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Career Support Systems, Inc.
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"Promoting independence
and self-sufficiency by delivering exceptional training, education, and
support services" |
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Annual Report to Stakeholders April 15, 2001 I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: FY 2000-01 has been a year of tremendous growth for Career Support Systems, Inc. CSS was founded in 1993 with just two employees and now employs nearly 60 full and part-time staff, 20 of whom are persons who receive group-option employment supports. A great majority of the current positions were created during the last two years.
In order to effectively manage our growth and ensure high quality services, we have developed many new systems and worked hard to improve our existing systems. Our goal throughout has been to create an organization that is driven by, and responsive to, the needs of our internal and external customers. To that end, we have developed and implemented an enhanced outcomes management system that will allow us to continually assess and report the impact of our services on our customers. We have also focused a great deal of attention on upgrading our Health and Safety management program. In addition, we have explored ways to expand customer participation in all facets of our work. We will work continuously to engage our stakeholders in our ongoing quality improvement efforts. This “Annual Report to Stakeholders” describes our organization-wide efforts to collect, interpret, and analyze data across three domains: efficiency, effectiveness, and stakeholder satisfaction. We also describe our efforts to make quality improvement decisions based on this data. We invite everyone who reads this report to offer feedback. II. INTRODUCTION: Career Support Systems, Inc. provides an array of employment services and supports to individuals with disabilities in Central and far Southwest Virginia. Our menu of services has expanded in each region to keep pace with community need. The Virginia Department of Rehabilitative Services (DRS) and the Virginia Department of Social Services (DSS) are our primary service partners, accounting for the great majority of referrals and funding. In the Central Region of the state we currently offer the following services:
In the SW Region we currently offer the following services:
III. OUTCOME MANAGEMENT SYSTEM: In October of 2000, CSS staff began collecting improvement data using “Key Quality Indicators” (KQI’s). The KQI’s have allowed us to evaluate our services to customers across three domains: efficiency, effectiveness, and stakeholder satisfaction. This data combined with other data sources and other customer feedback (formal and informal) has allowed Program Managers in the Central and SW regions to prepare semi-annual Program Management Reports. The data from these reports has been integrated and summarized to create this report to our stakeholders. All data collected will be used to inform our strategic planning process and to ensure that our organization’s services remain compatible with our vision, mission, and quality service goals: Vision: To become a
recognized leader in the design and delivery of community based services and
supports. Mission: To promote
independence and self-sufficiency by delivering exceptional training,
education, and support services. Quality Service Goals: 1. Deliver services that are highly responsive to each and every customer’s needs. 2. Ensure that all stakeholders have quick and efficient access to our services. 3. Deliver services in a manner that generates strong levels of stakeholder satisfaction. 4. Utilize improvement data and customer
input to continually improve services.
IV. PROFILE OF PERSONS RECEIVING SERVICES: CSS provides an array of services to a variety of customers, each with diverse support needs. It is our goal to form a partnership with each customer that results in a plan of services that is driven by, and responsive to, each person’s unique strengths, needs, abilities, and preferences. In order to interpret our outcome data, it is first necessary to develop an understanding of our customer base. During the period covered by this report, CSS provided service to 192 customers. Below is the demographic breakdown per service region (Central and SW). |
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Persons receiving services- Central
Virginia:
Summary: The great majority (73% combined) of individuals receiving services in the Central region of the state were people with serious and persistent mental illness or those with developmental disabilities. This is indicative of our referral agents’ concentration on those populations. While we did provide service to people with other disability types, the number was much less significant. We are currently in the planning stages of developing services to meet the unique needs of other “less served’ populations (e.g., people with traumatic brain injury and people with hearing impairments). |
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Persons receiving services—SW
Virginia:
SW Summary: The demographic data above represents the supported employment program (group and individual) and the population of TANF recipients with disabilities that are served via our SW VA Employment Partnerships Project. When examined separately, the SE programs reflect a high percentage of individuals with developmental disabilities and serious and persistent mental illness (SPMI). This is consistent with the customer base of our referral source, DRS. The high percentage of individuals with physical disabilities (41%) is consistent with the referral base of TANF recipients with disabilities who are also served by 10 local Departments of Social Services. In review of the data on race demographics, we have recognized the need to investigate the reasons for low numbers of minority referrals (3-4% Black in region vs. < 1% served) and will do so in the current reporting period. |
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Overall Summary: With the exception of “race demographics” in the SW region, we are reasonably comfortable that the data above indicates that CSS is serving customers who are representative of their communities. The disproportionate number for persons receiving services who have SPMI or Developmental disabilities will have implications for future strategic planning efforts. This data will also be utilized to inform our staff recruiting and selection process and our emerging Staff Development and Training Plan. |
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V. REPORT ON SERVICE EFFECTIVENESS: We set out to measure the effectiveness of our services
and we began with a single measure of job retention; a measure important to
all of our stakeholders. We established
the following Key Quality Indicator (KQI) for our employment services and
measured our results during the period of October 2000 through March 2001: Effectiveness
KQI: 85% of persons receiving services will retain their jobs for a
