It was unusual for an independent living center to take on the functions of an employment organization. CEEP demonstrated a number of alternative strategies for developing employment options for people with disabilities. We hope that other organizations will use the lessons learned from the CEEP model to develop new programs to enhance opportunities for people with disabilities. In summary, we present a number of recommendations that emerge from this evaluation and that might be helpful for other organizations that are considering implementation of the CEEP model of choice.
1. Remember that the core of the model is to foster consumer choice and control. As one counselor put it, “We are not handing out fish, but rather teaching people how to fish.”
2. Early on, the project must develop objective and measurable criteria for success. These might be based on the individual plan, so that each consumer has a particular set of outcomes that constitute success. But the outcomes must be specified in advance, and be objective and measurable. This will ensure that the project can demonstrate to others that it accomplished what it set out to accomplish.
3. The need for integration of the project within the overall organization is an important "lesson learned" from the CEEP experience. This report discusses some of the factors that seemed to lead to isolation of the project from the rest of organization.
4. All project staff agreed that it is vital to hire bilingual-bicultural staff and set up outreach networks early in the project.
5. Group orientation was a strong feature of the project. Future projects might carry the model of peer support even further. A number of people we interviewed mentioned the idea of peer mentors or support groups, in which consumers who had been successful could share their experience, support and guidance with others.
6. Empowerment workshops were an integral part of the CEEP from its inception, and proved to be a powerful feature for many participants. On the basis of the CEEP experience, paid professional presenters rather than volunteers are recommended to ensure the quality of the empowerment training provided to participants. Staff interviewed potential presenters to make sure they were sensitive to disability-related issues, had a firm knowledge of the content area, and had conducted similar workshops in the course of their professional careers.
7. The devendorized, open system was seen as a promising practice that other organizations could readily adopt.
8. Even in a system where the consumer has the choice of going to anyone to purchase goods or services, there may be advantages to cultivating some special project relationships with people who have particular skills or goods to offer participants. Sometimes consumers wanted more guidance. The project could develop a “recommended resources” list, including reviews or ratings by other participants. It would be important that participants still have a choice about whether or not to use those services.
9. The experience of CEEP clearly indicates that there must be clear guidelines and expectations for consumers seeking self-employment. Even participants who originally complained about having to do a business plans generally found the process to be useful in clarifying and setting realistic goals for their small businesses.
10. Project staff, directors, and consumers saw the need for developing business and entrepreneurial expertise early in the project. This might include initial benefits counseling; formal training for counselors in business plans and business analysis skills; a strong network of business people; and early development of resources for long-term capital, lines of credit, and other financial resources.
11. There were relatively high costs associated with people who began a plan and received some services but did not complete their plans. This suggests that programs initiating a choice project modeled after CEEP should devote concerted attention to pre-employment issues, so that consumers who begin plans are ready to follow through with their plans. This would include IL skills training, a particular strength of centers for independent living.
12. An organization that undertakes a project modeled after CEEP must think very carefully about money issues before the project is set up. Inherent tensions between the desire to provide consumers with resources and the need for fiscal accountability will inevitably exist and can disrupt the organization unless the project is carefully designed and carried out. Early on, it is important to make these role tensions explicit, to recognize that the project must serve both gatekeeper and advocate/service provider functions, and to forge compromises between these roles. Accounting staff must be integrally involved in the planning and implementation of the project. It may also be important to separate the roles so that counselors are not making decisions about how much money to disburse to consumers while at the same time providing advocacy and job counseling services.
13. The complicated system of keeping track of payments to consumers created tensions and strains within the organization. On the basis of interviews with accounting and other staff, we recommend that future projects use “QuickBooks” or a comparable software with payroll features that the accounting staff already uses.