Resource 4: Interagency Collaboration to Support Students with Employment: Implementation Support

This is a checklist of steps that supervisors can take to teach this Practice to their VR counselors*. The steps follow adult learning principles and are designed to support counselors in learning about and implementing this new practice.

  1. First, determine the learning goals related to this practice: What do you want VR counselors to know or know how to do with regards to this Practice?
  2. Adult learners need to 1) understand the content; 2) figure out how its relevant, useful, and feasible to apply; 3) identify the skills they will need to use; and 4) practice implementing it, ideally in their setting. Review the Practice with these questions:
    1. Knowledge: What is the best practice?
      Review the Case Example for Interagency Collaboration, or the Module “[title of student module here]”
    2. Attitudes: How possible is it to implement in our program? How will it help our clients? Review these requirements and discuss how feasible it is to implement.

      Setting requirements

      • none

      Materials/Skills/Preparation

      • Requires collaboration with school district personnel
      • Requires collaboration with specific teachers serving student clients
      • Establish shared goals and strategies to achieve them through collaboration with school personnel

      Barriers to implementation

      • Do you have access to the right school administrators?
      • Requires collaboration with specific teachers serving student clients
      • Do you have access to the right teachers?
      • Requires collaboration with specific teachers serving student clients
      • Do administrators/teachers see collaboration with VR settings as within their job responsibilities?

    Opportunities for implementation

    • Do you have already-scheduled meetings with school staff you could use?
    • Requires collaboration with specific teachers serving student clients
    • Do you have experience with/protocols for collaborative planning with agencies other than schools?
  3. Skills: What do will the counselors need to do?
    • Contact appropriate school staff and arrange to collaborate.
    • Practice articulating the goals of the collaboration, and the outcomes to be achieved through collaborating.
  4. Practice: How would we do it here?
    • What do the counselors need to do next?
    • What does the supervisor need to do to provide support?

*counselor can also mean vendor, as some sites may contract out for the services described

 

Next: Continue to Resource 5.