minimum of 90 days. Results & Interpretation: As an organization, we achieved an overall job retention rate at 90 days of 81.5%. This outcome falls short of our established goal of 85%. In the SW region 45 out of 54 customers (83%) retained their jobs for a period of 90 days. This figure includes individuals served in both group and individual supported employment placements as well as individuals placed via the SW VA TANF Grant. In the Central Region data was collected for the entire calendar year. Of the 35 customers who were placed, only 7 failed to reach the 90-ay mark. This percentage (80%) falls short of our goal of 85%. Of the seven who separated from their positions, 3 quit because of stress, 3 were terminated (attitude/braking company policy), and 1 found another job and the case was closed. Improvements: We will continue to explore ways to help our customers achieve long-term job retention. While we are pleased with our overall results in this area, we will strive to meet our goal of 85% job retention overall. In addition, we recognize the need to ensure that we clearly define our methodology for including and excluding persons from the sample based on their job placement date. Both Program Managers had questions about whether or not to include those who had begun service in the previous quarter in the current sample. VI. REPORT ON SERVICE EFFICIENCY: The efficiency with which we serve our customers is of the utmost importance. In order to assess the extent to which our services are responsive to customer needs, we established two Key Quality Indicators of efficiency and measured our results during the evaluation period. The measures are as follows: Efficiency KQI #1: 70%
of customers seeking job placement will be placed within 60 days from the
date of intake. Results & Interpretation: During the current evaluation period 50 new persons were referred to CSS-SW for services. The total number served during this same period was 103. Of the 50 individuals who received an intake during the period, 24 (49%) were placed within 60 days. Placement rates for SE-only were substantially nearer the 60-day benchmark (69%) while placement rates for the TANF population were substantially slower with only 29% being placed within 60 days. In Central Virginia, there were 33 intakes conducted during the evaluation period. Of those, Twelve (12) could effectively be removed from the sample due to circumstances beyond our control, thus reducing the sample to 21. Of the 21 who remained active, 13 were placed in jobs. Nine (9) were placed within the 60-day benchmark (43%), 2 were placed within 90 days (9%) and 2 (9%) were placed within 120 days. Eight (8) remain un-placed as of this date. Recommendations: While the length of time to achieve job placement can vary dramatically for reasons beyond our control (e.g., individual differences, varying goals, labor market trends, etc.) we will continue to measure and monitor this KQI as written for an additional 6 months. Heightened staff awareness of this measure during the next evaluation period may provide us with improved performance and/or improved documentation of the challenges involved in placing people within 60 days. Efficiency KQI #2: 90%
of all referrals will receive an intake with 10 business days of the receipt
of referral. Results & Interpretation: In Central VA, 100% of all persons referred for service received an intake within 10 business days. In SW VA, only 76% of all persons referred for service received an intake within 10 business days. The SW Supported Employment program did achieve 100%, but only 68% of TANF customers with disabilities served by the SW VA Employment Partnerships Project received an intake within the standard of 10 days. The individuals served via the TANF Project are typically challenged by multiple barriers such as lack of transportation, lack of childcare, illiteracy, poor motivation, etc. These issues have resulted in additional challenges to the scheduling of intakes in an efficient manner. Additionally, it should be noted that travel distances in the SW region are often significantly longer than in the Central region. This provides an additional hurdle to efficient scheduling, planning, and overall time management. Recommendations: Staff will continue to explore ways to improve the “time to intake” measure for our TANF customers and will continue to monitor this KQI across all programs for an additional 6-month period at a minimum. |
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VII. REPORT ON STAKEHOLDER SATISFACTION: CSS continually strives to engage our customers in all aspects of our organization. We regularly seek out the feedback (both formal and informal) from our customers. That data is incorporated into all of our planning processes. To that end, we have obtained satisfaction/improvement data from funding/referral agents and from persons receiving services in both the central and SW regions using two the Key Quality Indicators below: Stakeholder Satisfaction KQI #1: 90% of persons receiving services will
express overall satisfaction with the services they receive. Results & Interpretation: Data for this measure was obtained via telephone surveys conducted by CSS staff (non-service provider staff). Three attempts were made to contact all open cases. A Likert-Scale was used to assess overall satisfaction with services. Staff attempted to contact a total of 134 customers and were able to obtain data on 96 persons receiving services. Below is a compilation of all satisfaction data received (Central VA, n=43, SW VA n=53):
Stakeholder Satisfaction KQI #2: 85% of referral agents will express
overall satisfaction with services provided. Results & Interpretation: Our survey instrument included six questions, using a Likert Scale. The questions examined CSS’s responsiveness, professionalism, efficiency, outcomes, and overall satisfaction with services. Of the 30 surveys mailed in both Central and SW VA, 20 (66%) were returned. In SW, 100% reported overall satisfaction with CSS services. In Central VA 92% reported overall satisfaction with services. The same survey was also sent to the 25 Department of Social Services referral agents who participate in the SW VA Employment Partnerships (TANF) Project. Of those, 16 surveys (64%) were received and 79% reported overall satisfaction with the services delivered by Project Staff.
Other Formal Satisfaction Data: In April of 2001, we conducted a Focus Group in the Central Region. Five persons who receive services were able to attend with transportation assistance from CSS. One CSS employee facilitated the group and another served as the recorder. Participants provided a great deal of positive feedback about CSS services and also shared their ideas for improving and expanding services. Recommendations: Overall, we are pleased with the level of
satisfaction that we achieved. We
will however, examine strategies to further improve levels of satisfaction
and will likely increase our benchmark for satisfaction to 90% across the
board for all stakeholders. In the
coming year, we will explore ways to generate additional data and improvement
suggestions. We will explore the
viability of conducting additional focus groups with other stakeholder groups
such as referral agents, family members, and employers. |
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VIII. OTHER IMPROVEMENTS & RECOMMENDATIONS: During the past year CSS implemented many new ideas for upgrading our services to customers. Some of those activities are listed below. In the coming year, we will continue to aggressively seek out ways to effectively engage our stakeholders as partners in our efforts to continuously improve our services.
Conducted a Staff Training Needs Assessment Created new position dedicated to staff development Recruited and hired Manager of Org. and Staff Development Conducted numerous internal training and development activities Improvement Goal for 2001: Develop and implement a formal staff training and development plan that complements our Performance Management Program.
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