1

Aydan Hanlon
Janessa Brickman
Rachel Osheka
Jordan Cosentino
AR350 Project Plan:
Integrated Employment for Persons With Developmental Disabilities
"We all want the same basic things out of life: a decent and comfortable place to call
'home', something meaningful to do during the day, some close friends with whom to
share the good times . . . People with disabilities want these same basic things and are
increasingly speaking up for themselves about what they want. And staff, family and State
agency professionals are beginning to really listen (Institute on Community Integration
Staff)."
Home, Sweet Home" by Susan L. Babin,
Susan Babins quote offers insight into the meaning and basis behind our social advocacy
project. It outlines our endeavor to give those with developmental disabilities equal opportunities
in their everyday lives by providing them with the human dignity they deserve. Our social
advocacy project is centered around the initiative of integrating those with developmental
disabilities into the workforce.
According to the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act, a
developmental disability is defined as a severe, chronic disability which, originated at birth or
during childhood, is expected to continue indefinitely, and substantially restricts the individual's
functioning in several major life activities (Institute on Community Integration Staff). Several
examples of developmental disabilities include: autism, behavior disorders, brain injuries,
cerebral palsy, down syndrome, fetal alcohol syndrome, intellectual disability, and spina bifida
(Institute on Community Integration Staff).
Persons with disabilities, especially those with developmental disabilities, have
experienced unemployment, underemployment, and poverty that far exceeds the rate at which
those without disabilities have undergone (Decker). Over time, these individuals have been

segregated from their peers or refused employment for lack of understanding and preconceived
attitudes of peoples with disabilities. In the United States, there are thousands of people with
developmental disabilities that are isolated and unjustly compensated by employers. These
individuals are segregated in sheltered workshops away from the general public, essentially
keeping them out of sight (Decker). People with developmental disabilities face different
injustices such as getting paid a fraction of the minimum wage, isolation from society, and
inability to gain a sense of self worth.
Many individuals go into these segregated workplaces to gain adequate job training with
the intention of leaving the workshop to join a vocation that will give them purpose and allow
them to become a part of society. Unfortunately, the majority of the time these sheltered
workshops or programs do not provide further opportunities for these individuals, and many
remain working in these segregated places with no end in sight (Decker). The reality is that
segregated workshops are simply another institution segregating persons with developmental
disabilities because of an unwillingness to change the perceptions about these individuals ability
to work (Decker). Integrated employment allows these individuals to gain their own identity, self
worth, purpose, and much more. Not only do these individuals benefit, but the general public,
co-workers, and employers as a whole benefit from the diversity and widespread range of
capabilities of these employees. Our society can benefit overall when all citizens participate and
contribute fully to their communities (Employment First). Furthermore, in these workshops there
is a lack of a true minimum wage for workers with disabilities. This is another injustice which
keeps these individuals in continued poverty. This sub-minimum wage keeps those with
developmental disabilities dependent on family and government programs just to meet their basic

needs. Segregated work environments, whether is be in institutions or in the workplace, is still

segregation, and separate is not equal (Decker).
Individuals with disabilities are more than ever trying to find jobs in the integrated
workforce. There are still many barriers in overcoming the preconceived views in hiring
someone with disabilities. For example, just this month, the Department of Justice settled an
employment lawsuit against Riverside County, California. The County refused to hire a job
applicant as a youth probation officer due to his controlled epilepsy. The job applicant was able
to perform all of the essential requirements to fulfill the job duties. Riverside Countys decision,
had been based on outdated and stereotypical attitudes about epilepsy (Gupta). Overcoming the
stigmatization of individuals with disabilities, who are fully capable of working, is one of the
significant steps we are taking in order to fulfill the mission of giving persons with disabilities
equal opportunity to gain jobs in the work force.
When researching statistics about those with disabilities we learned that it was not only
an issue on a macroscopic level, but also on a microscopic level within Cuyahoga County. In the
United States, over six million individuals have developmental disabilities coming from diverse
racial, social, economic, and educational backgrounds (Institute on Community Integration
Staff). Nationwide, individuals with disabilities face high unemployment levels. In 2014, the
employment rate of working-age people with disabilities in Ohio was 34.4 percent, while the
employment rate of working-age people without disabilities was 79.1 percent, resulting in a 44.7
percent gap between the populations (Local Disability Data for Planners). Breaking it down to
a state level, there are over 1.5 million Ohioans who have a developmental disability that
represent 13 percent of the job seeking market. (Employment First). Further, according to the
United States Census Bureau, 10.2 percent of the population in Cuyahoga County are persons

