1501 14th St. W. Suite 220
Billings, Montana    59102
(406) 245-6323 Fax:  (406) 245-6768
email: Click Here To eMail

Who We Are

Mission and Vision
How the Program Works
Workshops
Annual Reports

What We Can Do for You . . .

The Client
The Family
The Employer
The Community

OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS FOR 2000-2001

| Life Supports Measures | Work Related Measures | Referrals, Changes in Caseload and Demographics |
| Incident Reports | Health and Safety  | Staffing Turnover | Complaints | Technology | Accessibility |
| Note of Thanks |

Incident Reports

We have reviewed the incidents reports for this year.  We have a small number of incident reports for a variety of reasons.  We do not see any trends for this year or when compared with previous years.  We believe our anger management and social groups have provided a proactive approach that helps us minimize incidents. 

Health and Safety 

Our staff has had a very safe year.  They have not had any accidents.  Staff continues to receive training in First Aid and CPR.  We conduct training on safety during staff meetings about once a quarter. 

JCI sponsored a training day for self-esteem and stress management.  Many accidents can occur when people are harried and we hope to avoid this problem.  We have had an ergonomics inspector come up to review the office.  He suggested a few changes for height of chairs when people were working on computers.  He also recommended purchasing footrests so shorter staff would not have difficulty with circulatory flow in the back of their legs.  JCI has followed his recommendations.

The number of uninsured clients we have is a concern.  For various reasons not everyone has Medicaid or Medicare.  This means a primary factor for them in employment is insurance.  Some clients would have a much greater variety in jobs to choose from if we did not have to worry about insurance for them.  Most of our clients are under a doctor’s care.

The health concern we see regularly and do not have an answer for is weight management.  We tried out the concept of a personal trainer for one person.  We hoped this would be a motivator to loose weight and exercise.  We are sorry to report the personal trainer concept did not work in this case.  

Staffing Turnover

After years of staff turnover, we have had a very stable year.  We have had no turnover in fulltime positions.  We have had some turnover in part-time positions.  We reduced our reliance on part time positions in order to alleviate this problem. 

Complaints

We have had one complaint this year.  One of our clients felt we were being too pushy about exercising and losing weight.  We felt fortunate that she would voice her complaint and we were able to resolve the matter without too much difficulty.  Over the last 3 years we have had one complaint a year.  Staff walks a fine line between being intrusive if they bring a sensitive issue up and being negligent professionally if they do not.  Probably the only reason management does not receive more complaints is that clients and staff communicate well and resolve the issues themselves.

Technology

Our Board has been supportive in providing us with up to date equipment.  We are now able to print from several office computers to our copier.  This is cost effective in time and use of paper.

We were able to purchase a digital camera and with it produced a yearbook.  The yearbook contains pictures of clients along with information on hobbies and interests of each client so they are are able to find friends to do something with during free time.  We hope it will encourage people to call others from the program.   

We have purchased a variety of software in order to introduce clients to the workings of a modem and screen.  We would like as many of our clients as possible to become familiar with basic computer skills.  We have investigated software that helps people gain skills for data entry. 

We use the Internet to research job openings, post resumes and look up information.  Our long distance phone bill has decreased significantly as a result of E-mail.  We have a web page at www.jobconnection.org.  Please take a moment to visit the site.

Accessibility

Accessibility barriers to our services and employment revolve primarily around funding and transportation.  We work toward appropriate levels of funding for all services by serving on statewide committees pertaining to these issues.  Agencies in our area collaborate to ensure a variety of services are available and we refer to agencies with higher staffing levels when that is appropriate.  Regardless of our efforts, there are still waiting lists for services.

One of the major barriers to employment opportunities is; available and affordable transportation.  Our agency does not provide transportation and utilizes community resources to accomplish travel.  We administer a contract with the bus system for people with developmental disabilities so they receive a free bus pass.  We purchase taxi vouchers that can be used to provide back up transportation or augment a travel route.  We also provide training for passing the written portion of the driver’s exam.  This year we have sub-contracted for rides from Laurel to Billings.

We attend public forums that our City County Planning Department provides to address transportation needs.  We have visited with the City Manager about the need for coverage outside existing routes as well as more evening and weekend transportation.

Notes of Thanks

We’d like to thank the legislature for authorizing funding to reduce the difference in wages between state workers and community-based workers in the state of Montana.  Also, we appreciate the community and especially the employers in our community for their continuing support and interest in hiring persons in supported employment.

JCI is funded under an agreement with the Montana Department of P.H.H.S.

Any statements contained herein do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Department.

| Life Supports Measures | Work Related Measures | Referrals, Changes in Caseload and Demographics |
| Incident Reports | Health and Safety  | Staffing Turnover | Complaints | Technology | Accessibility |
| Note of Thanks |

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