Best Practice Guide
November 30, 2002
Christine Schwartzenberg , Participating in the Advocates Alliance project and with the support of family and friends, Christine was able to achieve many goals like getting her own computer and choosing her new puppy as she transitioned to adult life.
Common Barriers to Relationship Networks
- Employment planning relying only on relationship networks which may burn out the network
- People living in isolation who don’t have social/relationship networks
- Individuals who have "burned bridges" because of repeated past crises
- Unknown personal relationships
3. Relationship Networks
3.1 Family Supports
Family Supports-Families may have a lot of ideas about who to see and where to go to help their family member get a job. They may also have some really concrete ideas about what types of work settings would match their family member's vision, capabilities and needs. Just as important, they may have insights into what does not work. Be sure to invite, rather than require, families to partner in this effort. It is also important to keep checking with the family during job development to see if anything has changed. If the family volunteers to employ their family member, help the family look at this decision carefully. "This situation may place that employer in an awkward position - especially if there are problems related to employment, and he or she is uncomfortable mentioning these problems or taking some type of job action (e.g. firing or laying off the employee)" (McDonald, 1996). Families may also be willing to volunteer supports that make the difference between job success and failure. For example, an uncle might be willing to drop his nephew off at work if it’s on the way to his work. A mother might be willing to review written job instructions at home with a daughter to be sure she understands. However, "When considering individual family members as sources of support, be sensitive to when someone may 'volunteer' out of a sense of duty or obligation." Check out the amount of time involved, for how long and support the family to compare that with other obligations to be sure this support can really happen (Callahan, 1997)
3.2 Community Resources
Community Resources-The community offers rich resources in building relationship networks to support a person to employment success. Family, extended family, neighbors, friends, church members, the mail carrier - anyone the person has links with, may become part of that person's relationship network. One way to discover someone's community connections is called mapping (Mount, 1989). The person, family and friends help map a picture of what’s important to the person. One useful map identifies places in the community where the person "hangs out". These maps use pictures to help non-readers relate to them. They are important sources of information. For example, one woman's "places" map showed that she liked to "hang out" at the library and other places like an ice cream shop. Her vision showed interests related to both places. Her team developed a job he could do at the library. As another example, the Advocates Alliance project created a database of community resources useful to transitioning students. Project staff met with students, families, teachers and community members to identify potential resources. Then, using resources like the phone book, agency listings, the Council of Churches, staff visited people around the towns to interview them and collect information useful to transitioning students. They made these resources aware of transition, invited their partnership and wrote follow-up thank you notes. From all of this, they created a database that teachers, students, and families could use to support transition (Ibañez,1999). Identifying and building "Circles of Friends" can be important job supports (Perske,1988). "Such a group may agree on roles in monitoring, counseling, problem-solving, training, job development and other roles" (Peterson, 1995).
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