with a developmental disability under the age of 65 years old. In other words, there are 128,103
people out of 1,255,921 in Cuyahoga County reported as having a developmental disability
(Young). We can begin to solve this injustice from the bottom up, in hopes of changing the way
this group of individuals is incorporated into our local community by providing an integrated
work environment.
Integrated employment for those with developmental disabilities provides many benefits
including: self-confidence, pride, independence, social activity, economic benefits, improvement
in overall quality of life, voice in society, and human dignity (Erickson). Ultimately, in providing
employment for these individuals we are allowing them the right to fulfill their human dignity.
The barriers these individuals have faced in obtaining integrated employment has prevented them
from obtaining friends, jobs, and being recognized within their community.
In order to fully integrate people with developmental disabilities into the work
environment we need to reach out and work with local businesses. Nearly 66% of small business
owners have never hired a person with a disability despite results indicating general attitudes of
small business owners toward workers with disabilities as neutral (Employment First). This
neutral attitude of employers provides us with an opportunity to educate them about the benefits
of hiring those with developmental disabilities, which in turn will allow us to overcome the
injustices this population is facing. Businesses that are open to the idea of hiring those with
disabilities will give us the opportunity to change their hiring practices through the
implementation of our advocacy project.
We decided to focus on this issue based on our past experiences with those with
developmental disabilities. Through bowling with mentally handicapped adults, participation in
Danies Day, and field observations from a teachers perspective, Janessa, Aydan, and Rachel

have had opportunities to interact with this population and realize the struggles they are facing.
This led to the connection with Jordan who has worked with a non-profit foundation that trains
and places those with developmental disabilities into the workplace. We connected our passions
to advocate for this group of individuals by addressing the issue of integrated employment for
persons with a developmental disability.
Goals:
Our long term goal for this advocacy project is to provide equal opportunities for people
with developmental disabilities in the workplace through increased job placements in the local
workforce, focusing on businesses in Cuyahoga County. When we allow this population to
become integrated into the work environment, they have the opportunity to interact with
individuals and to show they are independent persons who possess unique talents and skills.
Before we reach this long-term goal, our intermediate step will be to get three Cuyahoga
County businesses to change their hiring practices by choosing to employ individuals with
developmental disabilities within the next year. By working with the Two Foundation, a 501(c)
(3) non-profit organization who works to provide job placement, job coaching, and support in the
workplace for those with developmentally disabilities, we hope to connect this organization to
local businesses in hopes of placing their trainees in a permanent job.
Before any of this can be accomplished, however, we need to implement an advocacy
project, which will focus on our short term goal. Our short term goal is to educate three local
businesses by the end of fall semester about hiring individuals with developmental disabilities by
gauging their concerns, presenting a brochure about the Two Foundations mission, and
connecting them with this organization. The Two Foundation will then connect with these
businesses in hopes of placing more individuals with developmental disabilities in the workforce,

which will contribute to bridging the gap and accomplishing our intermediate and long-term
goals.
This project will benefit people with developmental disabilities because it will provide
them with an equal opportunity to obtain jobs within the everyday workforce. It will allow this
population to become more fully integrated into our society by giving them the chance to interact
with the general public. Additionally, this will benefit employers and customers by allowing
them to interact with developmentally disabled individuals. This interaction will change their
perceptions about people with these exceptionalities and therefore decrease the stigma that exists
in our society.
Objectives:
Our first objective is to contact ten local businesses and to gauge interest from three
about job placements for developmentally disabled individuals by November 1. Working with
Shari Hunter, the founder of the Two Foundation, we will brainstorm a list of ten businesses that
will be open to our endeavors. Aramark on John Carrolls campus, Pizzaz, and Sweet Melissas
are just three examples of businesses we intend to reach out to (See Appendix A for contact
information). Once we have selected ten businesses, we will call these companies and administer
a ten question survey via email that will determine their current perceptions of hiring individuals
with developmental disabilities. The survey will include a set of questions displayed in a rating
scale so that we can see their comfortability in hiring these individuals. A set of short answer
questions will follow asking them to provide reasons on why they may have reservations with
working with these individuals. Upon completion of the survey, we will analyze the results and
choose three businesses to further pursue. This objective is realistic, time bound, and specific
because it puts a restricted number on our business contacts allowing us to complete this portion

