Program Structure
Buckner Employment Service & Training (BEST) is a service agency. BEST makes available employment-supports for people with disabilities. Most of those currently supported by BEST are people with developmental disabilities who are referred by the Butler and Hamilton County Board of Developmental Disabilities (BEST is a contract-agency of the Butler and Hamilton County Board of DD) or by Counselors working at Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities (OOD). BEST regards those counties (Butler, Clermont, Hamilton, Warren) as its service region.
How People Find BEST
Most people who come to the attention of BEST are referred by Support Coordinators from the Butler and Hamilton County Board of DD or by Rehabilitation Counselors affiliated with Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities (OOD), or by OOD-funded personnel working on school-to-work transition through local public schools (“Bridges” counselors). Some people who have heard about BEST from friends or family essentially self-refer, although formal referrals always come from the sources mentioned above.
When BEST receives a referral, the owner, Carol Buckner, meets with the person referred and the person’s family and service-team (including the DD Support Coordinator or OOD Counselor as appropriate). The owner decides whether BEST can make available to the person referred the kind of response that the person wants and that is called for by the person’s situation.
How BEST Plans Supports for Each Employment Seeker
BEST uses person-centered planning in order to begin to develop employment plans with people.
Whenever possible, BEST arranges for the person beginning employment planning to participate in a PATH (©Inclusion Press) planning session, with the person’s family and closest allies. PATH is an interactive planning method that begins with a vision or image of the best possible future for the person, moves through steps to delineate goals that will move the person toward the vision and then works “backward” to arrive at action steps that the person and others can take right away to bring the vision to reality.
BEST sometimes uses the “Discovering Personal Genius” (©Griffin-Hammis Associates) approach to person-centered employment planning with individuals who seek employment support through BEST. The process of interviews with the employment seeker and family or allies, time spent in community places, and informational conversation with business owner’s yields information captured in a “Discovery Staging Record.” That record directly supports BEST’s work plan for employment assistance.
Additionally, the owner of BEST meets regularly with each person’s Individual Support Team to contribute to overall team planning for the person and to make sure that BEST’s actions are coordinated with the work of other agencies or individuals who may also support the person.
Accommodating to Individual Needs
BEST learns about each person’s (potential) need for accommodation in the work world by means of:
- Meeting personally with potential employment-seeker as part of the referral process.
- Reviewing referral information provided to BEST as part of the referral process.
- Conversing with other members of the person’s Individual Support Team (i.e., DD Board or OOD) together with the “Individual Service Plan” prepared by the Team.
- “Discovering Personal Genius”—conducting interviews with person, family, friends, and other service providers.
- Providing Interpreters for hearing-impaired employment-seekers.
- Providing Spanish-speaking Job Coaches.
BEST is flexible. BEST provides the supports agreed to in an employment-seeker’s Individual Plan, respecting the budgets established by referral/funding agencies. Hours and days of service are flexible, according to the needs of the individuals who are supported. BEST personnel provide all BEST supports.