focused on building the capacity of faith communities to support the employment of individuals with disabilities in their community. In addition to Texas, partners include Kentucky, Minnesota, and Tennessee. This project builds upon a Kessler Foundation-funded pilot project based in Minnesota.
OVERALL GOALS & OBJECTIVES: The focus of Putting Faith to Work is on equipping faith communities to address the employment needs of some of their members by connecting people with disabilities to quality employment opportunities through the natural networks represented by congregational members, and to provide (or make linkages to) other individualized supports. By adapting proven strategies to congregations, this project will expand the reach of what faith communities do so well: addressing the gifts and needs of their members, maintaining strong connections to local communities, and addressing pressing community needs.
Each UCEDD is working with congregations reflecting a breadth of faith traditions to support individuals with physical and/or developmental disabilities to secure and maintain employment in the community. Our fundamental strategies are to (1) use faith communities current knowledge of their members histories, gifts, and needs while developing congregational teams to explore these dimensions in greater depth; (2) use connections among and through congregation members and their knowledge of employment opportunities to match the members abilities, skills, and preferences with those opportunities and/or develop new ones; and (3) develop resources and products other can use to begin and sustain similar initiatives. It is not about developing a faith based employment program, but instead to work directly with congregations to use their support and networking power to help people with disabilities get jobs.
Project goals include:
Goal 1: Recruit and train congregations in each of the four states to assist approximately 13 individuals per state to find employment
We will recruit diverse faith communities/networks to address the employment needs of their members with disabilities.
We will use training and support approaches that draw upon the unique capacity of each UCEDD-congregation partnership.
We will use a "community of practice" approach to establish a consortium of faith communities in each state to support and learn from one another.
Goal 2: Support congregations--working alone or with disability organizations or service providersto implement the model to address local employment needs
We will work with congregations in two primary ways: (1) helping them to develop a support team around an individual to make and sustain employment connections, and (2) helping congregations with support groups and/or initiatives related to employment to meaningfully include people with disabilities.
Goal 3: Evaluate results, refine strategies, and disseminate resources and results
We will conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the project processes and outcomes to refine and finalize our faith-based employment model.
We will develop interfaith employment resources for use by congregations, individuals, families, and others that can be customized to particular traditions.
We will disseminate information, products, stories, and results through national faith-based, disability, and employment networks.
The overarching goal of the project is to develop an accessible, step-by-step manual that details key elements of the approach and that could be drawn upon by any of the more than 335,000 congregations nationwide.
Expectations of Faith Communities
For a faith community to participate in this project, with support from the UT Austin UCEDD, we ask each congregation to commit to the following:
1. Assist at least 2 community members with physical disabilities (and other disabilities) to find, maintain, and/or advance in their employment and careers over the next year
2. Identify ministry team goals and steps in reaching those goals.
3. With the identified person(s) with a disability, use person-centered planning approaches to identify personal employment goals and steps to achieve those goals.
4. Access support, resources, training, and coaching from UT Austin UCEDD over the next year.
5. Connect and share with other congregations involved in the Putting Faith to Work project.
6. Communicate additional needs to us as we partner together in this area.
7. Participate in project evaluation activities (e.g., documenting steps taken to support people with disabilities, providing feedback on the project and outcomes, interviews, surveys).
UNUSUAL FEATURES/BENEFITS: Build within an existing community, that does not often focus on disability as a characteristic, supports, understanding and strength to facilitate employment for those with disabilities.
Core Function(s):
Performing Research or Evaluation, Developing & Disseminating Information, Continuing Education/Community Training, Other Direct/Model Services, Demonstration Services