of our project within this semester. It is also measurable and achievable because we can assess
the number of businesses we contacted and hold ourselves accountable.
Our next objective will be to present to businesses a week after their original phone
contact, with a brochure on the Two Foundations mission and how companies should change
their hiring practices. We plan to engage in an informative conversation with each business
explaining how the Two Foundations mission coincides with our short-term goal. The brochure
will be an updated version of their current brochure and act as an outline of our conversation
with them. Its purpose is to assist in changing preconceived attitudes toward working with
developmentally disabled individuals. We will update the Two Foundations current marketing
by redesigning their brochure to display their updated mission and what amenities they offer.
This brochure will have a whole new modern look in an effort to gauge the interest of
community members and the younger demographic. With three businesses as our audience, the
brochure will lay out the Two Foundations need for more business connections in an effort to
place more of their trainees. We hope this updated brochure, that the foundation will then
promote, will provide awareness to the general public about their cause. This objective also
follows the SMART rules because it is specific in what we will be presenting, time-bound
because we will be contacting them within a week of the original conversation, measurable
because we can assess if we did the presentation or not, as well as realistic and achievable.
From that conversation, our next objective will be to bridge the gap by providing the
contact information of the Two Foundation to businesses with further aspirations to provide the
foundations trainees with substantial employment positions. By creating this network between
foundation and business, their communication will only continue and lead to their future
collaboration in providing employment for persons with developmental disabilities. We will also

provide a business application, found on the Two Foundations website, that employers can fill
out in order to partner with the organization as a business willing to provide internship
opportunities and jobs for their trainees as well as provide sponsorship. As a follow up, we will
administer a post-survey to these businesses via email in order to measure how their perceptions
have changed. These questions will be derived from further research into the topic about the
preconceived notions involving individuals with developmental disabilities.
Upon completion of our project, our next objective will be to inform COSE (Council of
Smaller Enterprises), Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) and Governor John Kasich
about our social advocacy project by writing letters explaining our efforts and what the outcomes
were. By contacting COSE and SBDC, we hope our project will then be open to conversation
and will show these groups of small businesses that integrating those with developmental
disabilities into their hiring practices is beneficial to their organizations. Since Governor John
Kasich is already involved in the Employment First Initiative, a plan that calls for every
working-age adult with developmental disabilities to explore career options and seek jobs, we
will also send him a letter explaining our social advocacy efforts. We hope this will close the gap
of our project and come full circle showing these organizations that if we can make a difference
on a small level, then they can implement these same policies and plans into larger structures.
These letters will include information about our project plan as well as a brochure with the Two
Foundations contact information. With this exposure, we hope we will provide the foundation
with another outlet to turn to for job placements.
Strategies:
To accomplish our objectives, we will be using two strategies including making a pilot
program and organization and constituency building.

By creating a pilot program throughout our advocacy project, it will help us to influence
COSE, SBDC, and Governor John Kasich to become interested in our efforts. By writing to them
about the execution of our project and what the outcomes are, we can demonstrate to these
organizations a way to solve the issue. By modeling a success story involving this issue, we will
be able to further advocate to other organizations because they will be able to use our same plan
in order to execute it in their own businesses. We hope that our plan can become a model for
other organizations across the country to use in order to collectively work together to provide
equal job opportunities for those with developmental disabilities. We feel this is an appropriate
and effective strategy because when we can present effective methods of hiring individuals with
developmental disabilities, the people we are reaching out to will be better prepared with the
tools to carry out the goals of our advocacy project.
We will also use the strategy of organization and constituency-building by creating
alliances between the Two Foundation and businesses in order to place individuals with
developmental disabilities in a job. By creating strong links between this training facility and
businesses with openings for job placements, we are creating opportunities for these businesses
to successfully change their hiring practices because they will be supported by the Two
Foundation. These businesses will know the exact expectations of what to work with and will be
able to use the Two Foundation as a resource if needed. This is also an appropriate and effective
goal because it will provide these businesses with a solid foundation and connection that they
can build off of as they transition their hiring practices to include those with developmental
disabilities.
This project will improve on previous efforts because it will take the training and work
that the Two Foundation is already doing and bridge the gap between their organization and

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businesses. The Two Foundation does an amazing job of getting individuals with developmental
disabilities trained for the workforce, but without job placements for these trainees, their efforts
go unnoticed. Our advocacy project will improve these efforts by connecting local businesses to
the organization, to not only bring more interested businesses to this cause, but also more
donations and resources so that the Two Foundation can expand and train more individuals in
order to increase jobs for this population. Instead of reinventing the wheel by trying to execute
all of these steps ourselves, our project is aiming to connect the dots so that collectively we can
work towards our long-term goal of providing equal opportunities for those with developmental
disabilities in the workforce.
Assessment:
We will use the pre and post surveys to measure our success. By pulling together the
information provided to us in the pre-survey, we will be able to document what reasons
businesses are unable to hire those with developmental disabilities including any barriers or
hesitations about doing so. The post survey will then provide us with information that we can
analyze and look at how our project changed the businesses perspectives and hiring practices.
We can measure the number of responses we receive from the surveys as well as the measurable
change between the pre and post surveys. We know our project will be successful if by the postsurvey, the results reflect our goals. Even if we do not get businesses to change their hiring
practices, we are successful in starting the conversation just by putting the issue inside their
head. Additionally, we will evaluate our groups performance by the responses we get from the
businesses through our surveys, looking to see if we made an impact.
Supplies/Budget:

