Connie

 Zienkewicz,  Executive  Director,  Families  Together,  Inc.    

What  is  FEAT?  
 Family  Employment  Awareness  Training  

Purpose?  
  To  increase  expectations  regarding  employment  
  To  teach  how  to  access  Kansas  resources  
  To  develop  self-­‐advocacy  and  problem-­‐solving  
skills  
  To  build  capacity  through  “train-­‐the-­‐trainer”  model  

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Working  with  Partners  
  Judith  Gross,  PhD  
  Beach  Center  on  Disability  
  University  of  Kansas  

  Connie  Zienkewicz,  Executive  Director  

  Families  Together,  Inc.  
  KS  Parent  Training    and  Information  Center  

  Mary  Ellen  Wright,  Program  Director  

  Medicaid  Infrastructure  Grant  
  Kansas  Health  Policy  Authority  

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State  of  Employment  of  
Individuals  with  DisabiliAes  

 PR  Campaigns  

 Supported  Employment  Realities  

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Birth  of  FEAT  2010    
 Kansas  Health  Policy  Authority  presented  
idea  to  the  Beach  Center  on  Disability  

 Brainstorming  the  curriculum  and  the  

model  

 Scheduling  the  trainings  

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Curriculum  Development  
 Families  critical  to  student  success    and  
perceptions  

 Creating    (or  recreating)  

the  dream  of  employment  

 Gathering  Kansas  stories    

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Movies  

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Curriculum  Development  
 Supports  available  to  students  and  adults  
 Resources  available  
  National  

  Kansas  specific  

 Creating  activities  for  the  training  

 Employment  plan  development  and  
support  for  follow-­‐up  from  PTI  
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What  does  it  look  like?  
Employment  tours  
or  
Employment  reception  
or  
Employment  display  

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Networking  with  Local  Resources  
 Community  business  and  employment  
organizations  

 Disability  related          
 services  

 Healthcare  related        
 services  

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Resources  for  ParAcipants  
 Handouts  of  the  PowerPoint  

 Resource  CDs  for  each  family  

 Contact  information  for  support  after  the  

training  

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Who  Came?  
Role(s)  of  Participants   Percentage  
Parent   52  
Other  Relative   3  
Educational  Advocate   6  
Special  Educator   4  
Other  Educator   3  
Service  Provider   14  
Adult  with  a  Disability   8  
Student  with  a  Disability   7  
Other   3  

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Who  Came?  
Ethnicity  of  Participants   Percentage  
African-­‐American   7  
Native  American   2  
Asian   3  
Hispanic   7  
Caucasian   72  
Other   1  
No  Response   8  

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Who  Came?  

Age  of  Child  with  Disability   Percentage  

Age  <  14  years   7  
14-­‐18  years   48  
19-­‐21  years   25  
22-­‐25  years   8  
26+  years   12  

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 ParAcipant  Knowledge  of    
TransiAon  and  Employment  
70  
Percentage  of  Participants  

60  
50  
40  
30   PRE-­‐Training  
20   POST-­‐Training  

10  
0  
Excellent   Good   Fair   Poor  
Perception  of  Transition  and  Employment  Knowledge  

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What  did  they  think?    
PRE-­‐Training  PercepAons  

Q:  What  do  you  feel  are  the  employment  options  

for  individuals  with  a  disability?  

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What  did  they  think?    
POST-­‐Training  PercepAons  

Q:  What  do  you  feel  are  the  employment  options  for  

individuals  with  a  disability?  

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What  did  they  think?    
POST-­‐Training  PercepAons  
Q:  How  will  information  gained  impact  your  son,  daughter,  
or  other  individuals  with  whom  you  work?  

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What  did  they  think?  
Best  Aspects  of  the  Training  

  Stories/experiences/perspectives  
  Inspiration/hope/ideas  
  Information  
  General  quantity  and  quality    
  Specific  to  programs  and  contacts  

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FEAT  Feedback  Loop  
  I  still  need  to  work  on  this  –  not  sure  what  it  will  look  
like  just  yet.  

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Lessons  Learned    
 Registrants  not  attending  

 Reservation  with  a  $20  check  

 More  time  for  presentations  and  activities  

 Receptions  instead  of  tours  

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Where  do  we  go  from  here?  
 Continued  funding  for  2011  
 Format  changes  considered  
  “About  Me”  segment  for  young  adults  present      

  Distance  learning  options  

  1-­‐day  vs  2-­‐day  format  

  Weekend  vs  weekday  

  Receptions?  Breakout  sessions?  Rotations?  

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Connie  Zienkewicz,  connie@familiestogetherinc.org  

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