Employment Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Choose a question below:
- Why is “employment” part of my Care Manager job responsibilities?
- Why are MCOs concerned with employment?
- How does employment benefit my members?
- Will members lose their disability benefits if they go to work?
- What is DVR?
- If DVR Counselors are mandated to provide employment services, then why do I need to be involved?
- Where do I start if a member is interested in pursuing employment?
Why is “employment” part of my Care Manager job responsibilities?
There are many reasons, including:
- If a member chooses to include employment in their Member Centered Plan, they will need help with achieving this outcome. Of course, you are not expected to provide employment services, but you can facilitate your member’s progress toward the outcome by identifying resources, communicating and coordinating with service providers, and by advocating for your member.
- Care Mangers are concerned with a member’s quality of life in the community. No other single domain contributes to quality of life quite like employment.
- You are uniquely qualified to assist a member with their efforts to become employed. As the primary point of contact in the Long Term Care system, you have established a working relationship with your member. No other professional knows the member’s strengths, limitations, desires, medical issues, and support needs as well as you do. All this knowledge and information is critical to successful employment planning.
| Back to Top |
Why are MCOs concerned with employment?
Research has demonstrated a clear connection between employment and health. Not only does health positively affect employment, employment positively affects health. Additionally, research demonstrates that unemployment contributes to worsening of health.
For MCOs, this means:
- Employment can contribute to the best possible health outcomes,
- Employment may reduce long-term care costs related to poor health,
- Making employment a priority is consistent with a desire to prioritize health outcomes,
- The health-related costs of unemployment, to individuals and to the long-term care system, may not be fully recognized at this time.
Employment will benefit both the member and the MCO.
How does employment benefit my members?
Aside from the extra income, employment can:
- Provide the satisfaction of engaging in productive activity,
- Help the individual integrate into their community,
- Structure time,
- Enhance self-esteem,
- Provide opportunities for social relationships,
- Improve health status, and
- Improve overall quality of life.
| Back to Top |
Will members lose their disability benefits if they go to work?
Not necessarily, and in many cases an emphatic NO!
MCO members are typically entitled to a variety of disability benefits. Eligibility to some benefits is based on income. Understandably, both members and Care Mangers become anxious about benefits when work is discussed.
However, most benefits have a variety of work incentives provisions that are designed to protect a person’s benefits while working. In many cases, a person with a disability can work and keep the benefits they need.
The best way to resolve anxiety about working and continuing eligibility for disability benefits is to contact a Work Incentive Benefits Specialist (WIBS). A WIBS will conduct an analysis of the individual’s disability benefits and how work earnings can affect those benefits, with a particular emphasis on work incentives.
What is DVR?
The Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) is a Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development agency that provides employment services and employment counseling to people with disabilities. DVR can provide or arrange for services that enable an individual to go to work.
| Back to Top |
If DVR Counselors are mandated to provide employment services, then why do I need to be involved?
DVR Counselors are a great source of vocational rehabilitation expertise. They have funding to purchase goods and services for an employment plan and are knowledgeable about the employment resources in your community.
However, a DVR Counselor’s ability to serve a person may be limited by:
- Large caseloads,
- Limited time to spend with any one individual,
- The temporary nature of their involvement (DVR cases typically close after 90 days of successful employment),
- Written assessment information from medical professionals (rather than first hand experience with observing or assessing an individual).
When a Care Manger becomes involved, a wealth of first-hand knowledge becomes available. In addition, because of your relationship with the member, you can offer ongoing encouragement, support, and problem solving.
Your involvement in the employment process greatly enhances the ability of DVR Counselors to serve your members.
| Back to Top |
Where do I start if a member is interested in pursuing employment?
If a member expresses interest in employment, the best place to start is with you!
- Talk to your member about work. Be comfortable with having a conversation, or a series of conversations, about work. Believe it or not, it is a topic that you are knowledgeable about!
- Provide information. One of the most helpful services you can provide a member is information. We want members to make informed choices about work. Many members are unfamiliar with the vast array of services, supports, and technology available to assist them and therefore assume they cannot work.
- Be encouraging, optimistic, and positive. For every obstacle there is a solution. For every individual there is an employment situation that "fits." Our challenge is to determine the rights supports for the job.
- Get involved and stay involved. Remember, no one can influence the success of an employment plan more than an involved Care Manager. For a person with significant obstacles, reaching an employment goal takes teamwork from a variety of dedicated disability professionals.
- Discuss a member’s employment interests at team meetings. The "next steps" in the employment process are different for each individual. If your MCO has an Employment Coordinator (EC), get that person involved for advice on next steps. Some possible next steps for a member might be to apply for DVR services, get a Benefits Analysis, and explore work interests using existing MCO resources. Let the next steps be directed by the member, with input from the entire team.
| Back to Top |