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To complete our project, we will need to print the newly made brochures that will be
handed out to the three businesses upon our visit where we have a conversation about their hiring
practices. Additional brochures will also be used for in class purposes as well as to mail to
COSE, SBDC, and John Kasich in addition to their letters. Our group will create the brochures
using photoshop software. 10 brochures will then be printed at the John Carroll Copy Center for
$0.16 each including folding. This will cost us $1.60 for the printing of the brochures.
In addition to providing the brochures to the businesses, we will also provide them with
other fact sheets and information regarding the Two Foundation as well as some research about
the overall issue. This will not cost us because we will use our printing pages given to us through
John Carroll University. We will also send thank you letters to the businesses for taking the time
to meet with us. We will obtain a pack of cards from the dollar store giving us a total of $1.00.
In addition, we will also need envelopes, stamps, and nice paper for the creation and
sending of our letters to COSE, SBDC, and John Kasich as well as the thank you cards. We will
use the John Carroll letterhead envelopes that are available at the Mail Center for free. We will
purchase 6 stamps and several nice pages of letterhead as well costing us $6.00 total.
We also hope to provide each business we visit with Two Foundation wristbands which
are $3.50 x3 businesses giving us a total of $10.50. Additionally, we will provide a $10.00 gift
certificate that the employers can use at the Two Cafe and Boutique, as an incentive to get these
employers into the Foundation so that can see for themselves what this organization is
accomplishing.
An additional $20.00 will be set aside for transportation costs to and from the businesses.
We will be using our own vehicles to transport us to and from each site. All of our supplies will
leave us with a total of $69.10 for the completion of our project.

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Challenges:
Even though our group has great aspirations in regards to our project we must also
acknowledge some challenges we may face during our timeline. When we call our list of ten
prospective businesses we must expect that some of these companies will show no interest in our
cause. In this event, our group will continue to research more businesses to contact so that we
reach our goal of further working with three companies. Another challenge we may face is
businesses not completing our pre-survey that we send via email. We understand that our chosen
businesses may not find the survey to take precedence over other daily tasks they must complete.
In the case that they do not complete the survey by the time we meet with them, we will bring a
hard copy of the survey that we will administer to them and they will complete it before we
begin our discussion. Another challenge could be scheduling meetings with businesses. We each
have busy schedules, therefore, finding times that coincide with the availability of the businesses
we plan to reach out to may be difficult. We will overcome this challenge by planning these
meetings a month in advance, keeping in mind the businesses availabilities. We will ask what
times works best for the businesses and adjust our schedules accordingly in order to
accommodate their needs.
Schedule:
October
Week (2nd-8th)
o Finish and hand in Project Plan (Currently a combined 20 + hours
dedicated to this project plan)
o Complete Peer review assignment by Tuesday October 11
th
Week (9 -15th)
o Call Shari Hunter
Finalize potential companies to contact
o Begin to create new brochure for Two Foundation
o Create outline/script for business conversation
Organize information/research
o Create list of concrete 10 companies
Week (16th-22nd)

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o In-class working day

o Finish brochure and print
o Develop pre-survey and post-survey questions (Wufoo form)
Week (23th-29th)
o Call 10 companies
o Send follow up pre-survey via email
November
Week (30th-5th)
o Maintain contact with businesses via email and phone calls
o Send out last of pre-surveys
o Analyze pre-surveys results
o Make final revisions to business conversation outline
o Finalize times to meet with interested businesses
th
Week (6 -12th)
o Meet with companies within Cuyahoga County
30-minutes max, dress business professional
o Send out post-survey to businesses
Week (13th-19th)
o Write letters to Governor Kasich, COSE, & SBDC
Inform them of our activities
Advocate for more attention and focus on equal
opportunity employment for persons with developmental disabilities
o Write Thank You letters to businesses we have met with
o Analyze post-survey results
th
Week (20 -26th) (Thanksgiving)
o Tentative completion of project
o Thanksgiving Break
December
Week (27th-3rd)
o In-class working day
o Begin work on final project presentation
o Compile results
o Create PowerPoint presentation
Week (4th-10th)
o Final Project Due (12/9)
th
Week (11 -17th)
o Final Exam Period (10:00-11:50am) Advocacy Presentation
*we will update Shari Hunter about our progress and contact her throughout when necessary*
Division of Work:
As a group we will research businesses to contact, redesign the Two Foundation brochure
and create a script or outline to use for our over the phone conversations and our meeting with

