Discovering the Choice System: Empowering Employment for People with Severe Disabilities
This document dives into the transformative “Choice System,” a framework designed to empower individuals with severe disabilities to take ownership of their journey into meaningful employment. It explores how mutual responsibility between participants, programs, and administrators creates a dynamic system that supports personal decision-making, resource mobilization, risk-taking, and negotiation.
At its core, the Choice System emphasizes the importance of participants actively shaping their work lives—making informed decisions, building networks, and managing resources. Programs play a pivotal role by offering flexible supports like planning tools, accessible advice, and individualized budgets tailored to each person’s needs. Meanwhile, administrators focus on developing the capacity to sustain these efforts, ensuring responsive service providers, reducing employment disincentives, and blending funding sources.
The document highlights the interconnectedness of these three levels—Person, Program, and Administration—and stresses the need for alignment to maximize impact. Misalignment can limit opportunities, while strong collaboration fosters ownership, enabling participants to discover fulfilling jobs and the accommodations necessary for success.
Readers will gain insights into the practical steps required to implement Choice, from creating effective facilitators to promoting individual control of budgets. The taxonomy presented is based on real-world lessons from Choice projects funded by the US Rehabilitation Services Administration, offering a proven roadmap for expanding employment access.
Whether you’re a policymaker, service provider, or advocate, this document provides a thoughtful, actionable guide to creating systems that truly empower individuals with disabilities to own their employment journey. Dive in to learn how Choice can transform lives and build inclusive communities.