UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION AND REHABILITATIVE SERVICES

REHABILITATION SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

WASHINGTON, DC 20202

INFORMATION MEMORANDUM

> RSA-IM-98-16
>
> DATE: July 7, 1998

ADDRESSEES: STATE VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION AGENCIES (GENERAL) STATE
VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION AGENCIES (BLIND) STATE REHABILITATION ADVISORY
COUNCILS

> CLIENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
>
> REGIONAL REHABILITATION CONTINUING EDUCATION

PROGRAMS

> AMERICAN INDIAN VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION PROGRAMS
>
> RSA SENIOR MANAGEMENT TEAM
>
> SUBJECT: Self-Employment
>
> BACKGROUND: Attached are three papers that describe the implementation
> of self-employment as experienced by four of the Choice Demonstration
> Projects. The three papers are separate papers, originating from
> different projects, with different experiences, within different
> contexts.
>
> None of the projects initially planned to focus on self-employment,
> nor did they have all of the necessary expertise to provide effective
> self­employment services. However, as more participants requested
> self-employment, project staff began to explore the feasibility of
> offering self-employment as an option. As a result, self­employment
> outcomes are higher among choice projects than within the State
> vocational rehabilitation program. Choice was the driving force in
> this growth.
>
> Although conventional wisdom holds that half of all new businesses
> fail in the first year, recent research has shown this conventional
> wisdom to be false. Previous studies failed to take into account
> closure of businesses due to retirement, changes in ownership, sale,
> or incorporation. Proper accounting for these types of closures
> results in a corrected failure rate of only twenty percent over the
> first eight years. (See articles by Aley, Duncan, and Magelsdorf in
> the reference lists of the attached papers.)

To effectively provide VR services leading to a self-employment outcome,
the choice projects researched conventional wisdom, addressed policy
issues, explored ways to acquire necessary technical expertise, assisted
individuals in accessing financial resources, and reshaped the role of
the counselor and the agency in these efforts. The projects have also
tackled the difficult question of how to determine when an individual
involved in self-employment has reached an employment outcome.

CONTENT: *The Option of Becoming Self-Employed: an Emerging* Reality
*Within Vermont Vocational* Rehabilitation is written by Michael
Collins, Director of the Vermont Consumer Choice Project, Vermont
Division of Vocational Rehabilitation. The paper reports specifically on
Vermont\'s experience and covers:policy changes;role changes for the
agency, counselor, and consumer; non-traditional partnerships developed
by the project to provide technical assistance and support for
counselors and entrepreneurs; accessing existing community financial and
technical assistance resources; documenting indicators of employment
outcomes and economic stability for individuals who pursue
self-employment; and programmatic data about self-employment in Vermont,
including business demographics, characteristics of entrepreneurs, and
unexpected outcomes.

> *Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Rehabilitation:* *A Good
> Partnership for the Twenty-First Century is* jointly authored by Nancy
> Sullivan, Consultant to the Commitment to Client choice Project,
> Arkansas Rehabilitation Services, and Abby Cooper, Director of the
> Participant Empowerment Project, Washington Division of Vocational
> Rehabilitation. The paper combines general information about
> implementing self-employment with specific project experiences and
> covers evaluating an individual=s abilities and his/her need for
> services and supports related to self-employment; questionnaires used
> by the two projects to gather initial assessment information, gather
> initial assessment information; factors to be addressed when
> developing an individual\'s specific employment plan; recommendations
> for state agencies interested in providing self-employment services
> considerations for developing qualitative outcome measures; and
> individualized data on self-employment outcomes from the two projects.
>
> *Expanding Small Business and Self-Employment* *opportunities* is by
> Larry Watson, Executive Director, and Terry Herkimer, Project Manager,
> Client Enhancement and Empowerment Project, Berkeley Center for
> Independent Living. The authors advocate for use of self-employment as
> one way to reduce barriers to employment of individuals with
> disabilities and discuss: expertise needed by the counselor;
> developing community resources for assisting individuals desiring
> self-employment; the role of independent living centers in fostering
> self-employment; the content of an effective business plan;

⋅ measures for determining successful self­employment outcomes; and

⋅ programmatic data on self-employment outcomes from the project.

> The opinions expressed in the papers are those of the project
> directors and not necessarily those of RSA. The papers are being
> disseminated as part of RSA\'s efforts to facilitate the exchange of
> information about informed choice between the Choice Projects, State
> vocational rehabilitation agencies, and other relevant parties.
>
> INQUIRIES: Each paper provides contact information for the authors.
>
> Within the Rehabilitation Services Administration, for matters related
> to informed choice, the contact person is Suzanne Tillman at
> 202-205-8303.
>
> Fredric K. Schroeder, Ph.D.
>
> Commissioner

cc: NCIL

CSAVR

> NAPAS
>
> RSA Regional Offices
>
> (Regions II, IV, V, VIII, and X)