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the businesses in person. Janessa will take the lead on creating the brochure for the Two
Foundation since she is an IMC major but will use our guidance as to what she should include in
the brochure. Jordan will contact Shari in an effort to gauge what businesses she may be aware of
that have an interest in contributing to our project. We intend to also collectively analyze the pre
and post surveys as a group in order to write our letters to Governor Kasich, COSE and SBDC.
Rachel and Aydan will write drafts for these letters and as a group we will revise them together.
We will also call two to three businesses each to determine who to further contact, and those who
called the businesses who showed interest will email them directly with the pre and post surveys.
Once the brochure is completed, Janessa will print copies and pick them up from the
Copy Center. Jordan will purchase the stamps, papers, and envelopes from the Mail Center as
well as the wristbands from the Foundation. Rachel will write thank you letters to businesses and
Aydan will then take the letters to the Mail Center. Collectively, we will collaborate on our final
project to present to the class.
We have had three meetings for our project so far. The first meeting took place Saturday,
September 10th. Aydan, Jordan and Rachel visited the Two Foundation and met with Shari
Hunter to hear her story, mission and needs in regards to her foundation. The second meeting
was on Tuesday, October 4th. Janessa, Aydan and Rachel met to discuss and revise the second
part of the project plan in the library. The third meeting was on Thursday, October 6th and we all
revised and finalized our project plan. We intend to continue communicating on a weekly basis
via group text and will have meetings to address what needs to be done next in our timeline.
We will hold one another accountable by keeping track of what things need to be completed by
which dates. We will send reminders to one another about upcoming things we need done in
order to make sure no one forgets anything.

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Overall, we are very excited to begin planning and implementing our advocacy project.
We look forward to the challenges that will come with it and are confident that we will problem
solve to overcome whatever obstacles we are faced with in order to accomplish our goal of
integrating people with developmental disabilities into the workforce.

Advocacy Map

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Appendix A
Contact Information:
Shari Hunter, Founder of the Two Foundation
440-384-3236
shari@twofoundation.com
Two Cafe & Boutique
8578 E. Washington Street
Market Square Shopping Center
Chagrin Falls, OH 44023
440-384-3236
Aramark at John Carroll University
Chuck Fairchild
Director of Dining Services
cfarichild@jcu.edu
216-397-4755
Pizzaz
20680 John Carroll Blvd.
University Heights, OH 44118
216-321-7272
northpark@pizzazpizza.com
Sweet Melissas
20630 John Carroll Blvd.
University Heights, OH 44118
216-331-3555

Governor John Kasich

77 South High Street
Columbus, OH 43215-6117
Phone: (614) 466-3555

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info@melissas-univhts.com
COSE
1240 Huron Rd. E, Suite 200
Cleveland, OH 44115-1722
216-592-2222
memberservices@cose.org
SBDC
2930 Prospect Ave
Cleveland, OH 44115
(216) 282-3927

Works Cited
Decker, Curtis L., and Michael Montgomery. Segregated & Exploited: A Call to Action. Rep.
National Disabilities Rights Network, Jan. 2011. Web. 4 Oct. 2016.
Employment First. "Initiative Overview." Employment First. Ohio Department of
Developmental Disabilities, 2016. Web. 07 Oct. 2016.
Erickson, W., Lee, C., & von Schrader, S. (2016). 2014 Disability Status Report: Ohio. Ithaca, NY:
Cornell University Yang Tan Institute on Employment and Disability(YTI).
Gupta, Vanita. "Twenty-Five Years of Progress for Americans with Disabilities." U.S.
Department of Justice. U.S. Department of Justice, 9 Sept. 2016. Web. 06 Oct. 2016.
Institute on Community Integration Staff. "About Developmental Disabilities." About
Developmental Disabilities. Regents of the University of Minnesota, 30 Mar.
2016. Web. 07 Oct. 2016.
"Local Disability Data for Planners." Disability Data and Disability Statistics for Planners by State
and County in the United States. Ed. Jeff Pflueger. DisabilityPlanningData.com, 2007. Web.
06 Oct. 2016.
Young, K. Lisa, and Hock E. Tan. "Local Disability Data for Planners." Disability Data and

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Disability Statistics for Planners by State and County in the United States. Cornell
University, 2014. Web. 06 Oct. 2016.